Iowa Hunter Tags 20-Point Buck, Waits for Wife to Join in

Chuck Grado shot an impressive 200-inch whitetail last month and immediately thought of his wife, Ruth Macke. Sitting alone in his treestand during the waning daylight, he sent a shaky text: “30+her Byckr Hera.”

Ruth, back at home in Cedar Rapids, saw the text and understood that Chuck was still shaken. She wouldn’t lay eyes on the buck until the next morning, but she already knew it was something special.

The 20-Point Buck Hunt

On the day after Thanksgiving, Grado had been in his stand all afternoon when the 20-point buck appeared. Positioned in an oak tree along a heavily used game trail between a river bottom and a wheat field, he had just passed on a younger 8-point deer. Although Grado had seen trail camera photos of the impressive buck, this was the first time he had encountered it in daylight. As the deer approached, Grado regretted that his wife was not there to witness the spectacle. It was the largest whitetail he had seen in all the years they had spent on the farm.

A trail cam photo of the 20-point buck taken earlier in November (courtesy of Chuck Grado).

His first shot opportunity arose when the buck halted 30 yards away from his stand. Grado concentrated on the animal’s body while adjusting to looking through the scope on his crossbow. This was his inaugural season hunting with a crossbow, as a rotator cuff injury had restricted his use of a compound bow. Though he knew the Ravin crossbow would provide more range, Grado had never taken a shot at a deer from a distance greater than 20 yards. Consequently, he patiently waited for the buck to come closer.

When the deer passed by broadside at 10 yards, Grado momentarily panicked as he peered through the scope and saw nothing but fur. The buck continued down the trail at a leisurely pace, so Grado bleated loudly to attract its attention.

The 20-pointer marked Chuck Grado’s first kill with a crossbow (courtesy of Chuck Grado).

“He stopped, and time seemed to slow down,” Grado recalled. “I shifted the aim point in front of the deer and then directed it back towards its chest. At some point, I took the shot. Time suddenly returned to its normal speed, and I felt my heart race and my breathing increase.”

After firing, Grado observed the buck through his binoculars as it crashed through the woods and halted on the other side of a ravine. There were now 15 minutes left until sundown, though it felt even darker due to the dense hardwood canopy. Grado lost sight of the buck and briefly worried that he had missed his shot. After waiting a short time, he climbed down from his stand, approached the location, and discovered the crossbow bolt lodged in the ground. The bolt had passed through the deer cleanly and was flecked with dark blood.

Grado glanced at the ground and thought about the other hunter he had brought with him that evening—a local sheriff’s deputy stationed in a treestand on the opposite side of the property. The deputy was new to bowhunting, and Grado had invited him to their farm in the hopes of helping him secure his first doe. However, Grado had not anticipated shooting the largest buck of his life; he wondered if he should even inform the deputy about it.

A trail cam captures Chuck and Ruth holding hands as they return from a sit (courtesy of Chuck Grado).

“I was still trying to process everything and wasn’t even sure if I had killed the animal,” Grado recounted. He did not want to set a bad example or risk disturbing a wounded buck in the dark. “And I didn’t want to deal with his emotions. I wanted to find the deer and be with my wife when I did. I just wanted to share it with her.”

Once Chuck had made up his mind, he stepped on the bolt, pushing it deeper into the ground and out of sight. Then he drove to collect the deputy, keeping his secret to himself. Soon enough, he would be able to share it with Ruth.

A Special Recovery

The sense of pride that Chuck felt when he and Ruth finally laid their hands on the buck the following morning was overwhelming.

“We’ve always aspired to grow bigger and better deer,” Chuck explained. The buck lying at their feet was a testament to all they had achieved since purchasing the wooded tract adjacent to the Cedar River in 2007.

In the 15 years since, they had transformed the 350-acre property into a functioning tree farm and a sanctuary for deer. The land had experienced its fair share of poaching, floods, and windstorms, yet Chuck and Ruth had persevered, continuing to hunt together throughout the seasons, pursuing whitetails and gobblers.

Ruth Macke with a turkey she killed on the farm while Kris Lenz, Wade Brandt, and Jeff State measure Chuck’s deer (courtesy of Chuck Grado).

“I was absolutely thrilled at that moment,” Chuck exclaimed. “Ruth and I embraced and laughed. This animal was like no other deer we had ever seen, and it was amazing to share it with my partner in life and hunting.”

After recovering the buck, Chuck was eager to show it off to some more of his friends. Later that day, a few of them visited the farm and measured the rack. They arrived at a rough score of 198 inches and some change. Chuck estimated the buck’s age at around 8 1/2 years old, but he would need his taxidermist to confirm this by examining the deer’s teeth.

“Three long-time friends paid me a visit, and they all shared in my exhilaration and happiness,” Chuck concluded. “The delight I felt when fellow hunters came over to see the buck was fantastic. We have such a strong community of hunters, and it’s a truly wonderful sport.”

“Three long-time friends paid me a visit, and they all shared in my exhilaration and happiness,” Chuck concluded. “The delight I felt when fellow hunters came over to see the buck was fantastic. We have such a strong community of hunters, and it’s a truly wonderful sport.”