A buck I named Gimpy showed up in December of 2016. It was apparent he was a 2.5-year-old 8 pt. that had sustained an injury to his right front leg. His elbow was the size of a softball. He showed up a few days after muzzleloader season, which only left late archery to hunt him. After seeing the buck numerous times a day for several days in a row I decided I would try to put him out of his misery and hunt him. I went out and bought new broadheads in the morning. In the afternoon, I watched Gimpy spar with a 6 point and knock one of his antlers off. A few days later, he dropped his other antler in my food plot. My son had his first matched set. He was safe for that year.

That buck was a fixture in my food plot for the next month. He was there in the morning, when I came home for lunch, and every evening. In fact, even when I would go into my woods to cut firewood with my snowmobile, he would come out within minutes after I was done. I’ll bet I saw that deer 60 times in December/January. By late winter, he was in bad shape physically and I wished I would have pursued him even without the headgear.

I never saw Gimpy the next summer and only twice during archery season in 2018. I fully expected he would show up early in 2018 and stay visible. He finally showed up in the second week of gun season and my hope was that my 10-year-old son would get him. We saw him 3 times in gun season, and a shot opportunity never presented itself. I never saw the buck in muzzleloader, but he showed up again in late archery and stayed until mid-February. I shot a nice buck in archery, and I never considered hunting Gimpy in 2018. My son, Noah, found his antlers in a food plot by the house on January 27th.

I didn’t know it at the time, but I’ve only talked with a neighbor a mile away that ever saw the buck. My immediate neighbors never saw the buck in 2017 or 2018. I should mention: I only own 40 acres in a heavily hunted area in central Michigan: and I live on the property.

Gimpy taught me a few good lessons by being able to watch him. First, because of his injury, he would bully the other deer by raising up on his hind legs to steal where they had dug up brassicas and turnips. Second, he proved to be most vulnerable in the late season. Third, deer that are injured tend to migrate to the best food sources in the neighborhood. Fourth, passing deer on smaller properties is possible. Fifth, having history with a buck makes the experience even more enjoyable. Sixth, Gimpy was not the buck to pass. Gimpy is a cull buck and should be removed from the herd to allow another buck to slide into his movement pattern.

I look forward to hunting Gimpy in 2019 as a 4.5-year-old. Because of his injury, he will never sport a good set of antlers. I have enjoyed our time together and appreciate the lessons learned.