20-year-old bags 16-point buck in Tuscola Co. on opening day
TUSCOLA CO., Mich. (WNEM) - A 20-year-old is being recognized for catching the Biggest Buck on opening day in Tuscola County.
“I’ve been hunting since I was about 8-years-old,” said Blake Spencer.
Those past 12 years of hunting would prepare him for his most rewarding kill yet.
“I went out hoping to shoot this buck I called Big Foot,” he said.
Spencer has been doing the unthinkable since he was a kid.
“Yeah, I started getting into it from my dad,” he said.
At just 7-years-old, he passed his hunter safety course, shocking his instructors.
This year on opening day, he bagged the buck of a lifetime, scoring 16 points.
“It was honestly the best feeling I’ve ever had in my life because I didn’t think he was that big, but I knew he was big. The biggest in my life for sure. But he ended up scoring 175 lbs. and 7/8 inches,” Spencer said.
He had been hunting Big Foot for the past two years at a site they lease in Tuscola County. His patient and steady chase won him Biggest Buck at the Buck Pole at Ben’s Great Outdoors.
For him, it’s about more than the recognition.
“This is a huge bonding experience for me and my dad,” he said. “Hunting is really my passion. I live and breathe hunting and it’s really all I think about.”
Big Foot is now at Janks Deer Processing Center where its body will be handled.
As for the head, Spencer is getting that shoulder-mounted to sit next to his collection for his memories.
“A lot of people in Michigan will never see a deer of this caliber. I got lucky to be able to hunt him and harvest him,” he said.
Spencer won a package valued at $3,520, including a trophy, rifle, boots, and a tripod.
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