From the November/December issue of The Journal Of Texas Trophy Hunters

Giant Hunter, Giant Heart by Jeremy Bludau

Back in 2002, my cousin Ryan and I had the good fortune of meeting Tommy Novosad. He had leased 1,100 acres south of Los Angeles, in La Salle County, to take friends and clients deer hunting. My dad, Marty Bludau, was invited to go hunting on the ranch and allowed to bring me along. To make a long story short, it was evident that Mr. Novosad needed some help on the ranch with the maintenance chores, feeder upkeep, deer harvest, etc. We volunteered our services and he was very appreciative. In return, he allowed us to hunt the ranch at our will.

In February 2006, back in my hometown of Hallettsville, Texas, an event called the Valentine Extravaganza was put on by Sacred Heart Catholic School. It’s a fund raising dinner that benefits the school. Well, Mr. Novosad decided to donate a father and son management buck and doe hunt to the silent auction to benefit the school. My uncle, Mike Bludau, won the auction item and decided to give it to Ryan as a gift. They sent a letter to Ryan notifying him he’d won. It read:

“Mr. Ryan Bludau:
We are pleased to inform you that you have been selected, due to your outstanding academic and athletic achievements, for a management buck hunt in the South Texas brush country. Given by Uncle Mike. Accompanied by Uncle Marty. Guided by Cousin Jeremy.”

To say that he was excited would be an extreme understatement.

There are a few things you should know about Ryan. At the time of his hunt, he was 22 years old. He has had numerous medical complications during his lifetime. He suffered from a collapsing chest cavity a few years back, which wouldn’t allow his heart to grow at the same rate of his body. He had a steel bar put into his chest to fix the problem. Despite this, he’s grown to 7 feet tall! He played on the Special Olympics basketball team and did great, hence the athletic achievements in the letter.

On Nov. 10, 2006, I had just gotten out of class at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi when I received a phone call from my dad. Everyone arrived at the ranch on Thursday night and he informed me that Ryan checked his gun out that morning and made a great shot on a javelina. He was ready to go after a buck that evening, but he was waiting for me to get down there because I would be his guide.

I arrived at the ranch at 4 p.m. and Ryan was sitting on pins and needles, anxious to get out there and find a buck. I hadn’t told him anything but I already had a buck spotted that I wanted him to kill.

It was about 4:30 before we got settled into the blind that we coincidently call, “The Jeremy Stand.” It was nearly 90 degrees outside and the inside of that stand felt like a sauna. It didn’t take long before the deer started coming out.

At about 5:15, I looked down the sendero and about 400 yards away stood Ryan’s buck. I motioned to him to look in that direction and instantly he started shaking. He couldn’t believe the size of the deer. “You mean I can kill that buck?” he asked. I replied, “That’s him!” I told him to take deep breaths to calm down.

About 15 minutes later, the deer was around 150 yards away and closing fast. I told Ryan to ease his gun out the window and start getting ready. I was preparing my video camera as the buck approached 100 yards and told Ryan to get ready, too. I braced my arm against the door of the stand so that he could rest his elbow on it. At about 90 yards the buck stopped, turned broadside, and looked at the stand. Camera rolling, I whispered, “Shoot whenever you’re ready.” Immediately, the .25-06 went off and the buck went to the ground. Spine shot. “Shoot again!” I told him. The deer tried to crawl into the brush when Ryan put another round in him and made a perfect heart shot. The deer stand erupted with excitement.

We waited about 10 minutes before we got down to go check out Ryan’s trophy, probably the longest 10 minutes of Ryan’s life. When we got to the deer, Ryan was speechless. The buck was beautiful, with eight points and a 201⁄8-inch inside spread, it was the biggest buck he had ever seen. The deer gross-scored 1221⁄2 Boone and Crockett.

This was probably one of the most exciting hunting experiences that I have ever had. To see the look of excitement in this fine young man’s eyes was priceless. To this day, when he meets someone new, he asks them, “Hey, did you hear about my buck?”

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