Hunting is a family affair, with seven family members including Venhaus’ brothers, grandfather, uncles and cousins taking part. His father hunted too, but he passed away two years ago.

“We had seen a couple of decent bucks over the course of the season, but mostly the buck sightings were few and far between,” Venhaus said. “There always seemed to be large quantities of does seen on the property over the course of the season, but we hadn’t really had consistent sightings of nice bucks.”

Things began to turn around, however, in early November when Travis shot a 10-pointer with his bow. That was an exciting event in itself, but something else happened the same day that would give the hunters reason to be excited the rest of the season.

After they picked up Travis’ deer on a four-wheeler, Adam and Travis were driving through timber to return to the truck when they spotted a big-bodied buck tearing through the brush in front of them. The deer had the largest rack they had ever seen in their lives. Their jaws were on the ground as they watched the buck run out of sight.

More than a dozen permanent stands dot the family property, but Venhaus’ favorite is a homemade permanent ladder stand bordering a natural clearing in the middle of the woods. The stand is also close to a small creek and the location seems to serve as a funnel for deer.

The stand, built four or five years ago, has been one of the hottest spots to hunt for the last two years. Venhaus killed an 8-pointer from the stand in 2006 and several does and a button buck have also been taken.

Last Nov. 16, opening day of Illinois’ gun deer season, Venhaus’ brothers picked him up around 5 a.m. and they headed off to the timber.

“I was so excited the night before that I didn’t get much sleep, so I ended up sleeping the whole drive,” Venhaus remembered.

Arriving at their parking spot, the brothers unloaded their four-wheelers, gathered their gear and set out for their stands. Not wishing to disturb the area, they parked the four-wheelers at the edge of the timber and walked the last couple of hundred yards to their stands.

Venhaus was hunting the ladder stand where he shot the 8-pointer the year before, but he didn’t choose the stand based strictly on deer activity.

“It’s also close to my brothers’ stands and I have to tell one of them in particular where the deer are coming from because he likes to doze off,” he joked.

Although he can’t share the deer woods with his father anymore, Venhaus’ fond memories of his dad and deer hunting helps alleviate the loss.

Venhaus arrived at the stand shortly before 6 a.m. and waited for shooting light. Just after sunrise, he heard something from the southwest.

“I glanced over to my left and to my amazement an 8-pointer was trotting toward me,” he said. “I had to react quickly because I knew I was only going to have one opportunity to get a shot off when the deer passed my shooting lane.”

Venhaus shouldered his gun and waited for the deer to reach the clearing. As the buck trotted through the timber 70 yards away, he squeezed the trigger.

“I fired and the deer turned around and took off running through the timber,” Venhaus said. “I thought for sure I put a good shot on the animal.”