Luke Snow, 36
Location: Minnesota
Gear: Ultralock Saddle, Predator Platform, One Stick
5 years ago, October 29, 2018… I set up in a new area that I wasn’t very familiar with. About an hour after daylight I did a little rattling sequence and heard a buck roar like I didn’t even know was possible. 6-7 seconds of constant “RRRRROOOOOAAAARRRRR”, If that makes sense. Now; this buck roar interrupted my rattling, so I did just a little bit more and he did it again. At that point I hung the rattle bag up and got ready. I heard approaching footsteps in the marsh coming right at me before the sound of two giant whitetails clashing erupted beneath me 50 yards away, just out of sight. After about ten seconds of the deepest toned clashing of racks, the walking continued in my direction. I could not see all the way down there so I wasn’t sure what was on the way but I knew it was big. A few seconds later, two giants walked by at 40 yards, a 170+ frame pushing a 150 frame past me with no shot opportunities. Since that day I have been convinced that I could fine tune that spot and harvest a deer of that caliber. For the last 5 years I have spent virtually all of my pre rut and rut sits in this general area waiting for my chance. To no avail I ate 4 years worth of tag sandwiches. I passed several nice bucks hoping to find a great buck doing exactly what I dreamt about for five years since the first giant encounter. Unfortunately, I spent more walks out second guessing my strategy than I’d like to admit. Until today. Today, on the 5 year anniversary of the biggest buck I’ve ever seen from a tree stand, I finally got my chance. I harvested the biggest buck of my 20 year bow hunting career in the place that has kicked my tail end and taught me more about persistence and failure. I never gave up. I wanted to, ohhhh; believe me. For the last couple years I’ve told myself time and time again to STOP wasting my time there. But I still had a glimmer of hope that I could relive the glory day I once experienced there. This buck is the epitome of persistence and so much more. I’ve probably logged over 200 miles hunting this area and experienced dozens and dozens of walks of shame. Was it worth it? I’d say. His rack is impressive to me like I can’t even put into words, to some he’s just okay. But this buck is by far the hardest I’ve ever worked for an animal. 5 years. Magnum.
