250+ Inch Okie Buck New Bow Record
By Patrick Dunning
Ethan Kile’s 27-point hammer from October 2023 is our new compound bow record in the Sooner State, posting 237 total inches of antler and a BTR score of 256 5/8 inches.
The Oklahoman works full time at an oil refinery and cuts and bales hay in the summer on his off days. Last year Ethan’s uncle asked him to come bundle some hay on his 40-acre property two miles down the road. He obliged and ended up gaining permission to hunt the Garvin County parcel.
“I live just a couple miles from my uncle’s property but had never been out there. When we finished cutting one day I was looking around in the timber being nosey and located some deer sign and an old tree stand in there from years past but nobody had permission to hunt the place,” Ethan told Buckmasters. “I asked him if he cared if I hunted and he said to knock myself out.”
Ethan situated a feeder and cell camera inside a 20-acre patch of timber prior to the state’s archery opener last year and this 14x13 was one of the first deer to come to the candy. He even had a couple encounters at last light without a shot opportunity, but the buck disappeared once the rut commenced.
“I thought I had him figured out, but you don’t ever have a deer like that figured out,” Ethan said. “I started running cameras again in June this year, same spot, and he was one of the first deer I saw. Got a ton of summertime photos of this deer and on September 30th he daylighted, but I was scheduled to work on October 1st.”
Opening day of the state’s archery season, Ethan got off work at 3:30 p.m. and made the last-minute decision to hit the woods despite 90-degree temperatures and a groundblind that felt like a sauna.
“Can’t kill em’ from the couch,” Ethan knew. “I threw my clothes on, grabbed my bow and release and was in my blind, sweating, by 4:15.”
That afternoon a lone doe came to feed and 30 minutes before last legal shooting light Ethan’s target buck showed face.
“I look up and there he is at 27 yards broadside. I’m shaking like a leaf in a hailstorm at this point. I was praying, ‘Dear Lord, please just let this arrow fly straight. I jerked my bow back and was shaking so bad I was making figure 8s until I crossed the vitals and let an arrow fly.”
He made a lethal shot and recovered the deer two hours later 253 yards from the feeder.
Buckmasters scorer Ron Salafia measured the state record whitetail in November and will be writing the full story for an upcoming issue of Buckmasters magazine.