CRIVITZ (NBC 26) -- “I can't over explain how much it meant to me. I was overwhelmed.”
It's the buck of a lifetime. As 78-year-old Jack Manlick gets this monster of a buck, a 12-pointer on his own land, this past Saturday with his bow.
“I’ll never do anything in my life that beats the moment we all found it,” said Manlick. “I was hunting every day since October 31 for this deer.”
But as hunters get ready for the gun deer opener, he tells NBC 26 the journey is more important than the destination.
“Can't explain in words enough what it meant to me that my whole family came up here. We don't trail with seven people -- because you make noise, the deer get up and go, we avidly only one or two of us go -- but all of them came along,” said Manlick.
Family from as far as Manitowoc drove 100 miles to Crivitz to celebrate this moment with Grandpa Jack.
“I didn't even hesitate,” said son Rick. “Got out of the tree, got my daughter, woke my other daughter up, said we're going up.”
The buck will be mounted in the camp cabin, providing memories for generations to come.
“It's really nice to see my grandpa get this deer, because I have many years left to hunt,” said granddaughter Alisha. “And -- you know -- it's just a very family gathered tradition that we always do.”
“He's always been the guy that taught us everything about hunting and fishing,” said son Terry. “And in my mind, that should be the guy with the biggest buck in the cabin. And it's never been that way, but it is now.”
