Mike Klarich is the author of the article on Ray Hayes buck - The Hayes Buck

The Klarich Buck – email @ www.mnarchery.org

(From Mike Klarich in an email with photos of a deer he shot this fall as printed in the Arrow Magazine)

I shot him yesterday morning (Sunday, November 6, 2005) almost to the day Ray shot his buck (the 8^th). I’m so thrilled I can’t tell you. I have never shot a buck before because I decided to let them all walk unless they were a monster. I have seen a handful of monsters over the years but either I have not been close enough, there were too many branches in the way to risk a shot, or I could not get them to stop, etcetera. Well, yesterday it all came together.

I saw him at 60 yards running up the hill toward the saddle that I was hunting in. I could not tell if he was a typical, non-typical, 8, 10, or 12, but I knew he was a shooter right away. He lumbered up the trail with his head bobbing up and down and side-to-side with his high thick antlers moving all around. He was without a doubt the kind of buck I had been dreaming about for many years.

I just knew he was going to make a right and turn down one of the trails I had covered in my stand placement. By the time I turned to take my bow off the hook and turned back he was coming down my trail. I thought that I was going to have to stop him for a shot as I drew my bow, but then he slowed to a walk and I thought that he was going to stop right in my shooting lane - and he did, he stopped right in front of me.

I settled my 20-yard pin on him and sent an arrow through both lungs. He took off as if being shot out of a cannon, straight up a steep ridge in the blink of an eye. He stopped and turned near the top of the ridge as if to say, “What just happened?” then proceeded down the trial out of my sight. A few moments later I heard him crash. I hung up my bow; put both hands on the tree to steady myself, and put my head against the tree and gave thanks for the opportunity I just made the most of.

Then I realized I didn’t have my camera because my wife needed to take some pictures a couple of day’s prior. At 6:48 I called her to tell her the great news after apologizing for waking her up so early on a Sunday. As soon as I told her she said, "do you want me to bring you the camera?” I said, “Yes, I’m sure he’s down!”

After she arrived about an hour and a half after the shot, we, together with Ray and my son, took up the blood trail. It was one of those blood trails that you could jog along the trail and not lose. Down the trail about 50 yards from where I last saw him he was lying next to a log. His antlers were wedged in some saplings making it appear from behind that he was just in his bed. I knew however if he had been alive he would have been long gone with four people walking down the trail.

As I made my way around to face him it was an emotional moment for me. I really did not know how big he was until just then. Seventeen years of bow hunting and finally a buck that I know I can never surpass in size was on the ground in front of me. All I could say was, “WOW” and then silence until Ray along with my son picked me up and gave me a hug to congratulate me. My wife took some sixty pictures, and off to the archery shop to share the good news and then get him to the taxidermist.

At A1 Archery and Taxidermy in Hudson, WI, the buck garnered a lot of attention. Guys streamed out of the archery shop to look at him, even a police officer pulled in the parking lot for a look. Complete strangers who I never met came up to me and shook my hand and congratulated me. The brotherhood we share as bow hunters is one of the things I truly cherish about this sport.

It was a fun day, but the bottom line is I know I am just lucky, even if it took 17 years to be this lucky it was more than worth the wait! I appreciate it even more having all those years of experience.

Tom, sorry if I babbled on too long here but it’s good to get it all out if you know what I mean? I’m still bouncing off the walls. My Taxidermist is an official scorer for the Safari Club. He guesses it will score around the 160-inch mark. It was fun to see how excited he got over seeing it.

Enjoy the rest of the season!

Mike Klarich

Webmaster’s note: Mike’s buck scored 171 6/8 Gross & 164 2/8 Net Pope and Young. Larger color photographs of Mike’s buck can be seen at the MSAA website - www.mnarchery.org. “Ray” refers to Ray Hayes who also has a trophy buck on the MSAA website. Mike is from Cottage Grove – edited and compiled by Tom Rose.