The area where Randy Krick hunts in east-central Illinois is mostly flat farmland country with patches of hardwoods. It borders Indiana, where the Wabash River separates the two states, creating fertile habitat for whitetail deer.
A pipeline welder from the town of Palestine, has hunted the spot for many years, specifically on a small, private piece of property
“I don’t regularly hunt the spot, but it’s a good one,” the 40-year-old tells Outdoor Life. “All three of my daughters have taken their first deer there. And I’ve shot some nice ones there, too. I know it well.”
Krick had trail cameras running all fall, and suddenly an impressive buck showed in October.
“I had a camera on a rub line where the big buck appeared on camera, so I dedicated hunting the spot for him. I hunted the place twice without luck.”
In the following days Krick was busy taking his daughters hunting. But on Nov. 12, Krick packed a climbing stand into a 20-acre patch of timber where he’d found another rub line. He picked a tree nearby and climbed into it before dawn. At first, he saw a couple yearling does and a button buck.
“They were on the edge of timber near a cut corn field,” he says. “About 9 a.m. I saw a coyote, then a small 8-point buck came out running. I figured the 8-pointer had been spooked by the coyote.”
An hour later he saw a doe, and while watching her, he spotted the big typical he was after. The buck was 80 yards away in a timber corner near the corn field.
“He bumped two does that were bedded near him, and they came by my stand at 30 yards. He was trailing them and had to go into some thick cover. He could barely fit his rack through the tangles. I couldn’t see him well then, just his legs.
“Then the does circled around my tree, and he walked by an opening following them.”
When the buck was at 30 yards, Krick released.
The buck ran another 30 yards, then dropped in the corn field. It has 13 scorable points and the antlers green-scored at 185 inches. After the 60-day drying period, Krick will have the buck officially measured.
While Krick never knew about the buck until October, his neighbors were well aware of it.
“One of my neighbors had trail photos of the buck in velvet back in July. I believe this game is 90 percent luck, and I just happened to be in the right place at the right time,” says Krick. “I’m so thankful for his deer. It’s the best buck I’ve ever taken with my bow.”
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