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Larry Zach's Success
Posted By Myndi Clements at 10/4/2010 12:00:00 AM

I have been hunting in the same general areas as wildlife artist, Larry Zach, since 1995.  During that time, Larry has consistently taken bigger bucks

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2000 IA State Record
than me and, really, he has taken bigger bucks than almost anyone I know.  In fact, during the 2000 season, Larry shot a buck that beat the Iowa state record non-typical while hunting a farm that I also hunted at that time.  The deer was beaten out only two weeks later by another deer, also taken by a hunter I knew on a farm I had hunted before clear on the other end of the state.  What are the chances of that?

Anyway, getting back to Larry's successes: during a period of about four or five years, Larry took bucks each year and during that time, the average gross score of the bucks he shot was over 180 inches!  Most, if not all, of these deer were bucks that Larry was hunting specifically.  This was before we all started using trail cameras, so Larry was finding and patterning these bucks the old-fashioned way, through countless hours in the field behind quality optics.

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2001

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2004

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2009
 
 

 
 

 

 

 

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2002

 

 

 

 
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2007

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


Just Saturday evening Larry did it again, taking another giant buck that he had patterned.  You can watch the entire hunt and the amazing story on the Iowa Show tomorrow (Tuesday, Oct. 5).  I spent yesterday evening photographing the buck and it is a dandy - an amazingly big buck for this time of the season.   This buck was one of those deer that had exactly what we look for as hunters: he was patternable, active during the day and he had big antlers.  

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October 2, 2010
I would say that even in good areas, it takes about 40 mature bucks for that formula to come up.  In other words, for every 40 mature bucks you have one with the personality to be patternable and the genetics to grow big antlers.  If you don't have access to a lot of mature bucks in the areas where you hunt, don't be surprised if you go years without the genetic dice rolling your way. 
 
Larry is not just a great whitetail hunter, he is also one of (if not the) best whitetail artists in the country.  My home, and offices are filled with Zach art.  I wouldn't have it any other way.  Larry does an awesome job of capturing not just the deer, but also the mood and the emotion that comes from a great day in the fall woods.  To see what Larry has been painting lately, click the link to check out his website at Zach Wildlife Art .