Luke Opoka arrowed a really big 8-point buck with his crossbow on Oct. 10 on public land in northern Illinois.
It came with stats of note.
Jim Opoka, his dad, emailed that Realistic Deer Processing in Lowell, Ind., where the wonderful photo was taken, green-scored it at 140 inches. The 4-year-old buck had 10-inch tines with 29-inch beams and an 18-inch-plus spread. It had a live weight of 250 pounds, 190 dressed.
I remember Luke as a Brother Rice sophomore catching the big bass at the Wolf Lake IHSA bass-fishing section in 2010. He has since graduated St. Xavier and is a Chicago police officer.
“He still outfishes me 10-to-one,’’ his dad emailed.
BOTW, the celebration of hunting bucks and their stories (the stories matter) around Chicago outdoors, runs Wednesdays in the Sun-Times, as warranted. Submit nominations by message on Facebook (Dale Bowman), on Twitter (@BowmanOutside) and Instagram (@BowmanOutside) or email (BowmanOutside@gmail.com).
