Rack Magazine

Getting first choice of stands and choosing the most likely is no guarantee for a deer hunter.

What if you could flip a coin for the opportunity to hunt a giant buck, win the toss, and be guaranteed a chance at that very buck?

Sounds simple, but it’s a little more complicated than that. As the Downs brothers learned a few years ago, you can lose the toss and still get the deer.

Prior to Texas’ 2012 archery season, brothers A.J. and Quentin Downs were members of a large, free-ranging deer lease in San Jacinto County, Texas. Several years earlier, they had put aside their rifles and turned to bowhunting exclusively.

Some fine bucks had been taken on the property in previous years, but nothing of the caliber of the absolute megabuck they captured on trail camera in mid-August 2012. The deer possessed an unusual rack with a cluster of long, dark tines on each side — 27 in all.

Even though the brothers were shocked and surprised, they wasted little time in making plans to hunt the great buck as soon as the season opened on Sept. 29.

“We knew this deer was one of a kind,” A.J. said. “So we started concentrating on him right away. Fortunately, we had been hunting on a portion of the property that was sort of isolated from the main property by a large lake. We felt like we had a good chance at seeing him during bow season since we had several good stands set up in the area.

“We continued to get a few pictures of him in late August and agreed that we wouldn’t decide on who would get to hunt the most promising stand location until right before opening day,” A.J. continued.

“About two weeks before the season opener, a small herd of hogs invaded the property, and we decided to spend the weekend before opening day shooting pigs. On Friday evening, as we were going out to look for some hogs, we jumped a small buck.

“Right behind him was the big one,” he said.

“The sighting took place between two of our best stand locations: Big Lake 1 on the south side of the lake and Big Lake 2 on the north side,” A.J. continued. “We immediately postponed our plans to shoot any hogs and decided we would probably hunt those two stands on opening day.

“We checked the cameras on Friday morning and pulled a picture of the buck near the north stand,” A.J. said. “Naturally, we figured the north stand held the best odds for seeing him on opening morning, so we flipped a coin to see who would get to hunt it.

“Quentin won the toss. He would be hunting the north stand on opening day, and I would hunt the south stand. The two stands were about a mile apart. We agreed that if the buck showed, it would probably be at the north end,” he said.

A.J. was hunting out of a carefully brushed-in pop-up blind at the edge of a pasture and some thick woods. He had placed a wire framework around the blind and brushed it in to the point that it was nearly invisible.

Prior to opening weekend, it had rained relentlessly for days on end, causing numerous flash floods in the area. On Friday night, the brothers wondered if they would even be able to get out on Saturday morning. Watching the weather map carefully, everything pointed to heavy rain for the archery opener.

“Thank goodness there was a slight break in the weather,” A.J. said. “So we headed to our stands. About 15 minutes after daylight, I looked out of my blind and saw the buck.

“He had just stepped out of the woods, all alone. He walked over to within 15 yards of the blind and started feeding. He wasn’t the least bit nervous, so I got out my camera and videotaped him for a couple of seconds.

“I managed to stay surprisingly cool and collected. At that point, I was all business. I put down the camera and picked up my bow. As soon as I had a good broadside shot, I released my arrow.

“He ran and disappeared, and I texted my brother: ‘I just shot him, and think I hit him good.’

“Then I sat for about 30 minutes and waited. That’s when I got all weak-kneed and excited,” he added.

While A.J. was waiting, it started to rain again. Then it began to pour.

A.J. recovered his bloody arrow and saw where the deer had run, but there was no distinct blood trail.

Because of the heavy rain obliterating whatever sign might otherwise be found, A.J. worried about losing his buck.

Quentin joined him a few minutes later, and the brothers started walking in the direction they thought the deer had run.

“He had run over a small hill where I lost sight of him in some tall grass,” A.J. said. “Turns out, we couldn’t find the blood trail right away because he had made a 90-degree turn. We were looking in the wrong place.

“When we went back and started retracing our steps, we found him. He’d gone only about 50 yards,” he said.

Although A.J. was walking on clouds, he had mixed emotions about his amazing achievement.

“He’s a very special deer, and I thank the Lord for him,” the proud hunter said. “But I wish my brother and I both could have taken him. We were in it together, but the buck just happened to come by my stand instead of Quentin’s that morning.

“It just goes to show: You can never predict what a big buck is going to do,” he said.

Of the 10 hunters on the lease, Quentin and A.J. are close friends with six of them.

“They knew about the big buck, and they were all very happy and excited for me when they heard the news,” A.J. said.

The following weekend, Quentin saw another huge buck in the same area where A.J. arrowed the big one.

“We also got some trail pictures of it,” A.J. said. “It definitely shared the same genetics with my buck.

“Quentin began hunting the deer and finally caught up with it. He made what he thought was a lethal bow shot, but the buck got away,” A.J. continued.

“Our property borders the Trinity River. We followed the sign down to the river’s edge. We don’t know if the buck swam or drowned in it.

“We checked the other side and up and down the river, but we never found another trace. I really felt bad for Quentin,” A.J. said.

Hunter: A.J. Downs
BTR Score: 268 7/8
View BTR Scoresheet

This article was published in the June 2016 edition of Rack Magazine. Subscribe today to have Rack Magazine delivered to your home.

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