First Buck and it's and 11 Pointer on Opening Day!
 

Well, it seems that against all odds today between drizzle and 20mph winds with gusts to 30mph that I shot the buck of a lifetime for me. I started hunting two years ago and quickly knew I had accrued a new addiction to my already endless list of hobbies. Last year i shot my first doe on opening day and middle of the season I shot a 90lb spike(yes its a buck but not IMO). I have never even dreamed of seeing or hunting on a property where a deer this size would hang out.
I got to my hutning spot today around 4:20pm(sunset is 7:16pm) and found 6 does standing 20 yards from my stand. The stand is pretty close to some houses so i just slammed the door and they ran about 10 yards into the woods. I then grabbed my gear and went to the stand. I climbed on up and saw that the does were still just sitting in the woods feeding.
I watched them feed for about 10 minutes and slowly make there way into the woods out of sight. With the winds howling and the tree swaying i almost decided to call it quits but something told me to sit it out. About 10 minutes later at 5:00pm I saw some movement in the woods and it was a fawn making her way out to feed. I watched her casually stroll out carefree(young and stupid) and just feed behind me for about 25 minutes.
I would casually turn and see where she was in case she was wihtin spooking distance. At this point i turned to the other side behind me and all i saw was ANTLERS. The same set that I have on my trail cam from a week ago. That instant adrenaline rush was insane. My heart was beating uncontrollably and i started to shake lol. AT that point I didnt even count the points I just tried not to look at the antlers. He fed to me after making sure the field was clear. About 35 yards from me making his way up my left side he stops and looks into the woods. Next thing you know 4 does come hopping on out behind him. The big guy didnt care for that too much as he chased the fawns off for a bit. Eventually he fed up to the corn i had out but the does were behind him and i couldnt pull the crossbow up until he went behind the tree and the does did also. After what felt like forever they were all hidden 15 yards to my left behind a tree and branches. I readied my bow and had to hold it in the shooting position freehand for about 3-4 minutes until he finally took that oh so slow last step into the clearing. I let the bolt go and it hit perfectly behind the right front leg. He jumped in the air and i could see the blood spraying 5 feet out of him thanks to that spitfire 125grain.
He ran in the woods about 30 yards and that was the last I saw or heard of him. I let him sit for 30 minutes and climbed down and walked to my buddies garage and waited another 30 just in case. At dark we walked in where i saw blood last and never had to bend over to look for blood it was great. After about 35-40 yards I could see that great big rack sticking up and grabbed my deer. Nice 11 pointer dressed out at 164lbs. What a memory this will be. I had my two buddies help me track and gut him and dropped him off at the butcher. What a NIGHT!

Awesome buck. And good story. Congratulations on a heck of a deer. How are you gonna mount him?

Great hunt and Congrats on a very fine buck!

Lol, im researching now. Im definetly doing a shoulder mount maybe with the deers' neck turned to the right side a tad? Im so much of a rookie when it comes to this kind of stuff lol.

Im doing a lot of research on taxidermy and am worried about picking the wrong place.

Great job!!!!! Mighty fine looking buck there!!!!!

Great story and even better deer!!! Congrats on your second buck! :)

Great story and buck. That's the great thing about bowhunting, despite all the scouting and efforts, you might not see anything or the biggest buck of your life might step right out in front of you. Great work and post the mount on here when you get it done, which I know will be a while but remember to do it. The guys and gals on here will want to see and revisit your story.

Great buck and nice story!! It will be hard to top that one!

Congrats!! Like I said before, I knew this thread would be coming soon after seeing all the pics you had of him(:

how many bucks are you allowed to bag in your area?

Awesome, Congrats!

That is one awesome buck, congrats

great buck!!! congrats

Great story,great Buck and a hunt you will never forget. Now your standard is set high,he will be a hard one to beat. As was said this is the great thing about Deer hunting you never know what will show at the moment of truth even though you did have him coming in consistantly on you cam. My hopeful Buck for this year has not shown up for 3 weeks but just maybe when our season starts he will come back through on the night I'm on stand. Great job and enjoy the fruit of your labor,now go get some Doe's or an even bigger trophy if lightning strikes twice.

That's straight MONEY dude! CONGRATS!!!!

I remember looking at your trail cam pics of this deer. Nice job!

How warm was it?

Tw bucks per season and unlimited does. too be honest im the only one who eats deer in my house and that buck will likely feed me for a year. I will take one more doe to get stuff made for my friends and such for cookouts and all but I Wont take another buck unless it's bigger then that one. Then I'll donate the meat to the feed the homeless program.

Awesommmmmmmmmmmmmmme!

great buck and nice story. What did he score?

:happy0001:Nice buck dude!!

It was a cold front that started yesterday it dropped to mid-high 50s

Congrats!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I can't believe that pot bellied buck only dressed at 164.

Yea I dont think he was as old as that picture makes him look. The butcher and another guy there said he was relatively young likely 3.5 yrs old. I have other trail cam pictures and he's not as pot bellied or hunched.

Great deer! Can really tell his age from that last trail cam pic. Congrats!!

Congrats man! Can anyone use a crossbow in Maryland? And, can you throw as much corn out as you want, or what are the regulations on that? Not saying you did this illegal at all, being totally honest, I am just curious. Great buck and like another has said, I can't believe he only dressed out at 164#. Score him sometime, or have someone else score him if you want. I would like to know what he grosses out at.

Yes it's legal for anyone to use a crossbow as of last year. And yea as much corn ad you want. I just throw a grocery bag out each time some people put out hundreds of pounds. I am gonna ask the taxidermy today if he scores when I drop it off.

congratulations on a very nice buck.

awesome buck and great story! congrats on a fantastic buck and even sweeter that you got him on camera first after not expecting to get a buck like that on camera or even to shoot on opening day! awesome!!

Nicely done, congrats on a fine deer!

Lol i know, i guess i can pretty much expect that to NEVER happen again haha. Thats one reason I lvoe hunting, fishign, and crabbing etc......you just never know whats gonna happen.

Great success story! Congrats!