The author’s awesome main-frame 6x6 brute sported a drop tine on the left side and a split brow tine on the right. The Missouri dream buck grossed 177 4/8, but after deductions it netted 169 2/8 non-typical.

My deer-hunting career began in 2000 at the age of 27. I’ve always been an outdoorsman, but it wasn’t until November 2000 that I started deer hunting after being invited to hunt with neighbors. I jumped at the chance. That year I harvested my first deer, a nice 10-pointer. I’ve been hooked ever since. I started bowhunting the next year. Later, with help from friends, I found a 200-acre farm to lease in Callaway County, Missouri.

I shared the lease with Matt Seger and Terry Wells. Several other friends own or lease ground in the same area. Prior to the 2007 season, the previous few years of hunting on this farm were tough. The land was logged in 2005 during prime hunting time. In 2006 we had cow issues. But by the summer of 2007, the woods had started to thicken up from the logging and the fields had recovered from the previous cattle problem. We were excited.

Since our lease has a good mix of woods, fields and creek bottoms, we decided to put in some food plots. We planted several plots of clover, wheat, turnips and other whitetail mixes. We also put out trail cameras in the hopes that the new food plots would draw in some really nice bucks. By the time the 2007 bow season arrived, I had a good collection of pictures from the cameras, including a couple of nice bucks.

Bow season turned out to be quite warm, and I did not see much buck activity. I was able to harvest a nice mature doe early in the season. After that, I concentrated on hunting for a mature buck. I was looking forward to the last week of bow season, as I always take off from work and hunt the week before gun season.

THE FIREARMS OPENER
The last week of bow season came and went. Even though I passed on a few medium-sized bucks, I was disappointed that I never saw a mature buck. The good news was that rifle season started the next morning, and I had already decided where I was going to set up. I made sure my Remington Model 700 BDL 7mm Magnum was sighted in. I had no doubt that, if given the opportunity, I could make a great shot.

A cold front was supposed to move though by midweek, and I was ready to start seeing some buck movement. The rut could start at any time, and even though it had been a lackluster season so far, I knew that things could change very quickly.

I’m not much on tree stand hunting during rifle season, so I decided to set up on hillside that overlooked a food plot and creek bottom. This was the same spot where I had shot a decent 8-pointer the year before. I set up in a spot that gave me a good view of the food plot and a decent view of the bottom area.

About an hour into the hunt, a doe walked within 10 feet of me. I was hoping that a buck might be following, but no such luck. By 11 a.m., not much had happened. I decided to make the hike back to camp and see if anyone had seen any bucks. On my way out, I spooked a nice buck from some treetops that were piled up in a creek bottom. I scouted around the area for a few minutes and decided that I would hunt that area when I returned.

A PROMISING AFTERNOON
I took a quick lunch break and headed back out. I found a good spot on a really steep hillside where I could see the creek bottom. Several hours went by and the wind began to pick up. Leaves were falling off the trees in bunches. This was making it harder to see or catch any movement from deer. I decided to shift my vantage point to keep the sun out of my eyes. About 10 minutes later, I noticed movement to the left and looked over to see what appeared to be a nice buck standing at the edge of the creek. I quickly moved to get into shooting position. I raised my rifle and looked though the scope, but the deer was gone.

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