Russ Papke’s father-in-law, Dan, is a farmer and long-time hunter in Kent County. In the past few years, Russ told me Dan has changed from an “if it’s brown, it’s down” mentality to passing on lots of good bucks in order to start growing and harvesting bigger bucks, which has made hunting a lot better for Russ and his father-in-law.
There was a buck that Russ had seen a couple of times on camera, and his father-in-law even more times, that would keep most hunters awake at night trying to figure out how to harvest it.
Russ is a full-time active-duty National Guardsman. A short time ago, Russ was to be promoted, and the ceremony was taking place in Belaire, Michigan. His father-in-law attended, and while there, this big buck, during daylight hours, was right out in front of where Russ would have been hunting that day. Of course, Dan jokingly reminded Russ the big buck had been right in front of his blind.
Russ had only hunted 7 times in Michigan this fall prior to November 6. He also hunts a lot in Ohio. On November 6, he headed out for a long sit. He hunts out of a saddle and moved to a spot at about 11:00 a.m. to 50 yards off a food plot. With snacks in hand, he was prepared for a long sit. Probably not prepared for what was about to happen.
The family figured they had three shooters on the property, and Russ figured that his best shot at one of them was near this food plot. At about 3:30, Russ saw his first deer. Right after that, Dan contacted him and told him that he had seen the big buck at 90 yards. Russ told me he was really hoping Dan would harvest the big one. He said Dan had done so much to make the hunting so much better, such as food plots, and he really deserved to harvest this buck. Especially after how many bucks he has passed on.
The buck kept moving away from Dan and toward Russ. Dan told him to get ready! About ½ hour before the end of shooting hours, Russ saw a doe working a trail inside the thicket. Then Russ saw the very large set of antlers following the doe.
Russ knew if they kept on the same trail, he would have an opening at 34 yards. He got his bow ready. When the buck reached that opening, Russ grunted, and the buck stopped. And Russ let his arrow fly.
Russ thought the shot was low and started second-guessing himself. He was hoping for the perfect shot or a total miss on this trophy buck. He waited about 10 minutes for the adrenaline to pass and to calm down after his shot. He then called Dan and told him he had shot the big one.
Before he knew it, Dan had left his blind and beat Russ to where his arrow was stuck in the ground. Russ noticed the bright red blood on the arrow and felt a lot better about his shot. Russ wanted to go back to his truck and drop off his stuff but Dan was very excited and wanted to go and look now. Lots of excitement was going on at that moment.
Another relative was hunting nearby who heard the shot. He came over to help look for the buck. They found the trophy about 30 yards away. Way bigger than they had expected. Much bigger! Most times, when you see a big buck on camera they almost always turn out to be much bigger than you thought. In this case that was exactly the case. A giant of a buck!
Russ’s buck was scored by his taxidermist at 206.45 inches. The buck had 23 points. They figured the buck was between 4 and 6 years of age. They are hoping to get the exact age from the MDNR after the jawbone is looked at.
Russ said the funny thing about the entire experience was that he was on military leave and had been hunting with the same group of guys in Ohio for several years. He was not even supposed to be in Michigan. His hunting friends, for one reason or another, were unable to make the trip and all canceled. Because of the cancelation of his buddies and talking to his wife, he was on the farm hunting in Kent County and not in Ohio.
From talking to Russ, you can tell he put 100% into his hunting. When he hunts in Ohio (for trophy whitetails), he sits all day. Those are hard hunts; I have done that myself in box blinds with a rifle, never in a saddle with archery equipment.
After harvesting this world-class whitetail buck and once the word got out, Russ was surprised to learn just how many people had seen it and had been hunting it. There was one hunter who hunted him for three years and had missed it in 2023. Another hunter had told him he had seen that buck 6 miles from where Russ had harvested him.
It shows that letting smaller bucks go gives them an opportunity to grow into bigger bucks and allows hunters like Russ to harvest a 200-inch plus, world-class buck in the State of Michigan.
The author is Jeff Pendergraff, a retired Captain from the Law Enforcement Division of the MDNR.
