Tag Archives: big buck photo

Photo by Deer & Deer Hunting Editor Dan Schmidt

Let the big buck parade begin.

I was sitting down to lunch just 20 minutes ago when I received a phone call from Tracy. She was on her way home from the grocery store, and needed to stop at our local apple orchard to pick up the cider we ordered for the upcoming holidays.

"Stop everything and grab your camera," Tracy said. "A guy has an absolutely huge buck in his truck just down from the orchard."

"How big?" I asked, somewhat skeptical of her claim. "REALLY big," she said. "I’ve never seen one like this before."

Tracy has endured my whitetail obsession for more than a decade now. When she says a buck is big, she knows what she’s talking about.

So I loaded the camera and told our daughter Taylor to get her coat on and come with me. 

We made the 2 mile drive in less than 2 minutes. And we weren’t disappointed.

When we pulled into the driveway, a young man, Tad Velte, was just getting his gear loaded into his truck to leave. His family and friends were all nearby, still buzzing from the excitement.

"I got him yesterday," Tad said. "We did a really rough score on him, but he’s about 185 (B&C)."

Tad said he shot the buck while hunting a small 21-acre property yesterday. 

"The neighbors had pictures of him and were chasing him. Well, I guess everyone in a 2-mile radius was chasing him."

The incredible 14-pointer is a mainframe 8-pointer with several split tines and kickers. The main feature, of course, is that 7-1/2-inch dagger of a drop tine that comes off the buck’s left beam.

What could have made this deer even more amazing?

"He had a matching drop tine on the other side that was just recently broken off," Tad said while showing me the base where that tine had broken off.

From the entire staff here at Deer & Deer Hunting, congratulations, Tad, on your incredible trophy!

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