Hunter uses walker to drag trophy buck

By John Papendick, Aberdeen American News | Thursday, December 29, 2005

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IPSWICH — Who could have blamed archery deer hunter Dave Myers if he had lost his head when his chance to bag a trophy buck arose?

He and others had been tracking the animal for the past few years near Roscoe. To his credit, the rural Ipswich veterinarian kept his cool and bagged the 8x7 buck, estimated to be 6 years old, 290 pounds and with a 32-inch neck.

The trouble was, Myers almost lost his leg while dragging the massive animal from the field. Myers, with two artificial legs below his knees, has a medical history as long as the 56-year-old’s hunting log.

“He finally fell in some tall grass,” Myers recalled about the buck. “I marked where he was and went back to grab my walker and some rope. I tied the rope to him and then put it around my shoulders and started dragging him back. I am fine walking on a smooth floor, but I don’t do so good on rough ground. Plus, it was drizzling.

“Well, after I took off dragging him, I tripped, fell and my leg twisted around the other direction. So I had to take off most of my clothes, like my coat and coveralls, to get everything straightened around. I was soaking wet by the time I got done.

“But I tell you what, my adrenaline was really going. I could have drug an elephant out of there if I had to. I had to drag him about 50 yards to get him to a clearing. I knew there was a big coyote around, and I didn’t want the buck to get chewed up. It took me about 25 minutes to drag him out with my walker. I was inching him a little bit at a time. But I paid for it, because my legs and back were stiff and sore for days.”

How Myers got his biggest buck is the making of a great hunting story. He almost didn’t go hunting this fall after recovering from a broken hip after falling while ice fishing with his grandchildren in January. In 1993, he lost his left leg after stepping on a nail, which led to infection in the bone. In 2004, he lost his right leg because of vascular problems in his joints.

“I was just starting to feel better from losing my leg when I broke my left hip,” Myers said. His doctors weren’t happy with their patient when he told them his “deer-dragging story.”

Before the “dragging part,” Myers had to draw in his prey. He had his pop-up ground blind set up near some hay bales for about a week and had spent about 30 hours in it during that time, planning his strategy and calling in bucks.

Myers recalls the events of Nov. 4. “I had seen him earlier in the day, about 400 yards away from me. There are some other nice bucks living on that same land, but they knew to stay away from this buck. Before I got him, he had spent a couple of hours running around making sure everyone knew he was the boss. Then, he heard the commotion that I was making, and it upset him.”

Myers said he didn’t have time to get nervous when he was drawing the big buck closer to him. He was blowing on a grunt tube and rattling antlers together to draw him, and checking his range finder to find out how far the buck was away from his blind.

“I eventually lost track of him,” Myers said. “Finally, he appeared about 150 yards away from me in a little draw with another buck that wasn’t as big, but he was really pretty.

“I grunted at him again, and he just stood at attention. He came in at about 75 yards away and just stood there and stared right at me. Of course, he couldn’t see a deer, because there was no deer to see. I had those antlers so I beat and rattled them just like they do on TV. All those hours of watching those outdoor shows finally paid off.

“Then I grunted again at him. He came closer. He was about 30 yards away and was really staring at me. I was very comfortable shooting at that distance because I have been using a bow since I was 16, but I just couldn’t get him to turn the right way. About that time, to my left, a little old 4x4 appeared about 50 yards away from us. After he saw that other buck, he swelled up his old shoulders and turned broadside and pinned his ears back and just stared at that buck.”

Myers said he was used to shooting at a little target with his bow. “But this guy’s chest looked like the size of a refrigerator to me.”

One could hear the respect Myers had for the animal in his voice. “I have been hunting all of my life, and this guy was so impressive. He had been hunted hard for the last few years, and I don’t think he even came within rifle range of anyone before. A lot of luck goes into getting a buck like this, and I was very fortunate.”