Joe Weimer with his giant Missouri nontypical. (Joe Weimer/)
The day Joe Weimer’s daughter was born, he was intensely focused on killing a giant Missouri nine-point he thought (but wasn’t 100 percent sure) was the same buck he couldn’t connect on earlier that season after an arrow clipped a pin oak limb in front of his stand. Weimer had the deer on camera, but had not seen it in months until he spotted the buck on an afternoon goose scout in early January 2019.
There were only days left in the season and a big snowstorm was on its way. It was all lining up. After months of anguish, thinking about where the buck had gone, Jan. 10, was going to be the day. He was in the doc’s office for a routine check on the health of the baby, and couldn’t wait to get the hell out of there, and back in a tree. But plans changed and his lovely—and understanding—wife had to make an emergency delivery.
“I had the stand set and knew where the buck was coming from, but Hillary called and said we had a doctor’s appointment, and it turned out the baby had to be delivered that day,” Weimer said. “Then, after the baby came we got snowed in at the hospital for two extra days, and by then the season was over.”
Ten months later, after a whole lot more waiting, work, downright obsession, and 30 straight days of sitting in a stand, Weimer would finally tag that buck, which was now a 197-inch non-typical. To kill it, he had forsaken everything outside of deer hunting, left friends wondering if he’d lost his mind. Here’s how he did it.
Determination Turns to Obsession