Ethics First, and Big Buck is still the Final Reward
Dick Ellis
Integrity is often defined by the actions a man will take when no one is around to watch.
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Bow hunter Adam Fuss of Winneconne was a solitary man with a decision to make on stand in southwest Columbia County November 13. A massive buck traveled on the edge of giving him a shot or as likely disappearing into the brush forever. This wasn’t Fuss’s property; he might never see an opportunity to hunt the QDM land again or see this animal that without doubt was a once-in-a-lifetime Wisconsin whitetail.
The avid bow hunter carried enough experience to handle pressure, even when facing a monster. In 2011 on November 16, he shot a nice 8-point with a 17 ½-inch insider spread on the Wednesday before the gun hunt.
He was used to time on stand in any weather, especially through the rut, to increase the odds of tagging a big buck. This year, Fuss and his wife, Alysha Fuss, “were blessed” with their first son on November 3rd.
“This obviously limited some of my hunting during the precious rut, but it all worked out in the end,” he said.
“This year was similar to last. It turned out to be the last Tuesday before gun season. I obviously waited both years and sat many hours in the stand to get these opportunities. I also passed a lot of small bucks to do so.”
This buck was so close he could almost feel it, including branches ripped from trees and brush clinging to immense antlers. But in the world of hunting, so close can be oh so excruciatingly far. And right is right and wrong is wrong no matter how long you look at it.
“I had been on stand about 15 minutes,” Fuss said. “I heard branches crunching and saw the buck walking near me at 40 yards in thick brush. I had one small hole to use my range finder, but it wouldn’t register; it said 19 yards, but I knew it was closer to 40. When the buck’s vitals came into that hole, I was at full draw, but it just didn’t feel right. And I knew it wasn’t going to get any closer.”
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There would be no compromise of ethics for Fuss. Eventually, he would be given an opportunity to take a high percentage shot for a clean kill or he would not take the shot at all. Fate smiled. The buck adjusted its travel on a course that would take it closer to the hunter. Fuss’s eyes moved ahead to find another hole in the brush at 30 yards. Likely, he determined, the kill could be made here.
“I don’t shoot at a deer without the odds being high for a good clean kill,” he said. “I would feel terrible if I would wound any deer, but especially a big buck and especially on someone else’s property.”
Fuss usually spends his hours on stand nearer home in Winneconne, but when he had an opportunity to hunt after a work trip during the November peak of the rut on a co-worker’s private property in southwest Columbia County, he was grateful for it. Fuss had never hunted the land and was led to a stand by his host who pointed out trails and shooting lanes. As his friend began the trek to his own stand, Fuss climbed the permanent stand with PSC X-Force and rage-tipped broadheads and began to hold vigil like so many times before. The day had broken sunny, with 10-15 mile per hour winds and temperatures in the low 30s.
The buck took the stage almost immediately, and after Fuss’s initial restraint on the string, the story hurried toward the hopeful conclusion centered on a one-foot hole in the brush. Fuss drew back, aimed, and timed the pace that would place the buck’s vitals in the perfect window. As the moment of truth materialized, Fuss’s grunt/bleat call brought the buck to a stop in the hole between two trees. The arrow rocketed toward its target.
The shot behind the shoulder scored a heart and lung hit, but Fuss was confident only that the buck had traveled a short distance. The “clean, pass-through shot” he said, had happened so quickly that, although he believed the buck was finished, he remained cautious as the seconds passed on stand.
“I texted my friend, ‘shot monster,’ but he didn’t reply for five minutes,” Fuss said. “That was like forever. The reason for that was that he had just arrived at his stand and was replying to e-mails. His jacket wasn’t even zipped and his release wasn’t even on the string yet. He texted me back that he was coming right over. I called my dad to tell him I had just shot the biggest buck of my life. We do everything together. My dad taught me how to hunt and bought me my first compound when I was nine years old. I’ve been shooting ever since. He was my best man.”
After another eternal 10-minute wait, Fuss lowered to the ground to search for the arrow. The initial bright red blood reinforced his confidence that he had seen a fatal lung hit, despite the lingering doubt often experienced by a hunter. He began to move along the trail taken by the buck and immediately found “blood everywhere.”
”At 15 yards I already felt very good,” Fuss said. “I looked up and there he lay. I saw his white belly. I met my friend. He has done a lot of quality deer management work. Before I hunted on the land, I asked him the rules. He said, ‘Adam if you’re going to put it on the wall, I would be more than happy for you if you take one of these bucks.”
The 11-point buck would gross 182, but the story took on another twist when a nearby landowner contacted Fuss to let him know he had been watching the same buck that had taken up residence on adjacent property.
Sheds and trail cam photos the landowner had gathered verified that the buck was 7 1/2 years old.
“When I saw the rack, I was in complete awe,” Fuss said. “People see this deer and ask me how I did not shake when I was waiting for the shot. The only thing I can think of is that I was concentrating so hard on where to shoot him to cleanly kill him. I wasn’t trying to just put an arrow in him. I was trying to hit him behind the shoulder. I think that helped calm me. I was pretty ecstatic. I was very fortunate and thankful for the opportunity to hunt the property where my friend had done so much management work.”