Bubba Ho-Tep Bags Deer

If you saw Bubba Ho Tep, you will appreciate this story even more.

By JOHN PAPENDICK

Aberdeen American News

IPSWICH, S.D. (AP) -- 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 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 and 290 pounds 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 said about his 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 ever 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 due to 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," said Myers. "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."