Hello Iowawhitetail members, my name is Jesse and I live in ????? County, Iowa. I posted this story in the PMA Conference a number of months ago. Now I would like to share the story of a Great Buck which I named Candlestick.
I wrote this editorial to a local newspaper.
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Dear citizens of Clarinda and Page County,
It was August 21st, 2006 and I hooked up my digital game camera to my computer to view the photos that it had taken while being strapped to a tree for approximately ten days. I kept hitting the advance key looking at all the does and small bucks that it had captured. Then the most amazing deer that I had ever seen popped up on my screen. I let out a loud Holy Cow and began giggling like a kid at Christmas. I yelled to my wife to see what treasure I had come across and she was nearly as excited as I was. I then called my best friend and told him he had to come and see this huge deer that was photographed. While I waited for him to show up, I found that I had three pic’s of this deer getting a very good look at his rack. It showed approximately 18 points sporting two brow tines appearing to measure well over twelve inches. The buck was still in velvet, so I had to take into consideration the extra mass that was showing caused by the velvet. Jake shows up and he can’t believe his eyes. All we can talk about is how we are going to hunt this majestic animal come the first week of October. I allowed a photo to be placed on the web. Bad idea, maybe, but I did end up meeting some very neat and knowledgeable people through the web and that picture.
A couple of days later I placed my camera up in the same place to try and gather more images of Candlestick or other deer. I was able to leave the camera alone for about two weeks. This time a friend and I drove straight to the camera with a lap top so we could view the pictures without bringing the camera home. And to our surprise, the very first photo was Candlestick walking towards the camera with his head held high and one leg off the ground as he was coming in. And even more impressive was the other ten pictures that were taken of him. I was amazed by the amount of growth that had occurred in less that a month. The Legend of Candlestick was born.
Everywhere I went I would run into someone asking about the deer I had pictures of. I was pretty open about it and wanted other bow hunters to hear my story.
During the course of the next month I tried to capture more pictures of Candlestick but I was unsuccessful. It appeared that his lifestyle had possibly changed after he lost his velvet and was preparing for the rut. But during that time I tried to plan my attack for bow season.
During the month of October I and a friend of mine hunted a ridge top of timber that we thought would work out for us. I had a possible sighting during the middle of the month, but I wouldn’t swear to it. Now it’s November and it is rut time. I’m out hunting with Jake and my cell phone rings. It was Jake and his voice was noticeably shaky by shortness of breath. He tells me that Candlestick just came by and offered him a shot and he couldn’t connect. Jake goes on to tell me how awesome he looks. I was extremely envious. I couldn’t find the words to comfort him (other bow hunters will understand what I mean). We do know that he is still here and he wasn’t spooked. By this time Candlestick had been shot at twice that he knew of and is still hanging around. It was apparent that we had found his home.
Towards the end of November someone came to me and told me that from an unknown source Candlestick had been poached and his rack was all busted up. I was pretty much in a state of denial. I felt that it was someone jacking with me since they knew how much time and effort Jake and I had in trying to get him ethically and legally. I put it on the back burner for the time being.
It was now shot gun season. Opening day I shot a doe and while walking to the deer I found a piece of antler in the middle of this timber. It was very impressive. The piece was the end of a main beam sporting three points. The mass was incredible. I could barely wrap my thumb and finger around it. I showed it off for a while and forgot about it. Shot gun season winds down. No stories of anyone seeing or shooting at Candlestick. Not very unusual, since older mature deer are pretty smart when it comes to a bunch of hunters walking through a timber. I was pretty sure that if someone shot or shot at a 200 class buck that someone would say something.
Just before Christmas I was showing a friend of mine the piece of antler that I had found the first week of December. He goes on to tell me that that piece belongs to Candlestick. Sure enough, it matched right up to his right side. Wow, this Legend just keeps getting better. So I thought.
I got out and bow hunted on Christmas Eve and had minimal luck seeing deer. My dad did call me about 4:00 pm that day and tell me that I should invest in a Volvo, since he had just had pretty good luck on the highway.
It was the new year and I was pretty much out of hunting mode and was planning how I was going to increase my odds on finding the sheds in a month or so.
My wife comes home from work and tells me that Candlestick is dead. Here is another story I thought. But her sources were good. She was told it was huge and scored 180 with parts of it broken. I tried to ignore it, but it kept eating at me. I called the source and asked if it was true. They thought so, but wanted me to see the pictures. I said yes. I anxiously drove out to their residence the next morning to see the pic’s. Sure enough, it was him. The deer had been found dead on their property. They no longer had the rack since it was kind of ugly due to both main beams were broken off. Some other family took it instead. We measured my piece and added it’s score to the main rack. We now had approximately a 210 inch deer without the other side. We estimated the unaccounted for side to be about another 20 inches. Amazing, a 230 inch buck dead without a happy ending. I do thank these people for sharing and giving me pictures of the rack. I will add them to my collection.
I am sharing this story for two reasons. One, I think it is neat and only a very few bow hunters or hunters at all will ever get a chance at a deer of this caliber in the United States or Canada let alone Iowa. Secondly, I am not asking for any pity or a too bad Jesse from anyone. I just am extremely frustrated in the amount of poaching that goes on in this area. I know that it is everywhere, but this is where I am. I realize that there is an ungodly amount of deer in this area, but the state is trying to curb that by killing dear legally. Maybe I should start spot lighting with a rifle. It would most definitely increase my odds of a trophy kill. But what would I have. A poached deer. I cheated. Maybe my coincidence is too strong. But what have I accomplished? To me absolutely nothing. Some of you may read this and think this is stupid and a waste of published material and others will see my point of view. That’s why this section is printed.
I don’t think very many people realize what a treasure southwest Iowa has with its large amount of trophy deer. I compare it to going to Florida and catching 5-10 pound bass consistently. Many people use this area for a week out of the year to get that 150 inch deer since it is not as common where they live.
One more analogy just for people that don’t understand my anguish. Its kind of like getting passed on the last lap for a championship and the other driver is using an illegal motor, or a pitcher in the World Series is using pine tar on his hand to get a better grip on the ball to obtain more motion on his curveball, or asking your buddy to hold the light while you load your gun and take aim.
Jesse Hitt
800 Main Street
New Market, Ia 51646
jmhitt@myfmtc.com<br />
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