January 2026
Good day my fellow Southern Mecosta Whitetail Management Association Members!
As you look at these two pictures, you may ask yourself “what could they possibly have in common”? JOY! Yes, that is correct. Even that itty bitty spike was quite the conquest back in 1982. Back then, we simply were looking for legal antlers (he barely qualifies). My Dad was still alive in 1982 and we would come “North” for deer camp a few days before the gun opener each year so we could get a few last bow hunts in. Back in those days it was usually just the two of us. My kids weren’t old enough to hunt yet. Both Dad and I had our traditional gun blinds all set; we had made them out of round wooden wire spools we got from our local cable company (I have always been a great “repurposer”) . So, they were nothing fancy, but a far cry better than the pine bow blinds we use to make, plus they each had a roof. So, my Dad’s favorite bow blind on our property was called “4”. It was a hand-made wooden ladder stand in a maple tree with 4 trunks to it (hence the name “4”; real clever right?!), and after my Dad passed in 2000, that is where we spread his ashes. Dad hunted “4” each morning of November 12, 13 and 14; in those days we only had four different tree stands to hunt regardless of wind direction and you would find us in one of those four blinds. At precisely 9:00am each of these days a spike walked through so we decided we should change my location and make a temporary brush blind to see if he would come through for a fourth morning in a row. Well at 9:00am on November 15th here he came walking right down the trail, just like Dad said he would. I made a great shot on that stud and the rest is history! Dad and I were pretty proud of our achievement. I am sure I have more pictures of that buck than any other buck I’ve shot. The second picture is from the buck I killed this year; my 50th year of deer hunting and the biggest buck I have ever killed, both body size (175) and probably age at 4.5 (I have sent a tooth in for aging, and will know for sure in February). This buck is a result of changed hunting practices on our property including more stand locations, 40ish to better hunt the wind and to not overhunt any location.
Selective buck harvest; we haven’t killed a 1.5 year-old buck since 1999. I personally had not killed a buck since 2018. I want them to be at least 3.5 years old and to be inside 20 yards with a bow before I will shoot, and this year we self-imposed a ONE BUCK RULE (OBR) on our property. Unlike back in 1982 when there were just 2 of us, we now have 12 hunters who hunt our property. On October 3rd my very first morning hunt of the year at 7:45am I had what was thought to be our NUMBER TWO buck walk 7 yards right under me. He was a 9 point and 3.5 years old at least. We called this buck Unibrow and we had several pictures of him (yep, you guessed it, one brow tine), but knowing we had at least one nicer buck on our property and with our OBR in effect, I let him walk. Roughly 10 days later our #1 buck got killed (Congratulations Cheryl Holbeck) Sooooo . . .
with #1 off the table and having passed #2 and the fact it had been a minute since old Harold had killed a buck, I got my hunting mates to start calling me DENZEL (Washington) WOLF because I was going home with something (Google it!). Well after trying to convince myself that several different 2.5 year olds were 3.5 year olds and to go ahead and peel one I settled back in and didn’t lower my standards. On the afternoon of October 26th I was very glad I didn’t because 45 minutes before dark I looked behind me in the bean field and there stood my buck (this was a buck I had never seen, nor did we have any pictures of, but my son had seen him in the same field the night of October 11th), following a doe, so I gave him a good rattle with my rattling antlers and definitely got his attention but he was apparently more of a lover than a fighter so he continued following her into a little woodlot and I figured that was that; however, about 15 minutes later I heard crashing in the woods where I was sitting and there he was chasing that doe through my woods and on over to another section of woods so once again I thought he was gone for good! Then after another few minutes I looked out in the bean field where I first saw him and there he was again, but this time he is by himself and looking right in my direction. After a few seconds of staring, he began loping right at me, he closed that 200-yard distance in about 30 seconds and
stopped at 12 yards to work a scrape. Little did he know it would be his last scrape. A couple of my boys came up to help me track him (Old Harold’s eyes are not very good any more) and after a relatively short tracking job there was a celebration. I can tell you that when we found him, I had a rush of emotions from relief, grateful, thankful, blessed, it brought tears to this old hunter’s eyes.
So the ties that bind these two stories together are not inches of antlers or lack thereof, it’s simply joy, it isn’t necessarily age, or even size of the deer, it’s the people we pursue them with and it’s the accomplishment we share, whether it’s what my Dad and I accomplished in 1982, the changes our group have made on our property the last several years, or what our SMWMA Co-Op has accomplished these last 17 years. We must never allow ourselves to forget why we hunt ~ joy ~ and each one of us has the responsibility not only to protect our own joy, but also to never steal someone else’s joy.
2025 was a wonderful year for me because of the incredible hunting partners I have and the experiences the good Lord allowed me to have with them. I sincerely hope 2025 was a special year for you as well. Let’s continue making great memories together and always appreciate the joy that comes along with it!
Stay Healthy, Safe and Strong!
Harold Wolf President, SMWMA
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