Hunter: Adam Kuehn
Animal: 174 2/8" Gross & 170 2/8" Net
Location: Missouri
Weapon: Thompson Center Contender

Fate or luck often connect a hunter and a deer in the sport of deer hunting. That was the case for my son Adam this MO gun season. Four short days earlier Adam was planning to miss opening weekend of gun season. His high school football team had made the State playoffs and were favored to win the first game landing their second game opening weekend. An upset left my son disappointed on one hand that they were out of the playoffs but he was happy to be heading to north Missouri with me.

We were hunting a new farm and as we crawled into our buddy ladder stand opening morning I was not sure what to expect. As soon as there was a little light I thought I saw a deer standing in the beans and kidded with Adam that he had not seen the deer right in font of him. He glassed the area with his binoculars and quickly informed me it was only a clump of grass and that he would have seen a deer walk in. Adam continued glassing the bean field and within seconds told me in a very excited whisper, "Dad, there is a giant buck bedded in the beans". I found the buck in my binoculars and could not believe my eyes.

I told Adam we would have to wait for day break as it was not shooting hours and it was way to dark for me to film. Minutes went by like hours and the longer we waited the more our poor ladder stand shook. Adam and I both were about to come unglued. As it got lighter we saw that a doe was bedded with the buck in the beans. The time had come and it was daylight. Adam ranged the buck at 150 yards. I told him to get the TC Contender in position and hit the grunt call to make the buck stand up. No luck, the buck did not move. We tried this several more times and no luck. We growled at the buck, still no response. I glassed the buck again with the binoculars and told Adam that the deer was in a good position and the vitals were open. I ask Adam if he could make the shot. He dropped a knee to the floor of the ladder stand and rested the gun on the shooting rail. Adam looked up and told me he could make a shot on the vitals.

I steadied the camera on the buck and Adam shot. The buck staggered up out of its bed. Not sure if he hit the buck Adam reloaded the Contender and with the second shot dropped the buck in its tracks. As soon as the deer dropped Adam knew that he had shot the biggest buck of his life. As it turned out, Adam had sent two slugs through the giant bucks vitals. The buck scored 174 2/8". Not only Adam's biggest deer but also bigger than any deer I have ever taken, which he soon reminded me of.

So a twist of fate and a lost football game had Adam in the stand instead of me. But, as any father out there would attest, I would not change places for anything in the world. I will cherish that memory with my son forever.

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