Pennsylvania Man Loses Lease, Results In Big Maryland Buck

Losing a good piece of hunting ground can be a painful experience. You spend years finding the best spots and learning how deer move through the property; you put in plenty of hard work, maybe have some success, and then, bam! Bad news can come on short notice. It might feel like the end of the world. But it may also lead to finding better ground.

Randy Aukamp lives in Pennsylvania, along with all the other members of the million-man orange army! It seems like everyone from the great state of PA deer hunts. The tradition of heading to deer camp after Thanksgiving to make drives in the mountains is ages old. And most hunters there are content to get “their” buck. Trophy hunting typically is not job number one, and all public land gets hammered hard. On private ground, you stand a better chance for something above average, if your neighbors are on the same page. Even then, you still need to get lucky before someone else does. Hunting in the Commonwealth is the essence of pursuing pressured whitetails!

Randy had avoided most of this with his own Pennsylvania lease, which he had for several years. He had acquired it through a land management company. It was close to home, and there were some better than average deer on the property. He was all set. Then the word came down. The property owner had decided to lease to the adjoining landowner. There was no negotiating or option to change that decision. It was a done deal, and he needed a new place to hunt.

Randy began searching online and located a much smaller tract in Maryland, which was available through the same company. It would mean a two-hour trip, but with nothing else on his plate, he decided to drive down and check it out. Maryland has a reputation for awesome deer hunting, so he was hoping for the best. But he had no idea there was a huge surprise ahead! When he arrived, Randy discovered the oxbow-shaped 50 acres curved tightly around a housing development. At first glance, there was nothing that looked really good about it. There would be noise and the possibility of intrusion by pets, and who knew what else? But it was better than nothing, and he could see evidence of deer living there. So, he set up a trail camera to get more info and hoped for the best.

When the first pics came in, the hunter immediately committed to the lease. One outstanding deer can do that to a man. And Randy had found it!

Randy spent the rest of the summer clearing trails through thickets and marking good stand locations. It was delicate work in a tight area. The place was so thick it had to be opened up, so Randy used an electric weed eater to reduce noise and tried to keep the intrusion to a minimum. There was no way to avoid bumping deer. He was going to be in there with them from start to finish. While working on that project, he met the farmer who hunted the 750 acres that joined it on the opposite side from the houses. His description of the smaller property was dismal, calling it “an overpriced piece of swamp land, full of mosquitoes.” And part of that was right. The mosquitoes were so thick that you could not stay in there without covering up every inch of exposed skin. Hunting the swamp was definitely going to present more than a few challenges.

But the farmer’s negativity was not enough to overcome what Randy knew. The place was overrun with bucks. And one was a giant with double drop tines. A little discomfort was a non-issue! When bow season opened, Randy was ready for the swamp. Despite his high hopes, the first few days were not productive. He hunted hard, but the big buck was very good at staying hidden.

On Oct. 16, Randy made a short morning hunt. Bad weather was forecast for later in the day. So, after a few hours, he set up a blind and a camera in a different area and headed home. About an hour later, he got video of the giant checking it all out. The big deer walked in, stared directly at the blind and smelled the whole area. Game on!

A three-day muzzleloader season opened the following weekend. Randy was convinced the big deer would be smarter than to come into that area again so soon after discovering the blind. So, he slipped in and set up a climber on the opposite side of the property that first morning. There was a trail there which was used to access the farm field. The new stand was a few hundred yards from the blind, and Randy gambled that would be enough. The early hunt was once again uneventful, so he took a break and left for a quick lunch. When he returned, there was a noticeable change. Someone not far away in the neighborhood was practicing playing a saxophone, loudly and poorly. The erratic notes rolled through the swamp, playing the same sequence over and over again. You can’t make this up, huh?

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But right in the middle of the symphony, something caught Randy’s attention. There was a young 3-point buck working the limbs of a small tree about 100 yards away. The deer didn’t seem to be bothered by the music. It had probably happened before. Eventually, the deer eased off and all went quiet again. As the sun got lower in the sky, the tree began shaking violently again. This caught Randy’s attention, but he wasn’t sure why the young buck had suddenly become so aggressive. Then, a different deer stepped out from under the branches. And it was much larger than the 3-point.

Randy eased his muzzleloader up, and the scope was filled with a huge, wide rack. It was him, the double-drop giant! The deer stepped out further, and Randy fired. The air filled with a huge cloud of smoke. As it cleared, the hunter could hear the deer tearing through brush, and then all was quiet. Randy decided to wait a few minutes before getting down to investigate.

Randy asked himself: Had this all really happened? Then, the urge to know took over. It was time to go look. After a short trailing job, Randy found the huge deer down in a small creek, lying directly under one of his other tree stands. But it was also apparent that he would need help to get the buck out to his truck. He had been given permission to park on a vacant lot, and several people had noticed him coming and going during his hunts. Some of them had also heard him shoot.

When he approached one of the closest houses, he was greeted by an excited lady who asked: “Did you get the big one?” And, when he replied, “Yes,” she called out to her husband to come hear the story. Then they explained that they had seen the deer many times in the back yard, and most of the neighborhood knew about it too. Randy had found the help he needed, but there was no four-wheeler there. So, the man volunteered to go into the woods with his wheelbarrow to retrieve the buck! That actually worked better than it sounds. They got the buck loaded up, and when Randy headed back to Pennsylvania, he had quite a story to tell.

Every deer hunter likes drop tines, and this buck has one on each beam. He also has plenty of mass, and long brow tines. It is much bigger than anything Randy has ever seen while hunting in Pennsylvania, measuring exactly 170 inches. So, losing his first lease turned out to be a good thing. Randy not only got a fantastic trophy, but also a story in what he calls his “favorite magazine.” Two dreams came true for this lucky hunter, so it wasn’t a bad ending after a terrible start!