08/03/2026
This was one of the wildest stories to come out of the 2025 Wisconsin deer season.
A few weeks earlier, this buck had reportedly been shot by a neighboring hunter. A drone was brought in to search for him, but he was never recovered.
Sometime later, I was called to my client’s property to search for a completely different deer, which I ultimately found. While searching, I also spotted this buck. At the time, I had no idea what had happened to him or that anyone had previously searched for him.
About a week later, I was sent the photo shown in the video. I immediately started congratulating my client, thinking he had gotten another opportunity at the buck.
His response was simply, “It is a wild story.”
That definitely piqued my interest.
They had this buck figured out pretty well. Whenever they refilled their water sources, he would usually show up the next day—sometimes even sooner.
They filled the water that night, and the following morning, my client climbed into his stand. Before long, the buck came in and bedded down behind a huge oak tree, staring directly at him.
Not wanting to risk moving and spooking him, my client sat as still as a board and waited for the buck to move.
But he never did.
This continued the entire day—from sunup until sundown.
When closing time finally arrived, my client knew he had to take the chance of spooking him and climb down. He walked over to where the buck had been bedded and discovered that the deer had died right there in front of him while he was sitting in the stand.
Can you imagine the emotions in that moment?
Relief? Sadness? Disbelief? Confusion?
Afterward, he contacted the Wisconsin DNR to find out what needed to be done. The responding warden instructed him to purchase a carcass tag for the buck rather than use his archery tag.
My client then used his tractor to lift the buck and position him upside down so he could begin caping him out. As soon as he did, pus began draining from the buck’s nose and mouth. It was clear that a severe infection had set in and that this deer had been suffering.
While caping him out, they also discovered a nearly perfect circular wound near the buck’s lung area.
That discovery left us with even more questions.
Did the wound come from the shot that had reportedly occurred weeks earlier? Or had this buck been punctured by another buck while fighting during the rut?
We may never know exactly what caused the original injury. Although we cannot say for certain, the infection appeared to have contributed to his death.
It was a sad ending for such an incredible Wisconsin giant. However, after everything this buck had been through, he was finally recovered and can now be preserved and cherished for many years to come.
It is certainly a story for the ages.
