Rack Report: Tiffany Lakosky's Alberta Velvet Buck

As a writer, you're always looking for that hook - those few words that grab a reader's attention and pull them in like a hungry smallmouth attacking a crankbait. Some stories make that much easier than others. Like this one. So here goes.

Tiffany.

Big buck.

Bam. Got you. Hookset; drag screaming; a pair of trebles in the face.

Realtree pro Tiffany Lakosky, one half of the dynamic duo on the ultra-popular The Crush television series (husband Lee is the other half), has done it again, and this time she's tagged one whopper of a velvet whitetail.

We really weren't seeing a ton of deer, Tiffany says. It was really hot and there is still food everywhere, so the movement wasn't great. But when you're in Alberta, you expect good things to happen.

That they did.

Lee and Tiffany were hunting with North River Outfitting located in Alberta. North River Outfitting, for those who follow the Realtree Monster Bucks video series, is home to some of the finest monster whitetail ground in the province. Owner Ron Nemetchek seems to have fine-tuned a program that cranks out whopper whitetails on a startlingly consistent basis. North River is a 100-percent wild, free range operation that, interestingly, does not use baiting as a hunting tactic despite its tremendous popularity in the region.

Upon arriving in camp, the North River staff shared trail camera photos with Lee and Tiffany of some giant velvet bruisers that were frequenting the canola fields they would be hunting. With the possibility of bucks shedding velvet looming large, the pair was hoping to get the job done early.

Most of the bucks were still in velvet, but we did see a few that had shed, Tiffany says. We were just hoping that the bucks we were hunting wouldn't shed before we got a shot. The first night out a huge typical came out on the other side of the field. So the next night, we set up on that side and, of course, he came out on the other side. It was like we were playing a big shell game trying to guess which side he'd come out on.

While seeing the big typical on the wrong side of the field again wasn't ideal - the fact that the big typical appeared with a monster 8-point sporting a mammoth drop tine made the sighting worthwhile. Now Lee had a buck to focus on as well.

The following night, Tiffany was back in the stand and on the lookout for the big velvet typical. And she spotted it - much closer than expected.

The buck just popped out where we weren't expecting him, Tiffany says. My heart was pounding and I just kept telling myself to keep it together. He was a lot closer than we thought he'd be.

With a video camera rolling behind her, Tiffany put a G5 Tekan broadhead tight behind the buck's shoulder from 23 yards. The buck ran just off the field before piling up - Tiffany's first kill of the 2011 season.

I was so pumped up she says. It was such an exciting hunt and the buck is so beautiful. I still get excited thinking about it. It was awesome.

Tiffany's buck taped out at 174 inches and is a clean, symmetrical 10-pointer with great mass and, of course, a lush blanket of velvet.

Have a big buck story you want to share? E-mail us at [email protected].