I just shot the biggest buck of my life three days ago.

Still numb.

An eight-pointer with an inside spread of 19 1/2 inches, he is best yet ever after nearly 14 years of hunting. Yet body-wise, he was very gaunt because of old bullet wound and would even fall behind in weight of the doe I shot this year.

But before I go any further I must say I can only take half the credit. Walt of Dansville must be included in this tale. He was there every step of the way and really the only reason why I got the deer and he didn't was because it was my turn to be the shooter on that drive.

I'm still not sure how I managed to get a round through the thick brush the buck bolted out of but I did. And that's as much credit I can accept.

The Michigan muzzleloader season opener (Dec. 7) came through in a big way.

It did not go down without theatrics. Whereas the doe piled up 100 steps away from me, Mr. Buck did not go gently into the back of my truck.

He crossed through two patches of woods and two snowy cut corn fields, eventually falling in a neighbor's field. A neighbor of the farmer we hunt on who's had run-ins with trespassers.

So before we could move our prize we had to also explain our reason for being there with two very hot lease owners.

Once the situation was resolved, Walt and I could again bask in the glory of this nicely racked animal.

A more indepth article accompanied by pictures of this awesome morning hunt will be forthcoming at www.macshuntingmag.com.