Kyle Hass shot what could be a North Dakota record buck on the opening day of firearms season Friday. It might score as one of the top five ever taken in the state.

“It’s not officially scored yet,” the 28-year-old told MidWest Outdoors four days after he dropped the monster on November 10. “My buddy and I counted what we think are scoreable points and counted 30. A local taxidermist (who isn’t an official scorer) measured it and gave it 225 inches.

“My dad and I were looking at North Dakota records and if what the taxidermist said is correct, then it should be one of the top five bucks taken in the state.”

It’s already being referred to as “The Hass Buck.”

Record buck secretive

The buck had led a secluded life, with no reports of any person ever seeing it. However, deer hunters in the Bowbells area knew it existed. For the past two years, huge sheds had been found near the town of Kenmare, about 11 1/2 miles southeast of Bowbells.

“No one had ever seen him on the hoof,” Hass said.

Hass first laid eyes on the big boy on Thursday morning, the day before rifle season began.

“I’d been watching a different deer and was going to scout that other deer and before I got to the spot where I was going to glass, here this thing is standing 300 yards off the road,” he said. As he watched the buck with a doe through his spotting scope, taking pictures, the buck and doe bedded down next to a road in cattails. He said he had to drive to Minot, but returned in the afternoon with his bow. As he snuck down the road towards the slough where the deer had laid down, the doe jumped up, about 30 yards away.

“So I got ready and waited,” he said. “The buck got up about 50 yards away and I didn’t get a shot. He ran off over the hill. I figured I’d never see him again.”

Hass returned that evening with his dad, Jay Hass, and the two glassed the area in the remaining daylight.

“Dad saw him just before dark, about a quarter mile from where I’d jumped him, so we knew he was still in the area.”

Opening day

Firearms season hours start at noon on opening day, so Jay and Kyle with one of Kyle’s buddies, Ryan Peterson, spent the morning glassing. They didn’t locate the buck, but still had a good idea of where he might be. When the noon hour arrived, Jay, Kyle and Ryan walked through cattail sloughs.

As they hit yet another slough, the buck suddenly got up about 80 yards in front of Kyle. His Browning BAR .30/06 semi-auto rifle brought it down. He said it was a running shot, which he’s used to taking when pushing deer in cover. He took four shots at the deer, dropping it in a stubble field.

“I feel like anything 100 yards or less is doable.” A Federal cartridge with a 150-grain soft-point bullet made the kill.

To be certain, encountering a buck of that magnitude requires a bit of luck. Haas tends to make his own luck, though.

“It couldn’t have happened to a better guy,” said his buddy Ryan Peterson, who witnessed Hass’s kill. “He puts in so much time scouting. I couldn’t be happier for him. I saw it all. I’ve never been more excited to not pull the trigger. It probably was my most memorable hunting experience.”

Hass, born and raised in Bowbells, already had six antlered trophies on the wall, ranging from a 135-inch whitetail to a 200-inch mule deer. He said the latest will  be a pedestal shoulder mount, accessorized with some of the plants from the ground where he shot it.

Did he ever think a buck would be named after him?

“No,” he said, chuckling. “Never.”