Hunters get biggest bucks of their lives

by Peter Jakey Managing Editor

Most hunters take part in the annual firearm deer season each fall with two objectives. One is getting venison for camp and the freezer. The other is big buck bragging rights. It can be like hitting the lottery. A hunter never knows when that trophy buck will come into view, if the shot will hit the mark, and if it will be enough to bring it down.

While there may have been bigger animals taken this season, two hunters got themselves impressive 12- and 11-point racks. One got his in the Posen area, while the other will remain a tight-lipped secret.

RANDY BURIC, 51, of Chester Field Township was giddy as a boy on Christmas morning when he drove his pickup truck in front of the deer check station in Posen with the biggest buck of his life. It was a 2-and-a-year-old deer with 12 points and a couple of nubs. Buric was hunting with his son, John Buric, 15, Monday at just after 7 a.m. in a deer blind called the stone pile. It was dark and there wasn’t much to see. “I couldn’t even see the body,” said Buric. “Not knowing how many points he had, but that he did have a rack, I shot. He dropped there fortunately. I didn’t know what I had until it got light out. I was beside myself jumping up and down. I was real excited. It was once in a lifetime.” The inside spread is 18 three-quarter-inches with a weight in the 160 pound range. “The trip has been made by just that split second,” he added.

THERE WAS a lot of nervous energy coming from the deer blind of Jesse Szatkowski, who would only give the elusive answer of Presque Isle County when asked where he bagged his 11-point beast. What Jesse will remember the most was how excited his 11-year-old son Casey was when Mr.

Buck was lured into the line of sight by a doe around 12:20 p.m. on opening day. “He got a little excited, let’s put it that way,” said Szatkowski. ?He was shaking more than I was. He had his hands over his ears — it was hilarious, actually.”

Szatkowski sits in his blind all day. “I have been sitting in the blind the last three days,” he said Tuesday afternoon. “They say some of the biggest bucks move between noon and 1 p.m.” Mr. Buck weighs 160 pounds and has a 12 three-quarter inch inside spread. It is by far the biggest buck he’s ever got.

Szatkowski’s buck was in first place on the Hawks Mini Mart buck pole for a couple of days before getting edged out by a buck with eight points, but with a wider spread. His wife Amy, also did the family proud with a six-pointer that had an inside spread of 8 one-quarter inch. Going back to that first objective, the Szatkowskis will have plenty of venison to put on the table. Jesse is putting the shoulder mount in his living room.