Outdoors Weekly News Archive

November 30, 2007

'Great Eight' deer of a lifetime

By Bob Lamb, La Crosse Tribune
LA CROSSE, Wis. (AP) – Jerry Jorgensen calls it the “Great Eight.”
Anyone else would call it the “deer of a lifetime.”
Jorgensen virtually lives, breathes and sleeps deer hunting. He becomes even more energetic once the season begins.
Once again Jorgensen’s hard work and patience paid off a few weeks ago when he shot what may eventually be the largest eight-point buck ever taken in La Crosse County. Jorgensen, president of TCI, Inc. in La Crosse, said his buck’s antlers, green-scored at 163-1/8 with a 160 net. That should be good enough to become largest buck ever taken in La Crosse County, he said.
However, first things first. How about the hunt?
Jorgensen used what he described as a Montana buck decoy, “a very realistic cloth decoy.”
Jorgensen placed the decoy in a cut cornfield and then climbed into his tree stand just a few yards inside a wood line. A couple of does walked out of the woods, noticed the decoy and walked towards it. About 10 or 15 seconds later, a buck came out of the woods and grunted at the does.
“They got jittery and then he started heading out with the does,” Jorgensen said. “I grunted twice, he snapped his head back and came right at me.”
That’s when the drama unfolded.
“He ripped the ground with his hooves, looked at the decoy, and started towards it. He walked within two or three yards sideways of the decoy with his head down,” Jorgensen said. “Then, he turned to square himself up to attack the decoy.”
That’s when Jorgensen got a 16-yard, broadside shot. He made a perfect shot. The deer went 50 yards and died.
“There’s no question, he was getting ready to put a major hit on that decoy,” Jorgensen said. “I just wish I would have had a camera on my bow to capture the whole thing.”
The almost symmetrical eight-point buck, according to Jorgensen, is definitely one for the record books.
Jorgensen has done extensive research into Wisconsin Buck and Bear Club’s “Wisconsin Trophy Records, Volume 8, 1840-2005,” and discovered the largest eight-point buck listed in La Crosse County is 148-3/8.
“So, the buck I took should surpass that one by more than 10 inches,” Jorgensen said. “It also appears this buck is surpassed by only six other eight-pointers listed in the book for the entire state. He’s a trophy for sure.”