Live weight should be 327.6
DULUTH — When a nine-point buck came walking toward Leif Birnbaum's deer stand last Sunday, Oct. 15, the Duluth bowhunter took a good look at him.
"He was a nice deer," Birnbaum said, "but I was waiting for something a little bigger."
Something bigger — way bigger — showed up about an hour later. Birnbaum shot a 10-point buck that field-dressed at 260 pounds.
Birnbaum, 33, was hunting in the city of Duluth's bowhunt for deer, as he has since 2007. He had been on his stand, in an undisclosed Duluth neighborhood, for about three hours last Sunday evening when the larger buck came in.
About 20 minutes earlier, he had pulled out his "rattle bag" — a small bag with a few oak dowels in it — that he had rattled to imitate the sounds of two bucks sparring.
"I'm sitting 25 feet up in a spruce tree looking straight down. You don't realize how big he is," Birnbaum said.
Now, at about 6:30 p.m., the buck kept walking toward Birnbaum's stand, allowing him a better look.
"His neck was gone," Birnbaum said. "It was all body."
That was all he needed to see.
"He looked like a pretty mature buck," he said. "I had a nice shot, so I took it."
The buck weighed 260 pounds on a scale at Birnbaum's home, he said. That's a huge whitetail buck by any standard, bigger than most of the bucks that win big-buck contests each fall across much of northeastern Minnesota.
"That's a big one," said Phillip Lockett, president of the Arrowhead Bowhunters Alliance, which administers Duluth's city hunt. "There have been some big ones (in the city hunt), but anything over 230 is pretty rare."
This is the 13th year of the Duluth city hunt.
After shooting the buck, Birnbaum called his friend Mitch Smerz for help getting it out of the woods. They tracked the buck 70 or 80 yards, Birnbaum said, before finding it.
"I was expecting something nice," Smerz said. "(Birnbaum) had told me it was nice. But it was kind of a jaw-dropper for a second. The body mass was unreal."
"I couldn't believe how big it was," Birnbaum said. "I'd never seen a deer on the ground that big. It was the biggest body I'd ever seen. We just stood there thinking, 'How are we going to get it out of here?'"
The answer — about 10 feet at a time. They dragged it to the nearest street, and Birnbaum drove his truck around to pick it up.
Birnbaum had shot an antlerless deer earlier in this fall's city bowhunt, as is required before a hunter takes a buck. Last year, Birnbaum, a web developer at Giant Voices in Duluth, shot a buck in the city hunt that weighed 230 pounds.
The antlers on this deer were nice, but not particularly heavy, he said. He doesn't plan to mount the deer but likely will have a European mount — using just the skull and antlers — created from it." "
Several years ago my cousin in Lake of the Woods Co - Baudette - killed a buck that dressed out at 275lbs hunting in the swamp south of town.
Needless to say he won the Big Buck Contest that year.
Deluth urban hunt... I headed out (of my house) to my stand for the evening hunt. I stopped off (at the hall bath) to put on my face paint (red with a white grid pattern). I climbed the ladder (leaning against the house) and settled into my stand (against the chimney). I was wearing (a Pink Floyd concert tee from another brick in the wall tour) which combined with my face paint allowed me to blend in perfectly with surroundings (the chimney). I did a couple of rattles (of a shopping bag full of apples). I spotted this big bodied deer cruising through the trees (on the Lakewalk trail through Canal Park). I called (my wife to turn down the tv) to try to put the buck at ease. My heart started beating wildly as he picked his way (through the neighbors yards) as he made his way to my stand. I had already pre-ranged several landmarks (like the distance to my mailbox and the inflatable pumpkin). I waited until he looked away (to browse on my wife’s roses) and came to full draw. The buck must have sensed something wasn’t quite right and stopped (to watch my neighbor walking her dog). I could see he was a good one but didn’t have a clear shot ( because he was behind my mailbox). It seemed like hours but it was probably only a few seconds when he finally moved forward and his shoulder cleared (the mailbox) and I sent it. The arrow was a complete pass through and blew through his shoulder like hot butter. The arrow skid across the ground (pavement) behind the buck and stopped when it hit (the curb) behind the deer. I later found my arrow (under the neighbors car). It was covered in (oil). The buck jumped (the yard fence) and swerved (to miss the kids big wheel). I knew it was a good hit and the buck only made it about 35 before tipping over (in the Smiths yard). I was so excited I nearly fell (off my roof). I txted my buddies (watching football in my living room) and they helped drag the buck (across the street) to my (porch) where we were able to weigh him (on my bathroom scale). It took all of us to roll him over (in front of my hedge) for a photo op. I changed into my Sitka gear (so it looks like I am in the woods). I did not longarm him in the (wide angle) pics so I wouldn’t be accused of making it look like I’m trying to misrepresent the buck. I (did not put a tire filler up his kazoo) am pumped (him up to about 45psi). I love hunting the urban season (tongue firmly planted in cheek).
In all seriousness...Congrats to the hunter!
Mark
I guess it is because he long-arming him :)
I killed one in northern WI that weighed 255 field dressed on 2 different scales.
