You can count on one hand the BTR entries for recurve-felled bucks in Tennessee, but DeWayne Spann still sits atop that short list, and his 175-inch buck is the seventh largest typical harvested by a recurve archer in North America.
Dewayne has been building longbows and recurves since the ‘90s and has been a traditional bowhunter exclusively since 2005. The 49-year-old shoots a Black Widow SA3 he nicknamed "Ole Grey Mare," and his arrow fletchings include feathers from turkeys he also harvested with a recurve bow.
His biggest buck to date came in September 2022 on a parcel his grandfather used to own and farm in Dickson County.
"We used to fox hunt there when I was a little kid," DeWayne told Buckmasters. "The way they logged and cleared this land created travel corridors, and one ridge is full of white and red oaks. I had a million pictures of this deer coming and going but didn't hunt him in the mornings because he'd walk past my stand to get back to his bed. I hunted him velvet weekend, but he got my wind and blew at me. I thought that was the last time I'd ever see him."
A friend of DeWayne recommended he use an Ozonics machine to eliminate his scent, but he chalked it up as snake oil.
"The wind was absolutely wrong, but I wanted to hunt this deer," he said. "My buddy has one and swears by them, so I borrowed his. I wasn't there an hour before a small buck came through, then there the big one was at 75 yards. I had the Elvis leg going, I couldn't stop shaking."
The 17-pointer came in, started to feed on red-oak acorns and got to within 20 yards, but a small limb caused DeWayne to hesitate. His target buck started trotting away, and DeWayne thought he'd missed his opportunity. All at once the whitetail made an about-face and circled back, this time to within 15 yards.
DeWayne released an arrow and watched as the buck bolted across a logging road into a thicket.["I knew I smoked him. After an hour I got down and went to where he was standing. I found a speck of blood, went across the logging road, and my arrow was laying there with five inches of blood on the shaft and nine inches of the arrow gone."
DeWayne called his hunting buddy, Justin, who has a tracking dog, and asked for assistance.
Justin and his bloodhound, Hank, started the search at 4 a.m. and located the record typical at daybreak, 300 yards from DeWayne's treestand.
"We had very little blood," Justin said. "I was losing confidence, and DeWayne was, too. We were at a point where we were feeling bleak. I have to admit, I was doubting him. I thought DeWayne didn't hit him where he said he did, but he shot him right in the pocket - the most perfect shot you can make. This is a heck of traditional deer."
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