This one-of-a-kind North Dakota whitetail carries almost 37 inches of irregular points on the right side alone. The left side adds another 8 5/8 inches of irregularity.

By Gita M. Smith

Calvin Mauch knew the buck had not been fooled, even though the hunter had been careful to belly-crawl along the top of the earthen dam. He wondered if his brazen attempt to get closer to the bedded buck had been in vain. If the buck bolted -- as Calvin was sure it would, at any moment -- could he rise up from his prone position quickly enough to make an accurate shot at a running target?

Calvin had just seconds to calm his nerves and steady his 7mm rifle. Worse yet, his young nephew, Blair, was watching from a short distance away. 

No pressure.

Back when Calvin's great grandfather first homesteaded a patch of grassy land in North Dakota, white-tailed deer were not seen in those parts. Now, four generations later, Calvin farms and ranches 700 acres where his forefather staked a claim in the beautiful Western wilderness.

Gone are the pasterine birds and wild prairie flora of the early 1900s. In their place is grazing land and row crops to fatten the Simmental cattle that Calvin raises and, as an added bonus, to fatten some pretty majestic whitetails. 

"White-tailed deer didn't come to our area 'til the 1960s," says the Bismarck area native. "It is a wonderful location for hunters, because we have grouse, we are in the central flyway for North America, and everything migrates through here. We see a lot of geese and sandhill cranes, and the ducks -- mallards, pintails and teals -- nest here in summer." 

After mild winters over the past three years, the deer population had increased, and central North Dakota hunters had been spotting larger bucks, thanks in part to the diversity of crops. Whitetails have no competition from mule deer either, says Calvin. The area where he hunts is not rugged. It lies southeast of the farmstead, with rolling plains and slough bottoms.

On Nov. 5, 2006, opening weekend of gun season, Calvin and his nephew, Blair Radomski, 24, saw a buck in a slough bottom, lying in the brush. The pair decided to sneak up on it. 

"The only trees in that area are wild Russian olives on the hillsides," he said. "Otherwise, it's just CRP land surrounding a slough. There is a 20-acre pond, but we were in drought, and grass and brush grew up all summer in 2006. Normally, the water would be about 4 feet deep.

"None of these ponds hold fish. They fill with runoff from spring rains. These shallow ponds freeze all the way down to the bottom if there's any water in them when winter comes," he added.

Calvin Mauch of Bismarck, N.D., had a bit of performance anxiety before the whitetail he was stalking last November forced him to react.

Calvin and Blair set out at 4 p.m.  Calvin had been moving his red-and-white, large-shouldered cattle around and feeding other livestock. When he was done with chores, the hunters went to the 160-acre parcel with the 20-acre slough bottom.

"I had a suspicion there'd be deer in there. During summer, I had seen them use the slough bottom, and I had seen a decent buck," he said.

The hunting pressure on opening day is heavy enough to drive deer into cover, Calvin added.

"You need to get out and scout and walk, as there's not a lot of treestand hunting in our area. You have to scout in advance and learn the habits of the deer prior to the season," he said. "Then you focus on those areas in fall. And it's different every year, depending on what has been planted a mile or two around them."

Calvin chose a 7mm for the hunt. "It's a good flat-shooting rifle for long distances, because around here, you generally have to make long shots. I went to the top of a hill and glassed the area and saw the tips of antlers in the slough. The buck was 80 yards out from an earthen stock dam. We stayed downwind of it and walked to a little ravine that would take us up to the dam."

Calvin crouched down in the ravine and used the dam as a shield while he snuck closer to the reclining buck. The ground was not yet frozen (the day was about 45-50 degrees and dry). Once he reached the dam's back side, Calvin belly-crawled along the top through some grass and brushy cover. Meanwhile, Blair stayed at the base of the hill and watched.

"When I got to the end of the crawl, I knew the buck was looking at me because his antlers were squared up facing me," Calvin says. "I had an 80-yard shot, which is unusual. Most of our shots are 150 to 200 yards. I was only able to get that close because of the contour of the land."

Calvin lay on the dam and waited. He knew the buck was onto him. Any moment now, the whitetail would stand up and bolt. Calvin knew he needed to be ready to make his best shot at a moving target.
Sure enough, the buck bolted.

"I rose just as quickly and placed the shot in its front quarter. It ran over a little knoll and out of view into a mass of cattails and tall grass. I wasn't able to see if -- or where -- it fell. When it was running, we only saw the top half of the deer. That's how tall the brush and cattails were. I wasn't even sure I had hit the buck."

Calvin waited five minutes before signaling to Blair, and then the men set out to look for the buck. They searched for 15 minutes until, 100 yards from the point of the shot, they found it.

Calvin whistled with relief when he spotted the rack.

"I counted 17 points. Then I counted again. I think Blair counted twice more, too."

BTR Score: 183 4/8

-- Gita M. Smith
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