Schaffer Dane’s Hunt of a Lifetime

Most serious deer hunters will agree that a small percentage of “luck” has to be on your side in order to bag a trophy buck. Schaffer Dane may have been the luckiest deer hunter in camp this week.

With unseasonably warm weather for November, Schaffer’s first few days in camp were met with relatively slow deer activity. With a front moving in on the fourth day, big buck activity and sightings noticeably increased the day of and after the cold front. On the fourth evening, Schaffer’s’ guide, Mark Hively, situated him along the edge of a 30-acre hay field surrounded by timbered draws on three sides. They were after a well-known buck named Teaser. Mark, Matt, Terry, and Zach (guides at Heartland) had all seen Teaser on multiple occasions. The buck was often spotted from the road in the open pasture either alone or with a doe. Just a few days before the buck was harvested, he was caught on video within 50 yards of a county road. The week before, the buck teased a hunter from the U.P. by staying just a few steps outside of his bow range. The buck seldom came out in the same spot consecutively and traveled in random patterns; hence the name Teaser.

On Schaffer’s fourth evening hunt, the buck stayed true to his name and stayed just outside of shooting range. He watched the buck for an hour and a half tend the doe in the open pasture. That night Schaffer witnessed Teaser breed the doe he had been tending and work their way out of range and into an adjacent draw.

On Schaffer’s fifth and final evening at camp, they decided to go to the same stand location in hopes of catching Teaser with the doe again. On their way onto the farm, Teaser bolted across the road directly in front of the truck. Still hundreds of yards away from the stand, it was doubtful he would have any opportunity at the buck, but decided to head to the stand anyways. Just a few hours later, around 4:00 p.m., Schaffer was caught off guard when the buck astonishingly popped out just to the right of his stand. At 35 yards, he pulled back on the biggest buck he had ever drawn on, and completely whiffed the shot. The arrow flew just in front of the deer. The buck was caught off guard as well and took off to the opposing draw, pausing for just a moment before walking slowly into the draw.

Every hunter knows the feeling of pure disgust and disbelief after missing a monster buck. Schaffer thought his hunt was over and he would never see Teaser again. That all changed when a doe appeared out of the opposing draw, the same draw Teaser had ran into after being shot at. Just a few minutes later, Schaffer, in disbelief, spotted Teaser on the field edge staring directly towards the doe. The doe started working her way to Schaffer’s location, the buck followed course. The doe fed her way directly to his stand dragging Teaser within 35 yards. Schaffer took a slow, deep breath and let the arrow fly, this time he hit the mark. The buck stumbled, kicked, and rolled to about 100 yards before going down in the field.

The next few moments for Schaffer Dane are hard to describe if you are not a whitetail hunter, it’s a feeling of sheer accomplishment, excitement, and pride one will never forget for the rest of their life.  After staying determined, confident, and positive after enduring four and a half days of mental highs and lows of deer hunting, Schaffer was rewarded with a buck of a lifetime, and an unbelievable story that will be told for years to come at the Heartland Lodge. Congrats!

Last Updated: March 3rd, 2024