2019 - 12 point buck shot near Cotton
Nate Lehmann and Dennis Olsen have been friends for 20 years, sharing both their work and a passion for hunting
November 26, 2019 • Voyageur Press
When Minnesota’s whitetail rifle season arrives each fall, the two look forward to spending time in the woods together. This year, Lehmann’s patience paid off with an impressive 225-pound buck.
As it turned out, his luck may have started with a forgotten piece of hunting gear.
“It was cold that weekend,” said Olsen, who has hunted the family property for many years. “After getting into his stand, Nate realized he forgot his hand warmers and headed back to the cabin. On his way back, he scared a deer off.”
Later, the pair checked their trail camera and discovered the deer was a small eight-pointer.
“He was bummed because he would have shot the deer,” Olsen said.
The following weekend, Lehmann returned for Friday and Saturday hunts, but success remained elusive. After hunting Saturday morning, he was ready to call it a day until Olsen encouraged him to stick around a little longer.
“The wives were having a ‘Hunter Widow Party’ at the house,” Olsen explained. “There were about 30 women coming to the house. I asked him to stick around a little longer.”
It turned out to be excellent advice.
Just before 5 p.m., Olsen received a text message from his friend.
“Eight-pointer down,” Olsen recalled.
Lehmann had shot the buck from about 20 yards away, striking it in the shoulder. The deer gave a mule kick and ran off.
With a light covering of snow on the ground, the hunters expected to find a blood trail. However, their search initially turned up nothing.
“We went out 2½ hours later and still no blood,” Olsen said. “We tried a zigzag pattern, and sure enough, I stumbled across the buck. It was massive. I couldn’t believe it, and still no blood.”
The buck weighed an impressive 225 pounds and scored 155⅜ inches, making it a memorable addition to Lehmann’s hunting history.
Olsen was particularly intrigued by the deer because neither hunter had seen it on their trail cameras before.
“I went on Facebook in an attempt to find out where this buck’s home range was,” Olsen said. “We had never seen it before on any of our cameras.”
Through the online hunting community, Olsen discovered that the buck had appeared on camera just 1.7 miles away, across the river.
The discovery answered a question that had puzzled him for years. Olsen has photographed numerous bucks on his property that he was never able to harvest and never saw again.
“I have had numerous bucks on camera and wasn’t able to harvest them and never saw them again,” Olsen said. “I was always curious as to where they ended up.”
For Lehmann, a decision to stay in the woods a little longer resulted in a trophy buck. For Olsen, the unexpected discovery offered a fascinating glimpse into the movements of the deer that roam the surrounding countryside.