Ryan Venhaus with his trophy buck. Photo by Craig Bobula.

How many times have you had something not turn out the way you wanted? And just when you couldn’t feel any lower, something great happened that wouldn’t have been possible if the bad thing hadn’t happened?

St. Clair County hunter Ryan Venhaus felt those pangs of angst when he missed a nice 8-point buck one morning last gun season. Turns out, if he hadn’t missed that buck, he would have never gotten a chance to shoot a 29-point monster non-typical that scored a whopping 224 6/8 inches.

Venhaus’ family has hunted together on their property for nearly 20 years, with both bow and gun. Hunting is definitely a family affair, with seven other family members, including Venhaus’ brothers Adam and Travis, grandfather Elmer, uncles Larry and Brad and cousins Mark and Chad taking part.

Venhaus’ father, Dave, hunted too, but he passed away two years ago.

Now when the family gathers at the “clubhouse,” a ramshackle house near their property, there is a void. Although he can’t share the deer woods with his father anymore, Venhaus’ fond memories of his dad and deer hunting help alleviate the loss.

“When I first started hunting in grade school, my dad would hunt up in the stand with me,” Venhaus remembered. “He was up in the stand with me the first time I ever shot a deer. I don’t know who was happier, my dad or me. At family or social functions, my dad would tell everybody the story of how I shot my first deer and every time he told the story it would put a smile on my face seeing the pride he had in telling the story time and time again.”

Venhaus bowhunted until two years ago, but a bum shoulder he attributes to high school weightlifting and baseball injuries prevented him from drawing a bow. Doctors shaved four centimeters from his clavicle and inserted a screw to anchor a torn bicep tendon, but despite the surgery and six long months of rehab, he still can’t draw a bow.

“I’m hoping to give it a try again this year and see how my shoulder responds to pulling back a bow again,” Venhaus said. “I’d love to get back out there with a bow and spend more time hunting with my brothers.”

The 77-acre parcel has been in the Venhaus family for many years and is adjoined by 20 acres of his Uncle Larry’s land. Except for one acre of tillable ground, the entire property is timberland. The land borders St. Clair County land that is closed to hunting because of its proximity to Scott Air Force Base and MidAmerica Airport. Not only is the county land off-limits to hunting, no one is even allowed to enter it, creating a natural sanctuary for bedding deer, as well as a hiding place from hunting pressure on surrounding properties.

“Deer will bed down in the county ground and then come to our timber to feed during the day,” Venhaus said.

Although the Venhaus men have taken some nice deer over the years, the last several years have been even better.

“At least six bucks killed on the property within the last several years have scored between 130 and 160 inches,” Venhaus said. “My Uncle Larry shot three wallhangers himself, and both my brothers, Adam and Travis, have shot a couple themselves. Up until the 2007 season, I was the only brother who hadn’t harvested a giant buck.”

Despite the successes of previous seasons, the early part of the 2007 season was nothing to get excited about.