Northwoods Sporting Journal > Articles > Featured Articles > Buck of A Lifetime

Buck of A Lifetime

By V. Paul Reynolds

“I am over the moon about this buck.” said avid deer hunter Robbie Flint. And well he should be. His buck, which was tagged in early November at the Four Corner Store in Union, sported an incredible 27 points and tipped the scales dressed at 252 lbs!

Flint is a 28- year old scallop fisherman from Cushing, who has been deer hunting since he was 7 years old. He and his brother had been scoping out this buck for a number of years. “I thought he had disappeared a few years ago,” Flint says, “but then he showed up on my trail cam early in the fall.” He indicated that he and his younger brother Gage were really pumped and began forming a hunt strategy on how to outwit this formidable multi-antlered buck.

“I really wanted more than anything for my brother to have a shot at this guy,” exclaims Flint.”But, you know, it just didn’t work out that way.”

Flint had an inkling that the deer was using the swamp for security but he was moving about looking for does. On the big day, Flint had put out a wick with some of Cronk’s estrus attraction. He was hunkered down against a pine tree. He said that he had also put out a few half bleats on his doe call.

Snapping Twigs

About 8:30 a.m Flint said that the wind began to stir and he decided to stay put. His brother Gage was not too far off in a tree stand.

“I soon heard some twigs snapping,” he recalls. He said that he knew from experience that what he was hearing was something heavy, that is was not a squirrel and doubtfully a human. I remained still as a statue for the longest time occasionally hearing that broken twig noise. He says that he gave out with another half bleat and moved his head just barely like an owl.

First he saw just an antler tip, but then suddenly there was the buck of his dreams in all his antlered splendor – at a mere 10 yards! Flint says that he dropped the big deer with one shot to the forward shoulder with his 7mm Magnum.

“ I was thrilled when I saw his head and rack, but a little sad that I had the shot instead of Gage, but, hey, you just don’t turn down an opportunity like that,” he exclaims.

Most certainly not.

Flint and his brother are eager to have it scored officially by MASTC. According to Barry Welch, president of MASTC, the state record for antlered deer has not been eclipsed, and although the flint deer holds a mighty impressive atypical rack, it will not best the Hill Gould Deer taken at Grand Lake Stream in 1910. That famous whitetail’s rack was festooned with more than 30 points.

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