Todays’ great guest blog from BIG DEER field reporter Dean Weimer:

In the lead up to last year’s deer season, Daniel Nelson’s cousin Lance sent some images of a bucks he was seeing on his new hunting property. Daniel thought that one buck in particular might be in the 145-150-class. A few days later Daniel received a better picture of the deer, and realized he was looking at a buck that was more likely in the 170s. That is when both Daniel and Lance, who have hunted together for 23 years, became more interested in the buck. And with each new image of the buck that the guys got, Daniel thought he might like to hunt him. The only issue is that Daniel had not received an invite from his cousin yet!

Daniel, who admittedly isn’t “caught up on score too much” explains, “I’ve shot over 30 Pope and Young-class bucks and a couple Booners. I’m more interested in mature deer, rather than score.” Still, Daniel was getting plenty interested in the buck on Lance’s property, but he didn’t want to be the guy who’d weasel his way into someone’s hot spot.

“The rut was in full swing (early November) in southern Illinois, and all week long my cousin was sending me pictures of this deer and some other really good ones,” Daniel says. He wished his cousin well, and remained patient. Then on November 11th, Lance found success and killed his buck. Daniel was certainly happy for his cousin, while quietly chomping at the bit to get the invite to that property. He knew it was the time to get a bit more aggressive.

“My cousin shot a really nice buck–a mid-140s 11-pointer– and I said, ‘that’s it, I’m hunting with you tomorrow’,” he recalls. The next morning Daniel was up at 3 a.m. After a fresh pot of coffee and a quick devotional prayer he was out the door. He’d already scoped out the property using the OnX Maps App. While scouting the images he noticed an area where a prominent hardwood ridge split into multiple ridges–a great spot to intercept a big buck either hooked up with a doe, or cruising to find another one.

“The lord says ask and you shall receive so I asked, ‘let me shoot the biggest buck I’ve ever shot this morning’. I told myself, ‘I’m not leaving until I kill my biggest buck’,” he remembers.

Daniel showed up at his cousin’s house about 4:30 and got dressed outside his truck. He told Lance about the spot where all the ridges came together and to his great benefit Lance had homed in on that spot as well and already had a climbing stand positioned on a tree there.

“I was in the tree way before sunrise. I could hear all kinds of deer walking, grunting, and running around,” says Daniel. He felt it was going to be an epic hunt, but it didn’t necessarily start out as such.  After sunrise Daniel was shocked–and somewhat discouraged– that he didn’t see any deer. He decided to say another little hunter’s prayer and get re-focused. Then it happened.

About 8 a.m. a doe came through and he could just feel she had a buck following her, but to his chagrin she was alone. He couldn’t believe it. A lone doe during the peak of the rut and no boyfriend? Then about 8:28 he caught more movement. He saw a deer’s legs in the same general area that the doe was in and figured it was her still. He crouched down in the stand to get a better look. Lo and behold it wasn’t just a buck, but a big one! He realized the buck was moving pretty quickly away from him, so he grabbed his grunt call and hit it one time.

“He stopped, looked my way and started towards me,” Daniel recalls. “I drew my bow and waited for him to walk into my shooting lane. I released and made a perfect 22-yard shot.” The buck took off with blood literally pouring out his side.

Then the killer instinct took over. The buck was lying right there, but Daniel said to himself, “This deer is not getting away’.  I guess you can say I had a freak out moment!  I barely remember climbing down the tree. I just walked up on the deer and shot him again,” he says excitedly.

“Then it hit me, ‘Oh my gosh, this is the buck my cousin got pictures of and he’s not a 170, he’s a 200 or bigger!’, Daniel says. I thanked God and called my wife. After getting off the phone I had a moment– I was just in shock! ‘Thank you, Lord,’” he remembers. Daniel sent a text with an image of the downed monster to Lance to let him know.

Daniel Nelson only saw only 2 deer that November morning, but felt the whole time that he was going to kill his biggest buck yet, and what a buck it was.  At the time of this writing the buck hadn’t yet been officially measured. It had, however, been green-scored by a veteran Illinois measurer who was very meticulous and took his time with such a unique buck.

The Nelson giant sports tremendous mass, with semi-palmation at the H3 position on both sides; main beams just over 26” apiece; and exceptional symmetry, with only 4 2/8” of side-to-side differences. Add in the 21 4/8” inside spread and you get a gross typical score of 158 0/8”. The 8 non-typical points range from 2 ⅝” to 8 0/8” adding in the extra 42 2/8” helping the buck unofficially green gross at 200 2/8” with a net score at 196 0/8” non-typical. At this score it would nudge just into the all-time B&C book should Daniel ever choose to place it there.