No, this isn't a bow kill, but I did chase him for 2+ seasons with my bow. He just didn't make a mistake until I had a shotgun in my hands. This buck has changed me forever as a hunter. I'm not sure if it's because of the history I had with him or the fact that I killed him on my own land or a combination of the two. The Legend of “Bakers Dozen” The pursuit and harvest of this deer has changed me forever as a hunter. It was more than just the harvest another animal. It was a roller coaster adventure that came to a conclusion on Saturday, November 17, 2012 at 10:10 am when a magnificent whitetail provided me with one of the most emotional moments in my life. I’m not exactly sure of the beginning of this story. It could be back in September of 2010 when I got trail camera pictures of great 11 point buck in velvet on a trail leading to my food plot. He could have been a young Baker’s Dozen before he filled out. His rack had many of the same qualities. Or its beginning might be just over a year later in October of 2011 when I got 2 videos of a magnificent 13 pointer coming to and working a huge scrape that I believe every deer in the neighborhood visits at some point during the season. Thus the name “Baker’s Dozen” was born. This giant buck was a typical 6 x 6 with a small sticker on his left G2. From that moment I was consumed by this buck. He was the biggest buck I had ever gotten on trail camera and he was on my own land which really made this special for me. I work very hard to make my property the best it can be for holding deer. I spent the rest of the 2011 bow season hunting Baker’s Dozen. Could these pictures be of a young Baker's Dozen as an 11 pointer in 2010? Throughout the season I got a few more trail camera videos of him at the same scrape and some still pictures of him at a huge rub tree about 10” in diameter, located just 75 yards above my trailer, which gets rubbed every year. I even laid eyes on him in daylight while on stand one early November evening. I heard a commotion in a hollow behind my stand, located across the food plot from the huge scrape. I turned to see Bakers Dozen tearing up a Bush Honeysuckle. When he was finished teaching it a lesson, he walked away with half of it still attached to his antlers. But he also walked away from my stand. I tried grunting and snort wheezing at him but he was having nothing to with my calls. He disappeared over the ridge and that was the only time I ever laid eyes on him that year. I couldn't get the first videos of him to load, but this was also taken at the scrape. Rubbing the big rub tree in 2011. I’d sometimes go weeks without him stepping in front of one of my trail cameras. But then he would show up just to prove to me that he was still alive and out there. Even after both shotgun seasons I would get the occasional picture or video of him at the scrape or just walking through my food plot. But every single video and picture in 2011 was captured after dark. The only daylight sighting was of him working over the bush 60 yards behind my stand that November evening. I continued to move stands all season long trying find him on his feet again during shooting hours, but he always avoided me. The season came to an end with no more sightings and me hoping the other hunters in the neighborhood had not wrapped their tag around his leg either. Then on March 11, 2012 I was out shed hunting a series of small fingers that connect into a large ravine. I always find beds on these fingers and figured it would be good place to find a shed. There next to a stump and surrounded by the old treetop lays evidence that Baker’s Dozen had indeed made it through the hunting season. I had found his right side shed lying in his bed. It was a perfect spot for a wise old buck to bed. His chosen spot had a great view of the hollow below and he was partially hidden by the remains of the fallen tree. And with a Southeast wind he could detect the scent of anything trying to sneak up behind him. So now I was sure I would get another crack at him during the 2012 season. He had made it through the season alive. Once antlers started sprouting I placed my trail cameras out hoping to get pictures of a velvet covered Bakers Dozen. All summer I would anticipate each camera check, but not one picture of a buck resembling him showed up on my trail cameras. In fact it was one of my worst summers ever for getting pictures of velvet bucks. They just weren’t living on my farm. Then a couple weeks before the season was scheduled to open I got a bunch of pictures of a group of velvet bucks in my food plot, but none of them were Bakers Dozen. I was worried that he might have died from EHD. I had heard it had killed a few deer in the area on neighboring farms. The season opened with me not knowing for sure he was still alive, but I had placed stands based on last years sighting and shed find. I hunted the early season with no luck and zero evidence of Bakers Dozen still in the area. I took off work from Oct 27-31 to hunt a big cold front that was coming through. Then finally, when I checked the camera at the scrape on October 30[SUP]th[/SUP], Baker’s Dozen had visited the scrape just after midnight that night. He was baaaaaack and just in time for the rut, but still up to his old tricks of only showing up after dark. But at least I knew he was still around and he still liked that scrape. There was no doubt it was him. He had the exact same 13 point rack, except everything was just a little bigger. I hunted until the end of my vacation with no sightings of him and then headed home to help get ready for my dads auction on Saturday, November 3[SUP]rd[/SUP]. He had moved into a retirement community earlier and we were auctioning off the house and his 50 year collection of stuff. I didn’t get to hunt that weekend. He's Baaaaack! http://s184.photobucket.com/albums/x176/jmbuckhunter/?action=view¤t=PICT0094.mp4 I went to work on Monday and things were a little slow, so I told them I was taking off the rest of the week to bowhunt. I knew I couldn’t take off any during the following week as a number of other guys were taking off for the Missouri gun season. So I would need to be at work. After an uneventful Tuesday morning hunt, I checked the trail cameras to see if I had anymore evidence of Bakers Dozen. To my surprise, he had been at the scrape Saturday evening at 5:30 pm while I was still helping with the auction. The only weekend I hadn’t been there hunting he decides to show up in the daylight 40 yards from my stand. How does this deer do it? The rest of the week I alternated hunting the stand across from the scrape and a few of the stands along the main ridge I figured he used to travel through my property. This long ridge connects the 3 spots where I had all of my sighting of Bakers Dozen. The scrape in the food plot is at one end and the big rub tree is at the other end. The bed where I found his shed was also just off of the main ridge. I saw a few small bucks and one nice wide heavy 8 pointer twice that just wouldn’t come within bow range. I checked the cameras one more time during that week and got 2 videos of Bakers Dozen at the big rub tree at 4:14 in the morning, while I was asleep in my trailer just 75 yards away. He was really starting to rub it in face. My last sit before gun season came to an end without a sighting of my #1 buck. The only weekend I couldn't hunt all fall he shows up in daylight. How does this buck do it? http://s184.photobucket.com/albums/x176/jmbuckhunter/?action=view¤t=PICT0126.mp4 This video was shot as I was asleep in my trailer 75 yards from this tree. That's just mean. http://s184.photobucket.com/albums/x176/jmbuckhunter/?action=view¤t=SUNP0004.mp4 Continued in another post, story was too long for one post.
This year I decided to get a shotgun tag to increase my odds of tagging Bakers Dozen. I hadn’t gun hunted in few years, but I hated not being in the woods when I knew this buck was still out there. So with shotgun tag in hand I headed to the farm Thursday night for the opening morning on Friday. I hunted a stand along the main ridge and had good action with a few does and small bucks around most of the morning. But not the buck I was after. I hunted till 11:00 and then did a quick camera check and found out Baker’s Dozen was quite active since I was last there. He had been in front of 4 of my 6 trail cameras. Including 2 spots on the farm I had never seen him before. He was becoming more active and moving around more. But still all of this movement was in the dark. He was almost like a vampire. I decided to hunt the stand across from the scrape on the edge of my food plot Friday afternoon, hoping maybe a hungry doe would drag him out of hiding. I had a few does show up early and a small buck came out to give them a sniff, but he soon left and the does fed off out of sight just before last light. I sat in my trailer later that evening trying figure out where to hunt in the morning. The wind was supposed to be light and variable out of the South. I figured it would be a good time to set up near the bed where I found his shed. The stand is also just off the ridge that is a natural travel path through my woods connecting the scrape, bed and the rub tree. I made sure I got in the stand well before daylight since I was hunting close to the bedding area. I had 2 small bucks cruise through right after first light and a couple does with a fawn walked past me around 8:00. Then nothing for the next couple hours. I was looking down the ridge when I caught movement to my right in the bottom where the fingers come together. I check it out with my binoculars and immediately recognize the deer as Bakers Dozen. He is about 65 yards away and angling away from me slightly. I slowly stand up so I can swing the gun around and get into position for a shot. I lean against the tree for support and find him in the scope. He conveniently stops on his own and I settled the crosshairs on the back of his ribs calculating the bullets path through his chest. I double checked for any limbs through the scope and not seeing any squeeze of the shot. At the shot he lunges forward and takes off up one of the small ditches on the hillside. After a short run he crashes into a deadfall and I see him rear up and fall over backwards. Then everything is totally silent. Where he fell I can’t see him so I eject my shell and chamber another one just in case. I keep the gun aimed in the direction where I last saw him and see no movement or sign of him. After maybe 5 minutes, I’m starting to get the shakes. I sit down and look at my phone to see what time it is. It’s now 10:17. I start to gather my stuff so I can climb down. Once on the ground I slowly make my way over to the deadfall I saw him crash into. As I top the small finger I see the most magnificent whitetail of my hunting career laying dead just 50 yards from the bed where I found his shed approximately 9 months earlier. This is where emotions I have never felt before take over my mind. I’m happy I finally got him. I’m sad that this beautiful animal won’t be roaming my woods any longer. I’m ecstatic that I made a perfect shot and it was all over in a few seconds. I feel bad that he had to die. I have a huge lump in my throat and can feel tears welling up in my eyes. I’ve killed a few great bucks in my career, but I have never felt anything like this after walking up to them. I guess it’s the fact that I have so much history with this buck along with having put so much work into my property to have it all come together with a buck like this was just unbelievable. My wife always told me I would get him, but as much as I hoped it would happen. I know that targeting a specific buck of this caliber and then actually killing him is next to impossible. I just stand in awe at the huge antlers on this buck for a few minutes before I actually reach down and grab hold of them. He is by far the biggest buck of my life. I knelt down beside him and told him I’m sorry for taking his life, but let him know that he would forever have a special place in my life. And that he will be admired for the great buck that he is in my house whenever I stare at his mount. I feel my phone vibrating in my pocket and see a text from Brad hunting on the neighbor’s property. It read “Success??”. I text back “Baker’s Dozen is dead”. Congratulations came back immediately. After a few more texts that Bakers Dozen is dead (which confused a few people, not knowing if I had killed him or not) I managed to compose myself enough to call my taxidermist friend Bob. After a few no ways and awesomes he agrees to send his son Johnny down to help me get Baker’s Dozen out of the woods and take pictures. After dragging him up on top of the ridge and getting him cleaned up and posed Johnny starts taking pictures. We check them out after he snapped a few and he says I don’t think you can take a bad picture of this buck. I had to agree with him. We carefully loaded him on the back of the 4 wheeler and got him out of the woods and up to Bob’s house. After a big round of congrats and holy cows, we take a few more pictures. I just want to take a minute to thank Johnny Schnettgoecke for taking the great pictures. You did an awesome job and got some beautiful shots. After weighing him, caping him out and getting the antlers where I could measure them we came up with a gross score of 186 6/8”. He wasn’t a very big bodied deer for the area at all. He only field dressed 175#. My average buck from the area probably weighed 185#. And I have a few well over 200#. But what he lacks in body size, he more than makes up for in antler size. Baker’s Dozen was an amazing whitetail and I’m going to miss getting videos and trail camera pictures of him on my farm. But now I will be able to look at him every day mounted in my home. I don’t know if I will ever have another experience with another buck like the one I had with Baker’s Dozen. But this is one I will never forget as long as I live. Sometimes I wonder if all the work planting food plots, digging water holes, hanging stands, clearing shooting lanes, setting trail cameras and maintaining the property is worth it. But then to have the experience of taking a buck like this on my own land proves that it most definitely is worth it. I just wish more people could have the same experience. I only saw that buck one time during daylight hours other than the time I killed him and had one set of trail camera videos of him during daylight over 2 or maybe 3 years. I had dozens of videos and pictures of him traveling after dark. But on November 17, 2012 at 10:10 am he slipped up and I was there to capitalize. I don’t know if he was heading to the bed where I found his shed or just out late cruising for does, but I sure am glad our paths finally crossed. Baker’s Dozen you were a magnificent whitetail and a great foe. I am going to miss doing battle with you on my property. I have never had more respect for an animal than I had for you. I present to you Baker's Dozen. Unofficial Gross score 186 6/8".
That sure is one tremendous animal, John ...Congrats again, my friend on a buck of a lifetime and the story that goes with it!
What a wonderful story, and a beautiful animal. You sir are a true sportsman, and my hat's off to you for respecting this beautiful Whitetail in your pursuit of him. Congratulations on a world class buck, you earned him fairly, and I know you will always respect his legacy. It doesn't get any better!
Awesome awesome buck and story! Huge congratulations to you. That is what deer hunting is all about. Did you have him aged?
The feeling and experience you had is what we all dream of. This is what's it's all about. I can only imagine how you felt as you stood there admireing him. Its obvious you have repect and appreciation for him and its nice to see a guy like yourself get that opportunity. The buck I'm after showed up at my stand at 3:25 pm nov 1 St. I was in another stand about 200 yards away. I know that feeling lol. Congrats on sealing the deal, great story, great pictures and great post.
Simply amazing John. Congrats again, he's a magnificent animal. Anyone who has seen your property, and the work that has been put into it knows that you worked your tail off for that buck. Now send some of that big buck mojo a few miles north, I'm getting cold!
Simply amazing John. Congrats again, he's a magnificent animal. Anyone who has seen your property, and the work that has been put into it knows that you worked your tail off for that buck. Now send some of that big buck mojo a few miles north, I'm getting cold!
