Sam Hogan

My first Michigan buck in three years and I’d say he was worth waiting for.

I’ve never been as “on to” a big buck as I was this deer. I have his sheds from last year, I pinpointed bedding, and due to the proximity to his bed, he had occasional daylight tendencies. It was very clear he was quite comfortable on this small permission parcel.

At 6:15, as soon as the rain subsided and winds died down Austin and I caught a glimpse of a big body moving through the swamp. Binoculars quickly confirmed it was him. He hit the high ground and immediately made a scrape at 55 yards before walking the edge down to a perfect 30 yard lane.

I settled the camera on him and took the shot. After the excitement subsided we reviewed the footage. A little back, but it’s a dead deer. We backed out, made all the “I never thought I’d actually get to make this call” calls. And assembled the troops.

At 10:00, after another heavy bout of rain moved through, and a few Busch cookies to calm the nerves, Calvin Beeke, Austin Delmotte, Steve Crawford of Chasing Legends podcast, Kyle Westrate, Joe Koetsier, and I set out on the recovery.

It didn’t take long. He had hit the dirt running only about 100 yards away. He must have crashed just out of sight of the tree.

He hit the scales at 194lbs dressed, my personal best. He put on 25-30 inches between 3.5 and 4.5. He will likely be a hard buck to beat here in Michigan.

Huge thanks to My wife for encouraging the pursuit and keeping us fed and to the group of guys who came out to recover/celebrate! It’ll be a tough night to top!