On August 9^th, 2009 my Dad and I went to scout area 22 for his 2009 Nevada muzzleloader hunt. As luck would have it, the first two bucks that we spotted were a large two-point and this whopper! We watched these two bucks until August 22^nd, when a short break to hunt antelope interfered. After we returned we immediately found the big buck and his two-point friend in the same area that we had left them. We continued to watch these bucks until the night before the hunt opened on September 10^th.

Opening day had finally arrived and with good friends Ross Sanborn, Slade Sanborn, Gina Manzonie, Brian Harwood (Woody) and my son, Kipp, we began to hunt this big buck. However, after a few days of being educated by this crafty old buck, his tendency to change plans quickly acquired him the name, “Crazy Ivan” (from the movie, “The Hunt For Red October”.)

After a two-day work commitment by the hunter, we returned to hunt on Wednesday, September 16^th. That morning my Dad and I found the big buck and his two-point buddy feeding in a deep draw. We did not spot the bucks until late morning and so we just sat back and watched as they fed up the hill. This was the first time that I was able to photograph the buck and after watching him make his midday bed, Dad and I met back up with Ross to try and make a plan for the evening.

That plan almost worked to perfection too. However, by the time the buck made his way into muzzleloader range, Dad could not see the front sights of his gun. So we did the only thing we could…we watched the buck feed down the ridge as we backed out quietly back to the pick up spot.

The morning of September 18^th, my Dad, Slade, Gina and myself made our way to the last place we had seen the buck. As we reached the top, Slade spotted the two-point heading down the ridge. A minute later the big buck made his way out of the trees and into view. This was the first good look that Slade had of this buck and he immediately knew him as the buck that Gina’s dad had picked up the sheds from in 2006 and 2007 and come to find out that I had one side from 2004. Slade said that this is the buck that they call the “Boozer Buck”. That evening found us in a position where we could watch the area where the bucks had bedded down. As the sun set in the west and the shadows stretched onto the hillside, the two-point and a big four-point fed out of the trees. The big buck, however, would not come out.

As it was just getting light enough to see the next morning, we had the big buck located and we wasted no time in getting set up and putting a plan into motion. My Dad and Slade walked a short distance to get in position to shoot while I stayed a bit higher so that I could watch the bucks. However, just as the two began preparing for a shot, the wind swirled and the bucks spotted them. I intently watched in the spotting scope as the big buck whirled to his left and began to run. Then, at 7:01 am, I heard the “boom” followed by an unusual pop. I then saw a large amount of smoke drift in front of the scope lens, followed by the deer running through the trees. I quickly packed up all of our stuff and walked over to my Dad and Slade. 

We nervously walked over to where Dad had shot at the buck and I was relieved to hear Dad say that he was sure he had made a good shot. As we approached where the buck had been standing at the time of the shot, we quickly spotted a small amount of blood, which was followed by more blood, and then a lot of blood! The excitement began to hit everybody and the high fives began to fly. However, we decided to hold back and give the buck some time as we did not want to rush this. Although it felt like an eternity, we agreed that if we waited until 7:30, that would be sufficient. After a prolonged wait, Slade finally asked me what time it was and when I replied that it was 7:26, we all agreed that was long enough––we just couldn’t take it any more. We slowly proceeded down into a draw following the blood and thankfully we only had to go approximately 50 yards before we saw him laying at the bottom of a drainage. Then, the real celebration started! The news was passed onto the others and they were on their way to join us. It seemed like mere minutes and Woody was running up the hill with Kipp and Ross not far behind.  

We got the big buck caped, quartered, and off of the hill and back to the trucks. We took the buck to camp where Slade put a tape on him. The unofficial measurements were 223 gross and 220 4/8 net. The buck was a 7x8 and he is 33 1/8 wide. His main frame is 195 2/8 with 27 6/8 of non-typical points!