Excellent field report from longtime Big Deer blogger Derek:

ND buck derek 2015

Hi Mike: Last year I got my buck while still in velvet on the first hunt of the year. This year it took me a few more weeks.

I started getting trail cam pics of a really nice buck out in one of our CRP fields. For the first month I got pictures of this buck only, with no other bucks and no does and fawns, he was a real bachelor.

ND trail cam derek

I figured he was bedding in some cattail sloughs and making his way to the neighbor’s bean field. We have one lone bush along the fence line in this CRP field, so I set up and brushed in a blind a few weeks before the season. Recent cam pics showed that he was passing by right at last light.

My dad was able to sit in the blind with me on the 4th night I hunted it. With about 5 minutes of shooting light left the buck seemingly appeared out of nowhere in the wide-open, hilly CRP. After a 23-yard shot and 93-yard blood trail I had my best buck yet. But the best part was sharing the hunt with my old man.—Thanks, Derek

Derek, great job scouting/patterning and being flexible and hunting from the ground…good job bushing in the blind weeks before, so the buck got used to it, and felt comfortable walking by it…best of all, glad your dad was along, I know that must have been a special day, especially with your best buck yet. Heck of a deer, heavy! Congrats man.