Each year, the rugged and remote northwoods of Maine produces monster whitetail bucks that boggle the mind.

Last year was no different, as resident tracker and Maine guide Jody Spiers downed a phenomenal 10-point buck -- the top typical buck taken in the Northeast last year!

The 35-year-old Spiers has been hunting since he started out deer hunting with his grandpa, and has been hooked on the outdoors ever since. The Micmac Indian blood in his lineage deepens the connection he feels with nature. A logging truck driver by day, he spent 15 years working with outfitters in northern Maine before he became a Maine guide. For six years now, he has been guiding in Aroostook County and northern Penobscot County with his cousin, Rodney Ouellette.

Spiers hunts Maine exclusively, primarily with his rifle, although he does some bowhunting and blackpowder hunting as well. He has shot a good buck every year for the last 20 years, although prior to the 2005 season, he never shot one that dressed over 200 pounds. His largest buck was a nice 10-pointer that dressed out at 198 pounds.

A trapper as well as a guide, Spiers knew the woods of northern Maine as well as any man. The die-hard woodsman totes his favorite rifle -- a scoped Ruger M77 compact .308 -- whenever the season is open. In fact, he often shoots deer while running his trapline during the rifle season. When it comes time to concentrate strictly on deer hunting, he often hunts with his cousins, particularly Rodney.

In 2005, Spiers found himself a little out of his element because he had recently moved 2 1/2 hours north, back to where he lived many years ago. He knew he'd need to count on Rodney's knowledge of the area, but Rodney would not let him down.

AN EVENTFUL HUNT
Spiers works hard, often driving his logging truck 80 hours in a single week. This had been one of those weeks. One cold, crisp November morning, Spiers was sound asleep and he had planned to stay that way -- but Rodney had different ideas. After a fresh fall of snow, he woke up his tired cousin at 5:30 a.m. and talked Spiers into getting out of bed to go hunting.

Exhausted, Spiers was taken to an area he had never scouted or hunted before. Rodney knew the area, however, and knew a good buck was working it. It was real hilly country with plenty of logged clearcuts, patches of dense woods, and jack spruce so thick not even a rabbit could get through it!

There were plenty of deer and coyotes. Spiers and Rodney came up with a strategy that would allow them to still-hunt separately, yet still work the area in a way that would benefit each other.

Spiers made his way down a steep ravine with a light breeze blowing. The 6 inches of fresh snow on the ground revealed more than a dozen sets of deer tracks, all headed down into the thick dense cover. Spiers realized the cover formed a V with clearcuts on both sides -- a great natural funnel into thick cover.

There was a main logging road on one side and a secondary logging road that cut through the area, with clearcuts on the opposite side of it. Rodney had dropped him off by the main logging road.