Monster Buck Shot in LaPorte County

Trevor Draves climbed off a roof at the A-Team Construction site where he worked in Rolling Prairie, rushed home to grab his hunting gear then drove to the woods in southern LaPorte County.

It’s what avid bow hunters do in late October when the early rut is underway.

“I didn’t get in the stand until 4 o’clock,” said the 21-year-old LaPorte resident. “But when I saw a good number of does milling around, I figured it was going to be a good night.”

He had no idea just how good it would be.

Draves had no interest in shooting a doe. With the rut coming and the doe movement he saw, his odds of seeing a buck would improve.

He began to rattle a pair of old antlers, a tactic hunters use to simulate a buck in the area. Mature bucks are territorial and don’t take a liking to other bucks moving in on their turf.

“It was about 20 minutes before dark and I started glassing the woods (with binoculars),” Draves recalled. “I noticed one area that looked different and tried to focus on it. Suddenly, I saw antlers protruding behind a bush and an animal shake its head. That’s when I knew he was big.”

Man, was he ever. As he would discover later, it was likely a 6-year-old, 17-point monster with a huge body.

Draves blew on his grunt call a couple of times, again, emulating the sound of another buck in the area.

The antlers disappeared.

He waited and grunted a couple of more times. He looked at his watch. Time was running out.

The dense trees were blocking what little light was available. It would be dark soon.

“Suddenly, I saw him coming down a trail, banging his head against tree branches and raking the leaves,” said Draves. “He was in a fightin’ mood.”

The buck approached, still pawing the ground and swinging his antlers against the brush. He moved within 15 yards, directly into a shooting lane Draves had cut through the brush earlier in the season.

He took the shot. The buck disappeared, but could be heard crashing through the brush.

Did he miss?

Draves waited nervously for 25 minutes before climbing from the stand. He searched where he last saw the deer and found tracks. There were no drops of blood, nor was his arrow in sight.

His heart sunk.

“I followed the trail a few more yards and found half my arrow, blood and hair so I knew I hit him,” he said. “I went home and got my dad and some buddies to help track him.”

When they returned in the darkness, they found more blood specks.

“I was on my hands and knees while my dad shined the spotlight ahead,” said Draves. “Pretty soon…there he was. I couldn’t believe how big he was.”

The deer dressed out at 225 pounds. The rack was massive, and he hopes he will score as a non-typical record book kinda deer.

“I’ve had guys tell me he could be a LaPorte County record, but we have to see how he scores,” said Draves, who will have veteran deer scorer John Bogucki do the measuring after the rack dries out. Draves guesses the animal will score close to 190.

The former LaPorte Slicer baseball player has been hunting the 40-acre tract for four few years. Although he had never seen the animal while hunting, he knew a big buck had inhabited the area.

“The first year I captured a photo of a nice buck on the trail camera and guessed him at 3 1/2 years at that time,” he explained.

“Last spring I went into the woods and found shed antlers from two years ago and one from last year, so I had a hunch there was a big one out there. After I shot this one, I compared the shed antlers with his and there is no doubt it was the same buck.”