Bucher Bags 2nd P & Y In Five Days!

While the Packers put the "crush" on the Miami Dolphins at Lambeau Field last Monday night, Joe Bucher was in his Chevy Avalanche on his way to Illinois for another bow hunt. Typically, Bucher always hunts northwest Illinois during the first week of November for a chance at a big rutting whitetail buck, and this year was to be no different. Except, the ink was still drying on the photos and the video footage of his Buffalo County, Wisconsin hunt.

Bucher planned to start off his traditional Illinois hunt in his best traditional treestand site; a spot his cameraman, Scott Knepprath, has nicknamed "The Skyscraper" due to its extreme height off the ground. Just before dawn, Bucher and Knepprath settled climbed the intimidating 200 year old white oak and settled in for yet another hopeful hunt.

Daylight brought a cloud filled sky with a hint of drizzle in the air, and a soft blowing southeasterly wind. Only moments after Knepprath had secured the camera on the custom made treepod system, a lone doe appeared off their backside, and began to slowly feed her way toward a bedding area. Knepprath began to roll tape, while Bucher kept a watchful eye on the rest of the area around the legendary stand site for the possible appearance of a buck.

Ten minutes or so later, a faint grunting sound occurred from the draw below. Within minutes a tall racked 8 point buck with his nose buried to the ground like a hound dog came trolling up the brushy draw and onto a lower bench near the stand site. Knepprath quickly swung the camera off the doe, on to the buck, and gave Bucher the green light to shoot. The bow was quickly drawn, the shot was fired, and another successful hunt was captured on tape for next fall's Hunting With Joe Bucher television series, as well as 2003 version of Whopper Whitetails.