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Never Bet a Guy without Seeing His Cam Pics

Never Bet a Guy without Seeing His Cam Pics

By Mike Handley

Patrick Woodruff’s first crossbow buck earned him $1,000 from friends who’d wagered he wouldn’t score.

The bets were placed during the group’s annual Labor Day weekend trout fishing trip. When Patrick told his pals he was going to shoot a giant, they scoffed.

In fact, two of the guys put up $500 apiece. The terms: The novice bowhunter from Arkansas wouldn’t shoot a 150-plus-inch buck by the end of October.

Aware that trail cameras were collecting images of two $1,000 bucks on his father’s 200 acres in Missouri, Patrick took the bet. He and his brother, Kyle, had nicknamed the larger of the photogenic whitetails Godzilla.

To keep matters simple, Patrick and Kyle decided to alternate days in the stand where the bucks were photographed. A coin toss allowed Kyle to open the season, and he passed up a 10-yard shot at their No. 2 deer.

Patrick had offered his brother $100 to let him have the first watch, but Kyle declined.

The shared treestand was set up for a north or west wind. After a northwest breeze on opening day, it blew from the south for the next five. Patrick grew more desperate by the hour.

He wound up borrowing an Ozonics unit from a sympathetic buddy. He saw a fair number of deer, but Godzilla wasn’t among them.

After Kyle wound up shooting the No. 2 buck, Patrick had the run of the farm. And the month of October passed quickly.

He was so discouraged – so certain he would be forking out 10 Benjamins for his boastfulness – that he almost didn’t go out on Halloween morning.

“If it hadn’t been the last day to win the bet, I never would’ve gotten out of bed and driven to Missouri,” Patrick told Russten Johnson, who’s writing the story for Rack magazine.

He was aloft before dawn, and rambunctious squirrels gave his neck a thorough workout. By 9:15, he was cold, squirrel-weary and ready to go home.

Minutes before he’d planned to leave, he heard yet more leaves crunching. And the culprit was far bigger than a bushytail.

When Godzilla was 19 steps from his tree, Patrick stopped the deer with a bleat and shot it with his crossbow.

According to Russten, the two buddies who made the $500 bets were shocked to see photos of Godzilla on their phones, and they wasted no time in joining Patrick. As soon as they saw the deer, they opened up their checkbooks and started writing.

The rack scored an incredible 215 7/8 inches.

— Read Recent Blog! After Eight Years: Wayne Cox | Kansas | BTR score is 192 2/8 inches.

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