Minnesota's LeRoy Purrier took this 2023 buck on a piece of ground that he had just purchased earlier in the year.
October 01, 2024
By Clifford Neames
Five years have passed since LeRoy Purrier fell 16 feet, breaking his back in the process. The accident brought on a stint in the hospital with a long recovery period.
“I couldn’t draw a bow after that," he Purrier said. "That wasn’t enough to make me quit hunting, but it was definitely the last time I trusted screw-in steps!”
Now he hunts in an elevated blind on a property he recently purchased, and he just killed a Minnesota mega buck with his crossbow.
“I knew the buck had been on the place, but that was not the reason I bought it,” he said with a smile.
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I guess we'll have to take his word on that!
But let’s back up — LeRoy purchased the 90-acre tract in January 2023 and immediately added some trail cameras. The giant buck showed up in pictures the very first night. Then while out scouting, LeRoy found both sides from the 2022 season and things seemed like they might be lining up.
“I spent the next months prepping the place, adding food plots and cleaning up trails,” he said. “All of that effort was done so that I might be able to take that buck, which I named the Farm10, even though he had added one more point this year.”
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The buck was staying on the thicker part of the farm over the summer, but switched to the opposite end near a food plot full of radishes, turnips, rape, and chickory.
"Farm 10" was a regular in this food plot leading up to opening day — and he was coming during daylight hours, too! Just before the season opener, a cell cam attached to the front of a blind confirmed that Farm10 was in the plot seven days in a row in full daylight.
“I was excited about that, but also worried, because he arrived each day a little later than the day before,” Purrier explained.
Since the big buck was entering the plot so late in the day, LeRoy passed on hunting opening morning.
“I was banking on getting my chance that afternoon,” he said. “So, I felt it was best to stay out of there and leave him undisturbed.”
That ensuing hunt was one for the books.
“I wasn’t in the blind long and the field began filling up with deer,” he said. “There were 10 or 12 does within a few yards of the blind, and quite a few smaller bucks in another group. There was also a 160-inch 10-point which I would have shot if it wasn’t opening day and I wasn’t waiting on Farm 10.”
Then, all of the deer stopped feeding out of nowhere and LeRoy spotted the huge white frame headed to the field.
“I knew it was him as soon as I saw that rack, but I was not prepared for what he looked like when he walked out,” Purrier said.
Farm10 closed the distance and jumped the fence into the plot just 35 yards away. It was time!
Not long after purchasing the property, Purrier found the shed antlers of "Farm10." He immediately decided which buck he would be targeting when the season rolled around. With everything on the line, LeRoy still needed to open a window to make the shot. His movement alerted the 160, which began staring directly at the blind. LeRoy switched to another window and that alerted all of the other deer in the field, too.
“But, for some unknown reason, Farm10 looked in the opposite direction,” LeRoy said. “And that was my chance to make the shot.”
The giant whitetail lunged back into the woods after LeRoy sent the bolt into his chest.
“I thought the shot was ok, but maybe a little back," he explained. “So, I decided to let him lay overnight and come back the next morning with my friends to make the recovery.”
Farm10 has everything a hunter dreams of — a 20-inch spread, 25-inch beams, and matching long tines on each side. The rough score is 179 6/8, and it will easily net over 170 inches after the drying period.
