Hunter hunting along a marsh

Chris Vennix

Information

  • Date Taken: 11/16/2021
  • Time Of Day: Morning
  • Method: Rifle
  • County: Mecosta County
  • Property: Private
  • Dressed Weight: 135

Sat down at 6:40am. Within a couple minutes the first of two bucks showed up. Unsure of their actual points as it was still too early. They milled around the field, but were active and curious to find does. They each separately moved through. The binoculars helped to see the details my eyes couldn’t pick up. 15 minutes later, this dude shows up about 40 yards out. He moved forward, I was able to verify his size through the binoculars. He changed his route to come directly in front of me by about 35 yards. Nervously I prepped my rifle and opened the window. He stopped perfectly broadside to me so I took the shot. He mule kicked and ran off, dropped about 100 yards away. My two sons were anxious to see him, but I wanted to wait to give them an opportunity to get a couple hours of morning hunt in. At 8:45 we proceeded to start tracking. Blood was difficult to find at first. Eventually the boys found good blood. Connor spotted him first, and the look on his face was priceless! He knew it was the big boy we’d seen in only a few settings over the last couple weeks, one of which was at a neighbors house nearly a mile down the road. Best bucks of my hunting career.