Ill start this off by saying I was hunting public land in Central PA and had been seeing a lot of does lately and not many bucks. My buddy and I had a trail camera out over a couple scrapes in the area and checked it on Sunday. That was when the chase for this buck began and it wasnt very long as it started with this trail cam picture from over the weekend and ended last night.
As soon as I saw the picture I knew I wanted to take this buck and he was all that was on my mind Sunday and Monday during classes. In the picture you can see he has kickers on each base and one off his g2 along with an awesome right brow tine. Since the picture was taken at 4:00 am far away from any bedding areas along a hedge row in a field I figured it would be hard to get a shot at this buck before he started chasing hard. Yesterday I had an exam in my class at 2:30 and knew that after being done with that and walking home to my house I wouldnt have much time to drive to a spot and hunt. Only 200 yards from where the picture was taken we had a ladder stand set up in the corner of a field right near a doe bedding area and I decided to slip into that stand due to the ease and lack of time.
I got into the stand and put out some scent and was setup with only a little over an hour of shooting light left. Shortly after being setup a mature doe entered the field and fed for a while. At around 4:45 I heard another guy rattling and he scared the doe out of the field and I thought to myself, "Great, I knew I hated public land." With almost all my confidence gone and only having 2 more fawns enter the field at about 5:25 I sat down figuring the night was done as light was fading. Shortly after sitting I heard a branch break behind me. Knowing it was a deer, I stayed still hoping it would enter the field next to me so I could get a look at it without turning around to look. After a couple more branches broke I decided to turn my head around slowly and look.
Only fifteen yards behind me I saw the deer and the first thing I saw was rack. At first I only saw the split up top on its left antler and wasnt sure if I was going to shoot it. After watching him for a little I noticed how wide he was and decided I should stand up and get ready. When I went to stand up the stand make a creak and he looked up right at me. I thought the deal was over. But after a short stare down he put his head back down and ate some grass. That was when I realized it was the buck from the picture standing ONLY 15 YARDS AWAY!!! I started shaking and knew I wanted to shoot him. I checked my phone and saw it was still legal shooting light and he started walking toward an opening.
I stopped him with a mouth grunt and sent an arrow his way. Down he went. I realized I spined him and knew I had to get another shot in him. He pulled himself behind some brush and I grabbed an arrow and got down. Once getting down and getting to him, along with now being in the woods I could barely make out my pins. I struggled to see them but sent a second arrow his way, missing high. I then realized how much of an idiot I was for only bringing one arrow with me and I had to run back up, climb the stand, and grab my quiver. I walked within ten yards of him and sent another basically blind arrow his way. I shined a light at him and couldnt tell where I hit him but I knew I did. As he was still posted up on his front legs and staring at me I did the ethical thing and shot another arrow his way to get the fastet death possible. This one hit in the boiler room and he went to his side. The phone calls and texts begun as I was so excited to kill the buck from the picture the day before that I had been thinking about all day.
He is a main frame 6 with three kickers and a
18 1/4 inch inside spread. His right brow is real thick and is 7 1/4 inches long. Both main beams are over 20 inches and he has some great mass as well. His total gross score came out to
113 7/8 which is impressive for a main frame 6 pointer. I scouted hard this year as this year was the first time I stepped foot on public land out by Penn State and I couldnt be happier with the outcome. I have to thank my dad for everything he tought me since I started hunting at 10 years old, because all the knowledge I gained from him allowed me to harvest this buck. Sorry for the long read but this is my biggest archery buck and me and all my hunting friends figure he is a 4.5 year old so its always great to shoot a mature buck, especially with the bow!!