Rack Report: Grant Olson's 184-inch Iowa Buck

The hunt for a buck nicknamed 6-by-5 started a couple of years ago when Whitetail Properties' Grant Olson and a hunting partner were able to get trail camera photos of an above average 9-pointer. The buck was an elusive creature, though. After those first few photos, he vanished for the season.

It was the same story come 2011. More early trail cam photos of 6-by-5 revealed he had grown. He blossomed into a nice 6-by-5 frame, and grew more than I have ever seen any buck grow, Olson said.

Olson was away on business the first week of October 2011, but his trail cam got photos of 6-by-5 walking through a favorite pinch point on two different evenings. But after that, the buck again vanished.

This year, once again, 6-by-5 resurfaced. Olson got lots of trail cam photos of the buck feeding during the day. The once 6x5 frame had grown into a mainframe 10-pointer with a kicker off of the right G2.

In the past I felt like the deer was the largest scoring deer on the place, but not the dominant buck, Olson said. This year, however, he seemed to have changed his attitude. He was the one doing the posturing in the summer feeding fields.

So when bow season came around, Olson and his hunting partner set out to find 6-by-5. Weather conditions for the hunt proved to be almost perfect with high pressure, bluebird skies and a slight wind. But Olson noticed a deviation in movement the first afternoon on stand. Most of the movement was around the north edge of a small thicket adjacent to a 1-acre food plot, where as previous observations showed deer movement more south, toward where Olson was sitting. The next afternoon, Olson set up a stand more south, and his hunting partner set up farther north, closer to the thicket. Just as in the previous evening, his partner saw more deer movement, but no 6-by-5.

On the third afternoon of hunting, Olson set up his stand in the thicket, near the north end, around noon.

I went in and hung the set, taking time to be especially quiet and trying not to sweat, Olson said. I was 30 yards from the thicket edge the deer had been using.

After getting set up, several does came into view, but no bucks. Olson became apprehensive that perhaps he'd scared away deer he didn't see when he set up his stand, or that the deer had moved to a different area altogether. But then he heard a loud grunt coming from the northwest corner of the thicket. The does took notice and stared in that direction. Another grunt sounded, followed by a fawn and doe running toward Olson. Following the doe was 6-by-5! But the wind direction posed a problem.

The does were north of me on a north wind, going south, Olson said. The buck trotted up facing me, inside of 20 yards. The doe, inside of 5 yards to my left and west of me, was going south. She froze, but 6-by-5 didn't care; he walked behind a tree and I drew. When he stepped out, at the moment I released the arrow, she blew at me!

The elusive 6-by-5 stepped out from behind that tree, broadside, at about 17 yards. Luck was on Olson's side because the doe's snort didn't affect his shot. The arrow hit the top of the heart and passed right behind the opposite shoulder. When 6-by-5 wheeled to leave, the blood on the exit side told the story. The buck ran into the thicket, and dropped about 75 yards away.

It's been a couple of years in the making to catch 6-by-5, but well worth the wait.

None of this is possible without a loving family, and a great hunting partner, Olson said.

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