Smith: Buck killed in Waukesha County sets record and is fourth largest ever in Wisconsin

WIND LAKE - When the afternoon of Nov. 8 rolled around, the 2017-'18 Wisconsin deer hunting season was about seven weeks old and Wade Wollermann of Union Grove already had a memory of a lifetime.

That came in October when his 10-year-old son Wynn shot a buck during the youth hunt. 

Whatever the rest of the fall would bring was gravy.

And Wollermann, 39, who was raised and taught to love the outdoors in southeastern Wisconsin, isn't one to waste local hunting opportunities.

"It's precious to have a good place to hunt in the area," Wollermann said. "With development and changes happening, you don't know when you might lose your spot."

His job as an environmental engineer allows him the flexibility to take to the field for a few hours here and there.

With the rut peaking in early November, Wollermann broke away from work about 2 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 8. 

By 2:30 p.m. he was high in a tree on a 40-acre farm in New Berlin, compound bow in hand. It was about his 25th "sit" of the season, Wollermann said.

Twice he had drawn on bucks, but the animals didn't present an ethical shot.

The New Berlin property is set in the rural-suburban milieu found around many  Wisconsin cities and towns.

Within a mile of the farm are subdivisions, light manufacturing plants and retail complexes. 

And in the midst of the human-built environment, white-tailed deer find food and shelter.

Some of them live long and prosper, even.

So it was with a buck some in New Berlin called "Bullwinkle."

The deer had been seen for several years and sported a big 10-point rack in 2016.

In 2017, it was a massive 13-pointer (a main-frame 12 with an extra "crab claw" on the left antler).

But while it showed up on trail cams, the deer was primarily nocturnal and escaped hunters.

Wollermann was aware of the deer from images shared with him, but the buck had never been captured on a trail cam on the farm he hunted.

So when a large-antlered deer appeared in the woodlot at 3 p.m., Wollermann didn't immediately think of the local legend.

"I said, 'that's not one to pass up,' " Wollermann said. "And I got ready."

The deer was on the move in mid-afternoon, cruising for a doe during the primary annual deer mating period.

The buck was covering ground at a steady pace, Wollermann said, and was traveling on the trail that passed beneath his stand.

When the deer was about 50 yards out, Wollermann drew his bow. The buck kept coming and, no more than 30 seconds later, presented a 15-yard quartering away shot.

By this time Wollermann had seen enough of the deer's rack to know it was the a deer of a lifetime.

"Don't (mess) this up," Wollermann told himself as he settled the bowsite on the deer's vitals. At the shot, the buck bounded and ran. 

The arrow penetrated the deer's shoulder blade and entered the lungs, but did not pass through the animal.

Wollermann waited 20 minutes and then climbed down and left the property to get a search party. He came back two hours later with his wife, Katie, son Wynn and daughter Claire (age 7) and friend Nick Draskovich of Waterford.

The group had barely started down the deer's trail when it jumped from a bed in a thicket and ran down a fenceline.

The search was postponed until 10 p.m.; only a few specks of blood were found and Wollermann called it off for the night.

At least, for everyone but himself.

"I couldn't sleep," Wollermann said. "So I went back out there, sat in the truck and listened for coyotes."

At daybreak, Wollermann was joined by his brother Lucas Wollermann of Waterford and later Draskovich.

The trio picked up a trail through a soybean field, not so much blood as footprints and broken stems. 

It appeared to leave the farm and go into a residential area. Wollermann called the local police and the Department of Natural Resources, notifying the authorities that he was searching for a buck in the area.

Then he started knocking on doors. As fate would have it, the homeowners answered at the first house and granted him permission to search for the deer on their property.

Minutes later Lucas spotted the big buck lying dead in a thicket. 

"I've never seen Wade jump so high," Draskovich said. "And none of us had ever seen such a big buck up close."

A green measurement in mid-November put its gross score in the low 190-inch range.

That's a whale of a whitetail anywhere in the world.

And here in Wisconsin, any bow-killed buck in excess of 190 inches gets the state record talk started.

The Wisconsin archery record is a 191 6/8 13-pointer shot in 2014 in Dodge County by Adam Hupf of Beaver Dam. 

A official measuring party of 40 friends, family, avid hunters and antler geeks for Wollermann's buck was held Jan. 8 at BKIII Archery in Wind Lake. Rules require a 60-day drying period.

Certified scorers Patrick Barwick of Mukwonago, Tom Senft of East Troy, Gary Wegner of Franklin and Gerry Wegner of Cudahy put the tape to the antlers. The men are members of the Wisconsin Buck and Bear Club, Pope & Young Club and Boone and Crockett Club. 

The Wollermann buck measured 187 7/8 inches net, making it the biggest typical whitetail ever killed with a bow in Waukesha County and fourth in Wisconsin, according to records kept by the Wisconsin Buck and Bear Club.

The rack grossed 192 7/8 inches, had 25 inch main beams and a 21 4/8 inch inside spread. The 5 inches in deductions included a small "crab claw" point on the left antler.

The deer was aged at 6 1/2 years and weighed 200 pounds.

Overall, it was a majestic whitetail, the type hunters see in their dreams. And it was found in the suburbs of the state's largest metropolitan area.

At least 15 people in attendance at BKIII didn't even know Wollermann but were familiar with "Bullwinkle." Many of them shared trail cam photos they had of the deer from recent years.

Dan Rickert of Muskego had one of the buck in velvet from 2017. 

"What a buck," Rickert said. "I'd much rather have it shot by a guy like Wade than poached or killed by a car."

Wollermann, who has shot about 20 bucks with a bow, knows he's unlikely to ever kill one bigger. But he'll keep at it.

It's a lesson for all Wisconsin hunters, and perhaps especially suburban deer hunters: A buck of a lifetime can be as close as your next sit.

"I never expected to have this one come along," Wollermann said. "That's the great thing about hunting, getting out there and enjoying the pursuit."