This Iowa monster never knew what hit him.
The state of Iowa may not be much to look at for most people. If you've ever driven through it, you know there's a LOT of fields and corn. However, to hunters, they see all that agriculture and know that this is the land of the giant whitetails. There is a reason so many hunters hope to visit the Hawkeye State for the chance at the deer of a lifetime.
When the magical month of November comes around, many of those big bucks are up and on the prowl for does and they're also ready to fight any rivals that get in their way. This makes Iowa a great place to call and rattle.
Iowa hunter Doug Fredericksen ends up putting together a perfect calling sequence that draws in the monster non-typical of a lifetime. The buck takes its sweet time strolling into his shooting lane before the hunter makes a perfect double lung shot on the beast.
Honestly, we're not sure how Doug kept his composure on this hunt. Even after the buck was down, he was incredibly chill about the whole thing. He must have ice water running in his veins. We would be shaking out of our tree stand if a beast like that was strolling into view! That lung shot was well-placed and resulted in a quick recovery. It's always a good sign when you see that high back kick.
We found it interesting that Doug says this part of the property is one that they only venture into during the month of November. They have effectively created a sanctuary from humans and that's going to draw the big, old, wise bucks like this big boy. It's worth having such a zone on your own hunting land if you can manage it. It effectively creates a safe space the big boys will return to year after year.
This buck had a little bit of everything hunters look for in a big deer. Width, mass, tine height, and character. There's not much more anyone could want out of the deer of a lifetime. Congrats on an awesome deer Doug!
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NEXT: THE AXIS DEER AND HOW THEY'RE IMPACTING PARTS OF THE UNITED STATES
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