No text message went out on the Warner family phones this year. “I sent a picture to Christine right away instead,” said Tyson after he shot the biggest buck in the area on Friday, November 13. “She was in Duluth with the kids.”
Last year, it was Christine who shot the big buck and sent this text to Tyson: “BIG!”
This year, a picture spoke a thousand words.
Tyson’s hunt was very rewarding because on opening morning, Tyson and Christine sat in the same stand and almost came up with a big buck the very first day only to experience disappointment.
“The deer came out about 230 yards away, and she [Christine] didn’t want to shoot that far,” said Tyson. “We watched it a little longer, and it came up on a ridge. I shot at it and missed, but it turned and came right at us. I shot it again and it dropped. We were high-fiving.”
“Pretty soon she [Christine] says, ‘It got back up!’ What do you mean it got back up?”
“I turned around and the deer was running away.”
Tyson shot a few more times and then took Christine’s gun and shot again. At this point, the deer was about 450 yards away in the brush.
After waiting about 15 minutes, Tyson went to investigate. He eventually found blood and began tracking. In his mind, the buck wouldn’t go far.
A mile of tracking through the swamp took its toll on Tyson, and he returned to the house to rehydrate. Tyson went back out and searched until dark without any success.
“Back at the shack that evening, we talked about it, and Steve Johnson who hunts with us from southern Minnesota said, ‘I guarantee you hit it in the neck. The shock will knock him down, but he’ll get back up.’”
Tyson felt it made sense because the blood was high on the brush. “I called it a wash and was pretty bummed out. The next day, that’s all we talked about.”
Tyson didn’t stay bummed for long, because he returned to the deer stand six days later. “I sat in Christine’s stand and it was raining out. At about 4:00 p.m. I glanced over, and a deer walked up through the swamp.”
After identifying that it was a buck through the glass, Tyson waited until it got closer. “I knew it was decent, but I couldn’t tell how big it was. Then it started shaking all the water off and shook its head. When it did that, I could see both sides of its rack.”
Tyson decided to shoot it. “I grunted two times and didn’t do anything, so I took my range-finder and discovered it was at 303 yards. It’s not getting any closer, so I took a shot and I could see that it hit him.”
Another 15-minute wait and Tyson headed out and found the buck lying there. After taking pictures and sending them to Christine and a few buddies, Tyson and his hunting party took a closer look at the deer.
“While I was gutting it out, Robert [Dahl] says, ‘Man, it’s got a big hole in the neck. That’s a bullet hole. It comes right out the back side of its neck.’”
That’s when Tyson put two and two together. “Opening morning, he was facing me the same way. The shot went through the meat and knocked him down but didn’t hit anything vital at all.”
Tyson thought for sure the wolves would get him, and he was quite happy to get a second chance. “I was happy to get the deer for one thing, but even happier that it was the same deer.”
The 8-point buck weighed in at 246 pounds, which was the biggest deer shot in the area. Tyson won the Big Buck Contest at the Cromwell Self-Serve and Jackson’s Hole in Lawler.
This is the biggest deer Tyson has shot, but not the biggest rack.
Later, Tyson shot another buck that was 171 pounds. “It’s really gratifying to shoot two nice bucks after spending a lot of hours putting in food plots,” he said.
As for the rest of the hunting party, Jim Dahl shot an 8-pointer and a 9-pointer; Robert Dahl shot an 8-pointer; and Arnold Dahl (92-years old) shot an 8-pointer.
>
