The Legend of Virgil: A Story of the Haney Buck

The Legend of Virgil: A Story of the Haney Buck

By Nick Johnson

I first met Travis Haney about eleven years ago while I was working for The Iowa Sportsman Magazine and filming hunts. We were searching for a prostaffer to film with and Travis was one of the applicants whose video interviews came across my desk. I immediately saw that he had a deep knowledge of deer and deer behavior and an absolute passion for the sport, that of which he carried in a respectful manner. Qualities that make a truly great hunter.

After spending time filming with Travis and meeting his father, Bob, it was obvious to me that deer hunting is a way of life for the Haney family and they take every aspect of it very seriously. The Haney’s have a beautiful property in Southern Iowa and have developed Bee and C farms which they meticulously manage in efforts to grow and support healthy, mature deer. Bob and his wife Brenda bring a slice of southern charm to Iowa and have always welcomed me in with open arms, to which I am grateful for. Just downright good people.

The Haney property definitely has the right ingredients to grow and support trophy bucks but since they first purchased the initial chunk of it back in 1995, a giant pushing 200 inches has eluded them. They have seen bucks of this caliber on various occasions and a handful have been taken by neighbors over the years but giant deer like this are elusive. The mold finally broke and this winter while I was out duck hunting the final leg of our Iowa south zone season, a picture from Travis came across my phone and when I opened the image I was left speechless. An absolute monster buck with Travis sitting proudly behind it.

Managing Virgil
The Haney property is nestled in the hill country of south central Iowa, one of the meccas for big Whitetails. Large chunks of timber coat the ridges, valleys and bottomland open up to reveal food plots, grassland and small to medium planted fields in strategic placement. The whole design is centered around giving the deer food and cover throughout the year. Aside from planting, mowing trails, checking cameras, turkey hunting and general maintenance, their intrusion on the property is kept pretty minimal, especially leading into deer season to keep human pressure low.

I’ve had many in-depth discussions with Travis about deer management and how they approach their ground and it always fascinates me to learn about the different techniques and practices they employ. Travis tells me that it may take 10-15 years to produce a giant buck. What he means by this is several factors repeated over time coupled with genetics & hard work to promote growth and development as that buck matures in ages 5 and 6.

One thing they advocate is not focusing on shooting a Boone and Crocket deer each season. If it happens, great, if not then nobody is going home crying about it. On the flip side, the mindset that you have to shoot a Booner every year can sometimes lead to “buck fever”. Their reasoning for this is nothing new, but it involves passing on large bucks that may not be fully mature and giving them a chance to reach their full potential. The star of this article, Virgil, is a prime example which we will discuss in a bit.

One critical factor to the Haney’s management plan is food plots and making sure the deer have nourishment throughout the seasons. They focus heavily on planting corn and soybeans which are a staple winter diet for the deer on their ground. They use electric fences during the growing season and into early fall to avoid the deer destroying the crops too early. I got to witness one of two things in a year where they had a poor growing season and heavy deer activity and come late season a lot of the deer activity has – moved on to neighboring properties which still had crops available. Or high mortality rates effects yearlings and older to mid aged bucks. One thing Travis stresses in combination with the food plots is harvesting does. This not only helps to keep the deer herd in balance but also cuts down on competition during leaner times.

Another major ingredient to this whole mix is effective cull management. When Travis talks about a “Cull” deer, to him this is any buck that does not have the potential growth to be a 170”+ deer. Some of these “Cull” deer could be main frame 8 at 3 years old or mature buck that has been observed to the age of 5 and has reached his potential at mid 150”s. The Haneys run multiple cameras across the property and put in the time to identify bucks using certain areas each season, watching them grow or fail to grow and deciding which animals make the hit list of cull or shooter. Almost always the number of cull bucks will outnumber the number of genetically superior deer, so relatives get a chance to help out in this effort. By culling bucks with less desirable traits they – hope to expand the voids within herd population in favor of trophy potential to then move in and fill that void. .

Hunting Virgil
The success of the Haney’s management strategy over the years has paid off with a few superb bucks being taken along with many mature does. What this management has also done is grow a giant, a buck affectionately named Virgil. Now I’d like to tell you that Travis crawled through mud for 6 miles uphill and fought this deer bare handed but that simply wasn’t the case. This buck had a pattern and they knew it well.

Virgil first started showing up on their trail cameras about 4 years ago and he only gave slight indication that he would amount to a giant. He was a nice buck with potential so they kept their eye on him. Aside from the winter months, it was a complete mystery as to where Virgil lived. He was a ghost and even the neighbors who all hunt and run cameras had never seen him before.
Over the next two years, Virgil would start showing up around Thanksgiving in a specific area and then stay for the winter to capitalize on the food and cover offered. He was a big deer by now but apparently loved to fight because when they would start seeing him, he would have numerous broken tines. Although he was big he still didn’t have much mass which could possibly attribute to the broken mess of a rack he displayed. Virgil was a very patternable deer and seemed very comfortable in his winter area. Come spring, Virgil would disappear again and not be seen until late fall.

Fast forward to the 2017 deer season and Virgil once again graced the Haney’s property with his presence around Thanksgiving. This year was different though, Virgil had exploded into a massive 6×6 with tall tines and a few stickers to add character. When he showed up on the trail camera the Haneys excitement grew tenfold. The product of years of hard work and strict management was paying off. Travis now had him zoned in and hoped for the right wind.

Travis hunted Virgil diligently and had an encounter with him early on when bow hunting the field the buck was using. He placed a buck decoy about 30 yards away from the tower blind that he was sitting in that night, hoping that if Virgil came in the large 12-acre bean field, this decoy would close the gap. – Before long a decent 5-year-old buck showed up and began sizing up the decoy. After a bit the buck’s attitude began to change and he lowered his ears and turned to leave the field. It was then that Travis saw the giant. Virgil had pushed this mature buck out of the field and stood where the 5-year -old buck had just been. Virgil did not care about the decoy and – was out of range. He never did present a shot but that only left Travis determined, for he knew Virgil would slip up before late season.

The bow season passed and Travis and his dad made plans to hunt this same field during second shotgun season with a muzzle loader. When opening day came, Travis and Bob slipped into the blind around early afternoon knowing the deer would begin to filter in soon. Around 2:30 pm the field began to load with deer and they both sat still, scanning patiently. 3:00 PM rolled around and both Travis and Bob knew that it was a special evening when they had 3 of their “Cull” shooter deer already in the field. They both knew that even these deer had to be passed on a night like this. All the signs were alluding to a true giant stepping out from the darkness. A half-hour passed when Travis looked over and saw a huge buck at the edge of the field staring out at the other deer. He quietly whispered to Bob, “Virgil is in the field”.

They had to contain their excitement and work in slow motion since there were 40-50 does near their blind and that’s a lot of eyes and noses that could spoil the party. As Virgil approached out of the creek bed, Travis eased open a shooting window and tried his best to calm the nerves that were surging through him. By the time Travis and Bob had lowered the shooting window and got the gun into position, – – Travis ranged him at 141 yards, steadied the crosshairs behind the shoulder and let the muzzle loader do the work. Virgil fell where he stood and lay motionless on the ground. A buck of a lifetime lay before Travis and his dad.

Virgil marks a historic achievement for the Haneys. He is the largest deer they have taken to date from their property and a testament to their efforts in management. The buck is much more than just a trophy on the wall though. Virgil is a legend, a memory of countless hours and sweat, land management, family gatherings at the farm, hanging tree stands, years of effort and so much more. A true monarch of the woods.