When I last wrote about a reader’s successful deer hunt, I asked that any readers with a good deer story should contact me. Column reader Mark Sedlacek of Scotland gave me a call, and I paid him a visit. His living room walls were adorned with the shoulder and European mounts of deer that were at least as good as any deer I’ve ever bagged. I was certainly in the right place. Mark wanted to tell me about his 2009 season. Why 2009? As Epizootic Hemorrhagic Disease has taken its toll in the past ten years, 2009 may be the last year we had trophy deer in numbers.

Mark began his 2009 East River archery season on September 26th in his home Bon Homme County. His brother had spotted some good bucks while checking cattle, but nothing showed that entire day. He decided to switch his attention to West River Gregory County deer the following afternoon. Around 6:30 P.M. he caught a glimpse of a very good buck from his cedar tree stand, but it never came within range. He would return to his Gregory County stand on October 3rd.

Mark’s host land owner asked that the doe population be thinned, so Mark took a doe that morning and donated it to the Sportsmen Against Hunger program. After returning home for a short nap, shower, some scent eliminator, and clean clothes, Mark returned to his Gregory County stand around 4:30 P.M. Almost immediately he spotted a good buck, and he threw a few grunts and wheezes at it with his call. The buck eventually came within range. Mark stopped it with a vocal grunt, and an arrow to the lower ribs sent it crashing into the brush below. The main frame four by four with three kicker points scored 146 inches.

Mark could now focus on his East River archery tag. In early November the bucks began trailing does. November 13th found Mark in a favorite cedar tree stand with a doe decoy on the ground in front of him. Good numbers of small bucks came by, but no shooters. The following morning he again set out the doe decoy and put some estrous scent on the ground behind her. The doe decoy appeared to make a passing three by three buck nervous, so in the late morning Mark exited his stand and hid the decoy under a fence line cedar tree. Around 1:30 P.M. a very good buck wandered into Mark’s shooting zone, and he let fly with an arrow. The buck crashed after traveling 75 yards. The six by six main frame scored 165 inches.

Mark possessed an East River rifle tag for the 2009 season, but he chose to hunt once again with his bow. On November 27th, Mark climbed into his stand around 1:30 P.M. Around 4:30 he heard a commotion in the corn field in front of him, and out ran a doe with her fawn, but he still heard another deer. It was a big five by five with a heavy frame. He stopped the buck with a vocal grunt and triggered his arrow release. The shot hit farther back than Mark would have liked, but after giving the buck two hours to expire, he found the buck twenty yards from where it had first lain down. The shot had taken the liver and the opposite side lung. This buck scored 149 inches, and all three 2009 archery bucks qualified for the Pope & Young record book.

Mark got into archery in 1999, and is now experimenting with a recurve bow. I’ve had to condense each of these hunts for space purposes as Mark spent many more hours in his tree stands than I’ve indicated. I’m impressed that Mark didn’t use trail cameras. For those readers who aren’t familiar with scoring systems, I’d call any buck that scores over 130 points a darn good buck. I’d also count Mark as one of the two or three best deer hunters I know. Mark is profoundly grateful to the landowners who granted him permission over the years.

My latest book, The Dakota Nimrod Grows Older, is available at Midtowne, James Drug, Kocer’s Fallen Timbers, and Abby’s Bait Shop. See you next week.