Deer of the Day - South Dakota Beauty, Nikki Bauer

On the trail of a nice eight-point buck in Sully County, South Dakota, 24-year-old Nikki Bauer was working hard in her attempt to harvest a good deer. Hiking far into the rolling hills of central South Dakota, she'd spotted the buck just a bit earlier with a doe while glassing and was attempting to close the distance on the lovesick brute.

Continuing her hike, she stopped for a moment to glass an area again, when she suddenly spotted another buck across a bay of water that was even bigger than the one she was pursuing.

"He was with a doe and very unaware of me. I got down and belly crawled up a hill to get behind a shrub for cover," shared Nikki, "I got my gun ready with the deer in my sight. He was about 300 yards away and as I was waiting for him to turn broadside, he decided to bed down with his doe."

For the next 90 minutes, Nikki sat there taking in the sight of this awesome buck basking in the sun, looking towards the Missouri River. The time allowed the young hunter to gain her composure and get ready for a shot on this fantastic deer.

When the buck finally got up, Nikki waited for him to turn broadside and calmly squeezed the trigger, sending one home from her .270.

That's when the excitement kicked in.

"After I knew he was down I had such an awesome adrenaline rush! I hiked down the hill, around the bay and up the hill and found him immediately. I was in awe at the size of him -- he was way bigger that I'd thought!" said Nikki.

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After taking some pictures, Nikki (with the help of a friend) hiked over four miles packing the deer out. The big buck had 13-scorable points and scored 162 inches.

Congrats on a fantastic deer Nikki!

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We want your buck as our Deer of the Day! Please send us an image of your buck, a brief description of your hunt and the gear used to whitetail@imoutdoors.com