Matt Jefko of Wisconsin says he can’t sacrifice the money and time to hunt Western states, so he turns his stay-at-home hunts into hard-earned adventures at any time when potential.
However after this public-schools instructor arrowed a buck in southwestern Wisconsin’s Yellowstone Lake State Park in early November, he triggered extra journey than most hunters ever discover on the Nice Plains or within the Rocky Mountains.
Jefko, 41, wouldn’t want comparable misadventures on anybody. He’s simply grateful he’s nonetheless having fun with his household and educating his social research courses one block from dwelling at Middleton Excessive College.
And he refuses to say he was merely unfortunate.
“It may have gone a lot worse,” Jefko mentioned. “It’s like that Cormac McCarthy quote from “No Nation for Previous Males”: ‘You by no means know what worse luck your unhealthy luck has saved you from.’”
Jefko’s journey started early and lasted over 24 hours. He awoke at 2 a.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 4, and drove 50 miles to the 5,000-acre park and wildlife space in Lafayette County. He likes searching the property’s edges and much interiors, so he arrived prepared for a 2-mile hike and all-day sit. Moreover meals, arrows, compound bow, bow quiver, and further garments, Jefko packed in 40 kilos of drugs, together with a treestand, climbing sticks, and security harness.
He then hiked into the darkness, arrange his treestand by 5:45 a.m., and waited a half-hour for taking pictures gentle. He was searching an oak flat between a farmer’s subject and a number of other wooded drainages. He felt assured as a result of he noticed almost 20 deer whereas searching there the earlier weekend, together with a large buck that stood up behind him.
Certain sufficient, a deer walked by in daybreak’s grey gentle. Later, he noticed a distant doe and a small buck at noon. The woods then stayed quiet till 20 minutes earlier than sundown, when a younger buck walked inside 10 yards. The taking pictures angle was steep, however Jefko’s arrow buckled the buck.
He climbed down, completed the buck, eliminated his stand and ladder from the tree, and strapped the whole lot to his backpack for the return hike. Then he field-dressed the buck and deliberate the best way to haul the whole lot to his automobile in two journeys. He determined to first pack out the buck’s head and neck together with his treestand and climbing sticks, after which return for the carcass.
After severing the buck’s backbone simply above its chest, he dropped the top and neck beside his pack. Then he grabbed a strap and knelt beside the pack to safe the load.
As his proper knee pressed into the bottom, a pointy ache jolted him.
“I assumed I kneeled onto a pointy stick, however after I jerked again, I noticed my knife sticking into the skin of my knee,” Jefko mentioned. “Once I learn the hospital paperwork later, they mentioned it went in 7 centimeters, or not fairly 3 inches. It’s a really sharp carbon-steel blade, but additionally tremendous rusty. Once I reached down, blood was pouring out of my knee.”
Jefko has killed over 30 deer and is aware of to not lay his knife on the bottom between cuts. He thinks he slid the knife and its sheath into the identical jacket pocket he at all times makes use of, nevertheless it doubtless fell out as he twisted the buck’s neck freed from the carcass. The grass was tall and thick sufficient to carry the knife on its backbone, blade up.
With blood flowing down his calf, Jefko grabbed a ratchet strap from his pack. He wrapped it a number of instances round his leg above the knee and pulled it tight. He additionally balled up his pants leg and pressed it into the wound.
Matt Jefko took this picture of his proper leg after wrapping and securing a ratchet strap above his knee to sluggish the bleeding inches under.
He thought: “I’ve to get out of right here. Now.”
He known as his pal, Matt Geiger in Mount Horeb, defined the state of affairs, and strapped on his absolutely loaded pack. Then he began hobbling towards his automobile. “I love individuals who stay stoic and don’t really feel sorry for themselves,” he mentioned. “My leg was hurting and dragging, however the bleeding had slowed. I saved placing one foot in entrance of the opposite. I began considering I may make it.”
When Jefko reached his automobile 1.8 miles away, he plugged in his mobile phone to recharge its battery, which was all the way down to 12%. He drank water, ate some apples, and determined he had the power to return for his buck. Even so, he was in ache, and muscle spasms tormented his leg. Earlier than returning together with his hard-plastic ice fishing sled to get his buck, he despatched a textual content message to his spouse, Dani: “Hey, I shot a deer. It’s going to take me a short time to get dwelling.”
When midway again to the buck, Jefko stopped to replace Geiger and ship one other textual content to his spouse. “I used to be legitimately struggling, feeling intense ache and dragging my leg, however I informed myself I had a activity to complete,” Jefko mentioned.
As soon as he reached the buck, he loaded it into the sled and began his ultimate hike. “I didn’t need to depart the deer the place coyotes and different animals may get it,” he mentioned. “I had killed a deer. It was my accountability to get it dwelling.”
Nonetheless, the drag was excruciating. Jefko weighs 156 kilos; in all probability not rather more than the buck’s carcass. “I’d lean ahead, push with my good leg, drag my proper one, and transfer about 12 inches at a time,” he mentioned. “I saved checking my leg. I felt this jelly-like ball of coagulated blood in my pant leg, so I knew I wasn’t bleeding anymore.”
After two hours, Jefko reached the automobile. He struggled to load the buck into his automobile, after which sat within the entrance seat and cranked up the warmth. He began shaking and whimpering involuntarily, however quickly relaxed for the primary time since kneeling on his knife.
Jefko drove to Geiger’s dwelling in Mount Horeb and dropped off his buck. He didn’t name dwelling as a result of he assumed his spouse was asleep. As an alternative, he drove to the hospital, arriving shortly earlier than midnight. A physician closed the minimize with 5 stitches, immobilized the knee, and despatched him dwelling round 6 a.m. on Nov. 5 with directions to get checked in two days.
“It’s virtually a miracle I didn’t minimize any tendons,” Jefko mentioned. “All I minimize was muscle. The physician mentioned I ought to be again to regular in 9 weeks.”
Featured photographs through Matt Jefko.
