- Well, hey, everybody.

Welcome to Michigan Out Of Doors.

Thank you so much for joining us this week.

We are excited to bring you Big Buck Night West on this week's show from The Ultimate Sport Show, just a week or so back.

Some really big deers, some really big stories.

So you stay tuned.

I'm Jimmy Gretzinger and it's time for Michigan Out Of Doors.

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(upbeat music) - [Voiceover 2] Jay's Sporting Goods.

Trust the tradition.

(bright acoustic music) - Okay, here we go.

Our first lucky hunter for Big Buck Night West 2025 is Blake Dintaman.

His dad, Adam, is here too.

Blake, you shot your buck in Lake County at 18 point with your .223.

Was your dad with you out there?

- Yes.

- Awesome.

How old are you?

- 10.

- 10 years old.

So do you remember how it all happened out there?

- Yeah.

- Can you tell us?

- So basically, we went out there around six o'clock in the morning, and we went to the blind, and 15 minutes later we had the buck walk up in front of us, about 20 yards.

And so then five minutes later, we decided to shoot it, and then we went back inside for about an hour and then went back to find it and it dropped about 25 yards away from where we shot it.

- Wow, that's amazing.

Okay, so is this your first buck ever?

- Yes.

- Of course, it is.

All right, so I imagine there's a little bit more to the story out there.

Were you in a blind, Adam?

- We do have a blind up there, yep.

But we went up for the youth hunt and didn't know we had a deer like this roaming our property.

So it was quite a surprise when he stepped out that morning.

And it was, like Blake mentioned, it was first light.

So we gave a little bit of time just to make sure he could see the deer through the scope.

And once we were comfortable said, all right, I'm gonna count to three.

And we counted it off and he pulled the trigger and made a great shot and the rest is history.

- All right, this is Byron Goodrich.

This is an Allegan County buck, shot with a .450 Bushmaster.

It's a 10-point.

Scores 138.

Byron is nine years old.

Let's hear the story.

What happened with this big buck?

- We built a blind and we hopped in it a few days later and we stayed there for a while.

Then we've seen an eight-point pop out.

My dad got me ready on that one, but he's like, no, bigger buck, bigger buck.

And he rearranged me and I shot this one and he drops right where he stood.

- Wow.

That's pretty calm, cool and collected right there.

Were you excited when the bucks were out there?

- [Byron] Yeah.

- [Jimmy] Did you think about shooting that smaller one?

- [Byron] No.

- [Jimmy] Could you see how big he was?

Like how far away was he?

- He was about 10 or 20 yards.

- Oh, so he's close?

No, dad's saying.

Dad, how far was the deer?

- He's about 80 yards from us.

He come out, a smaller buck came out first, and then I was getting him all set up, and right as he, I don't even know what happened.

Just a smaller buck started walking and all of a sudden I seen just an antler and I said, junior, hold up.

And then we got him in position and the rest was history.

- Well, that is a great buck and a great story.

What are you thinking next year or something just as big or what are you thinking?

- [Byron] I'm hoping.

- We originally went to our, it was me and my dad, my dad's buddy, and his buddy's kid, we go to our favorite blind on the property and we're just doe hunting for now.

So we're sitting there for like an hour and first doe comes across and I take a shot, hit it, the doe goes down.

So I'm basically done hunting for the night.

And then about an hour later, in the distance on the ridge we see a buck.

And then it was a good eight-point, followed by this guy, which I didn't even see the double drop tines.

And he's about 200, I think, it was 80 yards out.

And I racked up a bullet and I shoot, but I missed the first shot.

Comes in about 50 yards closer, and my dad and his buddy are, they say drop tine, I don't even know what a drop tine was back here, so I'm confused of what they're saying and they're smacking my back and I'm having some trouble loading the next bullet in the thing.

So I'm kind of freaking out and they're saying like, punch it, punch it.

So I gotta unload everything, take out all the bullets and everything, then put one in the chamber, and I shoot it and it just drops.

We're all freaking out.

I don't even know what's going on.

And yeah.

- [Jenny] So there was buck fever or maybe just a little confusion?

- [Paxton] Mostly confusion.

- [Jimmy] Julie, this is a beautiful buck.

And I heard there's quite a good story that go with it.

- There is, actually.

So my son, Austin, came with me.

My husband was up north hunting and I really wanted to go hunting.

We'd gotten some property.

And he was wonderful enough to come with me and we made the trek out to the blind.

And when I went into the blind, I collapsed the blinds.

- Was it like a tree stand or was it a ground blind?

- Ground blind.

- Okay.

- Yeah.

Collapsed it.

I'm sure it was very quiet with all the bucks in the woods.

They probably didn't hear me at all.

So we were in the blind, this big fella comes out, and Austin hands me the gun.

He's like, shoot the deer.

And I'm like, my glasses were still fogged up and I couldn't get a good ethical shot.

So I was like, no, you take the buck.

And he had it in its sights and with the most painful voice I've ever heard him say anything.

He said, mom, I can't shoot this buck.

This is your buck so.

- [Jimmy] Wow.

- The deer goes back into the woods.

I pray.

Came back out.

Like thank god, it came back out.

And I was able to take an ethical shot, but it was the hunt of a lifetime.

You can't make these stories up, with your kids and your son being the guide.

And then I got a second buck.

- Wow.

Same night?

- Same morning.

- Oh wow.

- November 15th.

Yeah, opening morning.

So thank god, Austin gave up his opening day for me.

- [Jimmy] So we need to have you start praying for a lot more people, I think.

- [Julia] Yes!

It works.

- So got outta work at a decent time and contemplating if I wanted to go hunting.

The wind wasn't quite in my favor.

So I'm driving.

And happen to look off and I see down this two track a buck chasing the doe.

So I'm like, okay, well, that's a sign.

It's only a couple miles where I hunt.

- Tell us about your setup, where you're hunting to.

- It's very thick.

So my shooting lanes there very minimized.

So I'm sitting there and I got out to my spot really quick and quiet and got up in my stand and there's a five-point standing about 50 yards.

I thought, okay, well, I got up there pretty quiet.

So I'm sitting there, relaxed, and sun's beating in my face, and not expecting to see nothing like this.

And I hear a small grunt coming from the side of me and it sounded like just a small little deer.

I'm thinking, okay, just a little deer, no big deal.

Also, I see antlers coming through the thicket, and it's about 15 yards away.

And I don't see a body, I just see antlers.

So after a long five minutes, he finally comes out and starts walking away and I said, this is not gonna happen.

So I put the crossbow up to him and I gave him a quick yell and he turned, and it wasn't quite quartering away, but enough to get him.

And he took off and I still had two hours of daylight left, so I sat there for about 45 minutes.

I said, no, I can't wait no more longer.

So yeah, we got down and found some trail.

And 40 yards, there he was.

Yeah, just, didn't seem real yet.

- [Jimmy] This is Andrew Gordon, shot in Kalamazoo County.

This was shot with a 12 gauge, 13 points, scores 167 and 2/8.

It's got a ton of mass and a ton of points.

Andrew, let's hear, did you know this thing was in there?

Were you hunting this deer?

- No, actually, I've been hunting public land for last couple years, I'm fairly new to hunting.

And this year I went all in and got a, put up a couple tree stands and was out all archery season.

Shot and missed a 10-point 'cause my limb hit a tree branch.

And then opening day during firearm, I went out there, saw that same 10-point on my right.

Was trying to grunt him in.

And then on the left, I saw another buck and it was this guy.

- Is this state land or is this private?

- It's a state land.

- Okay.

- Yeah, there's a lot of brush in the way.

There's one little window.

Right when he went in there, I fired at him, missed him, he turned towards me and I shot him in the chest, and dropped him.

I've been told this is a pretty good first buck so.

(everyone laughing) - That is a good anytime, any place, anywhere buck.

I mean, so this is your first buck at all?

- First buck and also it was on my birthday opening day, so.

- Geez.

I don't know if it's better to be lucky or good, but you're kind of a little bit of, but, well, I guess you're not that good, you missed a bunch of shots.

- Yeah, and all my coworkers and friends are hunters, they're like, that's a terrible first buck, 'cause you're never gonna get anything better than that so.

- [Jimmy] Well, you won't, but this is a good memory for you.

Let's give him a round of applause for a heck of a buck.

- I had seen him the night before on my birthday and luckily my brother decided to go to the Green Bay Packers game.

So I sat where he usually sits, but I heard a grunt, about, I don't know, around 10:00 AM.

I look over, and there's just a little basket rack coming.

I thought, well, that was way too loud of a grunt, seemed like to be a basket rack.

And then right behind him, for some reason this buck was just following him.

There was no doe or anything.

So I instantly kind of, I could see kind of where they're heading, and I started getting ready for a shot, and came right into 15 yards.

I shot.

And I knew it was a little bit back, so I sat in the stand for another two hours, just waiting.

Went back and talked to my dad and he was like, we need to wait till the morning.

And I was like, oh man, this was only noon.

So went and started just trying to distract myself.

I went over to my grandparents' house, played some pool and hung out.

And then we went back the next morning and found him like 50 yards away.

He had bedded down and died there, so it was pretty exciting.

- Unbelievable.

So you had no idea until you walked up on him exactly what he was?

- Oh no, I knew.

We named him Bullwinkle, 'cause he kind of looked like a moose.

He was just a massive deer.

Real heavy deer.

So I knew exactly what he was and I had seen him the night previous, so I knew he was like right in the area.

So as soon as I saw him, I was pretty stoked.

- [Jimmy] Rick, tell me the story behind this monster.

- This one here was the second day.

And then I was around with my daughter.

I hunted with her for 19 years.

Hunted the stand that I was in, it was blind for 45 years.

- 45 years?

- 45 years.

And then it was quarter after seven and I told Olivia the lucky time is around 9:30.

That's when they started moving, 'cause I hunt four big pastures.

And then I start fixing my blind, the window in it.

And my daughter goes, dad, there's a buck and a doe running in the fields here.

I said, was it a big one?

She goes, yeah.

I think I can get it.

And I looked out the window and I said, let me have this one.

(everyone laughing) - I've been sitting here for 45 years waiting for this thing.

So I put my gun out the window, shot, it took off with its tail up.

And my daughter goes, dad, you missed it.

And it was running through the fields and I said, how could I have missed this thing?

Anyway, I couldn't see it anymore 'cause it ran over a ridge.

And then my daughter, at the last minute, saw it fall.

And she said, dad, I think it fell.

I said, are you sure?

I'm not positive.

So it was 7:15.

So we waited till 11 o'clock, 'cause I said, that's when everybody in our group gets done hunting.

And we went up to it in the fields here and the first thing we saw, my daughter goes, dad, there's a pile of corn in here in the bean field.

And I said, that's odd.

We got a little bit closer, and it was this thing here.

- I was gonna say, I hope it didn't die over an illegal bait pile.

- [Rick] It was unbelievable.

It was just still so.

- I told Brody, I said, you know what, we'll go out in the youth season, and I'll give you two days, you know, and you can hunt for him for two days and then after that, you know, I'm gonna have to go after him, you know, in October.

So we went out and it was so hot during the youth season that it just, you know, didn't see much at all.

Not a lot of activity.

And then, you know, come October 1st we went back out and not much, seen a couple little bucks.

And then didn't get another chance to go till October 16th.

And then I called mom and I said, hey, can Brody get home to go hunting tonight?

You know, I really want to go out and take him out.

And she said, no, we can't make it home tonight.

You know, we got stuff to do.

So I'm like, all right, well, I'm gonna go out and, you know, just to kinda scout and stuff and get out there.

And it wasn't 20 minutes into the hunt, here comes six or eight does right out in front of me and another 20 minutes later, he steps out about 80 yards away and just starts walking right towards these does right in front of me.

And, you know, my heart was racing.

And he got out about 22 yards and I went to shoot him and I used a crossbow and the safety was on, so it didn't go off.

And here he is standing there, all the does are looking at me like, what's going on?

So I hurried up, flipped the safety off, and he was still broadside.

And right when I shot he grunted and turned and I hit him way back and angled up through.

So I was like, shoot, I screwed it up, you know, he's gonna get away.

So I waited till after dark and this was about an hour and a half, you know, later.

Grabbed my arrow, looked at it, you know, covered in blood, and I called the wife, told Brody, said, hey, I think I got Curly Cue, you know.

There's a lot of good sign on the arrow.

And so, you know, he was a little bit upset.

- I mean, how old are you?

- Eight.

- Okay.

You've got plenty of time.

You'll get another Curly Cue in your lifetime, right?

- [Brody] Mm-hmm.

- [Jenny] All right.

- [Jimmy] Tell us the story about this buck.

- Not a whole lot to tell.

I was driving around that day.

It was at late October and noticed the deer were moving.

I travel all over Southwest Michigan.

And I'm saying, ah, they're moving tonight.

So if I get home fast, I can throw on my (beep) on and get out there, so I did.

- Stuff on?

- Yeah, I'm gonna throw my stuff on, yeah, yeah.

So, oh.

- This is PBS, man.

- I know.

People that know me, they'll be shocked.

(everyone laughing) - So you got your clothes on and out you went.

- I got, out I went.

I had found a scrape, like two days before, a fresh scrape.

So I set up on that.

So, he came in well, before last light, which was nice 'cause I was sitting there and he was quiet.

And I think that's how he got so big, because I was sitting there and it was like, oh, (beep), sorry.

- Oh my word, there's a buck!

- Oh my word, there's a buck.

Exactly.

Oh my word.

And I said, that's a nice deer.

And so, and I'd set up on him and I watched him.

He was walking up, walking up, and I was on him.

And, of course, he stopped with a tree between him and I and his shoulder.

So I was just waiting and waiting and I go, ah, I'm gonna mess this up, I'm gonna mess it up.

But he ended up, he stepped out, sniffed the scrape and he was done after that.

- How far?

- It was 25 yards.

And then he ran another 25.

I heard a crash and I thought I was hoping it was him just crashing, but I figured it's like, man, he hit the cornfield.

He just hit some open running room.

So I went up to the house, sat for a little bit, came back out.

Yeah, he was hit well.

He didn't go very far at all.

- Okay, we've got 19-year-old Ty Matzke from Genesee County.

Shot the 17-point buck with a crossbow.

185 and 1/8 inches.

Ty, tell us where you were hunting.

Well, you don't have to give us coordinates, but kind of tell us where you were and what was going on out there set up.

- We were in Genesee County, Flushing.

It's right behind my house.

I was in a 17-foot ladder stand, and kind of some thick woods so.

- [Jenny] Okay, so were you looking for this buck in particular?

Did you know he was out there?

- We've only seen him on camera once or twice, so I figured he was just passing through, so I wasn't really looking for him.

- Okay, so you're sitting out there, it was afternoon hunt?

- Yes, after work.

- Okay, so how did it all happen?

When did you first see him?

- I went out after work one day.

It was a good win, so I figured I'd head out there and a four-point came out of the corn and then he was coming towards me.

Then a little while later, he popped out of the corn.

And it took him about 15, 20 minutes to finally get a good shot on him, and then I put a good shot on him.

He ran about 60 yards and then he was dead.

- Wow.

So were you shaken when he realized it was the buck you had seen before on camera?

- [Ty] Yeah, I think the tree stand was shaken too.

- But you pulled off a good shot.

And how long did you wait before you went to put your hands on that buck?

- It was probably a good two hours.

I wanted to play it safe.

- Wow, biggest buck for you, I imagine.

- [Ty] Yes.

- [Mike] He was sneaking in behind me with a doe, and he was just about to step out at 12 yards and I spooked him and they ran away from me.

- Did you get a good look at the rack at that point?

- I'd just seen the back of it just running right away.

Just, I'm like, oh my goodness, that's the biggest buck I've ever seen, you know?

And he runs out of sight, still on the property I can hunt, and then disappears.

And two minutes later right over there, right where he disappeared, boom.

I'm like, oh, for sure he's gone.

No way, you know?

And the next day I hunted a different spot and just watched some young buck spar.

And I went back out to this spot on Sunday morning, the 17th.

And I remember just saying a prayer like, God, if you're gonna bring one to me, bring me the one that matters.

And about 8:40, he come trailing a doe, and gave me a 45-yard shot.

It's real thick in there, so I kind of had to pick a little lane and wait till he walked into it, you know?

- Were you pretty calm at that point or were you getting shaky?

- I was still pretty calm.

I knew it was him, the big buck I've seen two days before, but as soon as I seen the rack, I'm like, don't even think about it, just think about the deer, let's get this done.

And then, you know, and then, I thought it was an eight-point.

So at 45 yards, I shot this with my- - Well, if you stop counting halfway through, it is an eight-point.

- Right?

So I made a terrible shot.

I shot it way back, 'cause he was walking when I shot him, and he only went 30 yards, laid down.

And I could see him laying down.

Every time he turned his head to the side, you could see this side of him, and I'm like, if you get up, I'm gonna shoot again, you know?

And about five minutes later he got up and went right back down.

Hard.

And I'm like, he's done.

I just need to calm down.

And at that point I'm like, my whole body's shivering, like a full body shiver.

- And you're still praying at this point?

- Yeah, yeah.

Still praying, you know, texting my buddies, telling them, you know, hey, I think I shot the best buck of my life.

And it just was an overwhelming feeling.

I stepped up to him.

And I had lost my dad and my grandpa the year before, so it was like a really special moment right there.

- I was supposed to be in Ohio hunting with my buddies.

Everybody bailed on me, so I was down there by myself.

And seeing plenty of deer, but wife's like, just come on home.

Like there's plenty of deer on my folks' property.

So made the trek north, and it was raining for two days straight.

And it was raining in the morning a little bit on November 6th.

Decided I'm gonna sleep in, drink my coffee, watch the news, whatever.

And went out, did kind of a mini marathon sit.

Started at 10 o'clock in the morning, a little after 10.

Didn't see anything, didn't see anything till probably about 3:30.

Saw some does and yearlings kind of messing around in the northern food plot.

And by that time, my father-in-law, Dan, was out in his tower in the north field and we were texting back and forth like we always do.

And he text me saying, I see the giant.

And he said he had him at 80 in the pines.

All I saw was the tip of the rack.

And then a couple minutes later he said, he's moving south, he's heading towards you.

- All right, so did you nickname him the giant or just 'cause it was a giant buck?

- Just 'cause it's a giant buck.

- You guys had him on the land there before?

- Yeah, we had him on trail cam a couple times end of October, but I thought we were just hunting a ghost, you know.

- All right so, you saw him again, and then what happened?

- So he started heading south.

The doe that he was with read the script and he followed that doe down the trail.

I had like a shoulder width window to shoot through and I just timed my shot.

Did the same thing everybody does.

And stopped him where I needed to.

And 30, yeah.

Shot was a little low, so I wanted to give it some time.

My father-in-law did not want to give it some time.

And I had a significant emotional moment.

I'm still sorry for that.

Dad, I apologize.

But eventually, we went out there.

It was good blood.

He only went 30 yards.

- [Jenny] All right.

Okay, so what happens after you get out there, and you get to put your hands on this buck?

- I was just in disbelief.

Absolute disbelief.

So, I just thank God and I called my taxidermist in that order.

- [Jimmy] Thanks to everyone that made Big Buck Night East and West so special.

We thank our friends from ShowSpan and to all the participants.

And who knows, maybe we'll see you next year right here on Big Buck Night.

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