Draper: A Nebraska Giant

_Rut Reporter David Draper grew up hunting deer and small game throughout this region and presently lives on a family farm in Nebraska. Draper, former communications specialist for Cabela’s and an authority on the Great Plains, subsists on a diet of duck breast and venison. States covered: ND, SD, NE and KS.
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Late last week, I started hearing stories of a giant buck killed in eastern Nebraska. Like most Internet rumors, the e-mail I received was hardly believable. The buck was a giant, freakishly so and it didn’t seem real to me. The side profile showed a bulbous rack with mass like I’ve never seen before. The thought that such a buck existed anywhere, let alone in my home state was too much for me to believe.

Too much, that is until I spied this article in last Saturday’s Lincoln Journal-Star confirming the existence of the buck and the story behind it that’s just about as unbelievable as the buck itself. Journal-Star Outdoor Reporter Joe Duggan sleuthed up the story of spectacular buck and the two young men who tagged it. That’s right, two friends shot the buck simultaneously and they’ve agreed to share the trophy, or replicas of it anyway.

There is a takeaway here that’s worth noting. The buck was shot at midday, when most hunters are taking an after-lunch siesta. Instead of catching naps, Jordan Owens and Kellen Meyer went back out and caught the buck-of-a-lifetime out cruising for does. It just goes to show, during the rut, any time of the day can offer up a chance at a trophy.