High-Schooler Takes Big Minnesota Buck with Split G-2s

Evy Grinager had her sights set on this buck for the 2024 deer season. After not filling her tags in 2022 or 2023, she was due for some success, and this buck fit the bill. Photo courtesy of Grinager family.

The Grinager family, of Minnesota, eats, sleeps, and breathes deer hunting. You could say that it’s in their blood. It’s all hands-on-deck each spring and summer as pre-season preparations are tackled. The family’s dedication to land improvement and management has yielded some substantial bucks. One example is the monster that Mike Grinager tagged on the 2024 archery opener. In case you missed it, a Rack Report about Mike’s buck was published back on September 25. Mike’s granddaughter, Evy, was next to take a big buck this fall, and her success came during the youth hunt.

“I’ve been hunting ever since I was old enough to,” Evy said. “My first year, I asked my dad to take me hunting as much as possible. That first year, he moved a stand to a specific part of our property where he had planted food plots and put in a watering hole. He named it ‘Evy’s Stand.’ I’ve taken bucks from that stand five of the last seven years. And in 2021, I took my first ‘mountable’ buck.

“Ever since then, I’ve helped out with planting food plots and have hunted as often as I could,” she continued. “But I didn’t shoot a single thing in 2022 or 2023. I had opportunities at bucks, but I let them go because I was waiting for something better.”

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After two dry years, Evy was determined to give 2024 her best shot.

“We have trail cameras out so that we can see what’s on our property,” she explained. “This year, I had my eyes set on a buck we called M2. We named him that because he resembled the buck I killed in 2021, which we had called Muley because his antlers resembled a mule deer. At first, I said I would pass M2, but that’s because I’m terrible at judging bucks in trail camera photos. My family gives me a hard time about that. They all knew that he was a buck I wouldn’t be able to pass up.”

A trail camera captured the buck falling (at right) upon impact of the well-placed shotgun slug. Photo courtesy of Grinager family.

Evy hunted from her usual stand on the Minnesota youth-season opener. About 2 1/2 hours before dark, she was on Snapchat and texting some of her friends to pass the time. But then a small buck stepped out in the distance. Evy recognized the young buck as a deer that was often in trail camera photos with M2. And sure enough, when she glanced to the right, the big deer stepped out.

“He was way too far away,” she said. “I wanted to shoot, but I knew I had to let him get closer. I started shaking; I knew right then and there that I was going to kill him. I was being as patient as possible. Then, the two bucks stepped into the woods. With does and fawns feeding around me, I waited and watched, hoping M2 would come back out.”

Less than 15 minutes later, the small buck again stepped out, but now he was much closer than he’d been earlier. With that buck inside her effective shooting range, Evy recalled the feeling of knowing that M2 was going to once again appear right behind the young buck, but this time within her Savage shotgun’s reach.

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“Less than 2 minutes later, M2 stepped out and was looking in my direction,” she said. “I noticed that he looked much larger than in the trail camera photos. He looked really big. He took a few steps and then lowered his head to eat in the food plot. I put the crosshairs right behind his front shoulder and took the shot. He dropped in his tracks. I was so nervous, so it was a relief to see that he wasn’t going anywhere. It was a big accomplishment.

“I sent a ‘big buck down’ text in our family chat,” she added. “I had to sit there for about 2 hours because my sister and dad and my cousin and uncle were hunting on the same property. I didn’t want to mess up their hunts. While I was waiting, five other bucks came out in front of me, and four of them were nice bucks. The fifth buck, which was a little one, walked right up to my buck. He spooked a little bit, but then all of the bucks just fed in the plots and watched my buck. One of them was a big buck that my sister killed about two weeks later during the regular gun season.”

Evy’s sister, Laney, took this impressive buck during Minnesota’s regular gun season. This was one of the bucks that Evy had seen after making the shot on her split-G-2 buck. Photo courtesy of Grinager family.

After darkness swallowed up the buck parade, the other hunters came over to help Evy recover her buck. They tagged the buck and then loaded him onto their side by side, leaving as little impact as possible. That way, others could hunt from her stand in the following weeks. They took some cool pictures with the moon in the background, and then they brought the buck to Evy’s grandparents’ place.

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“Everyone was there waiting to help skin and process the deer,” she said. “It was so cool to get all of the hugs and pats on the back. Everyone was so excited to pitch in and help. I think my uncles are more excited than me. They put in a lot of work so that all of us can enjoy great hunting.”

Evy’s outstanding buck features 11 scoreable points, including split G-2s and a split brow tine. It grossed 157 6/8 inches and is her best buck to date. I don’t know about you, but I’d say the Grinager family’s hard work and dedication to deer hunting is paying off big time.