Rack Magazine

Kentucky outfitter hopes velvet giant will help put his new operation on the map.

An aspiring outfitter can’t buy enough advertising to get the same kind of attention one dead buck can bring, if the deer’s really special.

When Luke Carswell, a former deer guide, decided to be his own boss and open 7 Bar Outfitters in eastern Kentucky, he began taking stock of the whitetails on his ground. Figuring he had at least one worthy of poster buck status, he called a friend for whom he’d once guided.

“The trail cam photos Luke had of the buck were awesome,” said James McPherson. “I was willing to burn every day of vacation I had, if that’s what it took to get it. We made plans to hunt the deer as soon as archery season opened in hopes of taking it while it was still in velvet.”

Luke and James had met several years earlier while Luke was guiding for another Kentucky outfitter. James had traveled from North Carolina to hunt. The two guys hit it off and stayed in touch afterward.

James even hunted with Luke on his family’s Rowan County farm.

When Luke informed James he was going into the outfitting business and was looking for clients, the North Carolina hunter’s response was immediate: “Count me in.”

“Luke had retrieved some nice trail cam photos of a big buck the previous year,” James said. “When the deer showed back up in late May of 2015, it looked like its rack had gained at least 40 inches.

“The deer disappeared for about a month after that, but Luke finally saw the deer in the flesh while glassing a bean field in late June. He was able to observe the deer two days in a row, and there was no doubt the deer was a real trophy.”

Luke put out bait and a camera close to the bean field and started getting regular photos of the big velvet antlered deer. He had several farms leased and was staying busy running trail cameras and preparing stand locations for the hunters he was booking.

James drove up to help him whenever he could.

When Kentucky’s 2015 archery season opened Sept. 5, James was stoked. His target buck had disappeared from the cameras eight days earlier, but Luke was confident the deer was still in the area.

After checking the weather forecast, the guys realized the wind direction was perfect for hunting a stand at the edge of the bean field where the buck had been seen most often. The wind was supposed to remain favorable for four days, too.

James decided to put all his eggs in that basket.

“Luke was going to film my hunt,” he said. “We decided to hunt the stand only in the evenings so as not to risk disturbing the deer upon approach.

“On opening day, we got into our stands about 2:00. When it was getting late in the afternoon, deer started filtering into the bean field in front of us. Before long, there were about 15 or 20 does out there, feeding along with a 120-class 10-pointer.

“About 20 minutes before dark, a bunch of raccoons came out and started fighting over the bait. It was an all-out brawl. You’ve never heard such a racket.

“The deer in the field started blowing at the sound and running everywhere. Pretty soon, the noise from the fight had cleared the field,” he said.

The first hunt for the big buck hadn’t exactly ended the way the guide and hunter had hoped. However, it was still early in the game, and they were encouraged by the amount of activity around the bean field. Hopefully, it was just a matter of time before the big one showed.

“The second evening, we were once again settled into our stands by 2:00,” James said. “We’d been there for only 40 minutes or so when a 130-class buck appeared. After that, every 20 or 30 minutes, more deer would come out. We figured it was going to be a good afternoon.

“The bait was 26 yards from our stand. Several deer, including the 8-pointer, had stopped by on their way to the field. When there were about 15 minutes of daylight left, we heard a deer walking in the woods behind us.

“Luke saw the buck first, when it was about 80 or 90 yards away. He whispered, ‘He’s a monster.’

“There were actually two very large deer that Luke had spotted in the area, and he wasn’t sure yet which one it was. The buck was taking its time like it was evaluating the whole world in front of it,” James said. “After it came a little closer, Luke could tell it was my target buck. He whispered, ‘It’s HIM, and he’s coming.’

“I had held my bow the entire time we were on stand, so I was ready,” he added.

“There were about 20 or 25 deer out in the field, and the buck was looking at them. It would stop, look for a while, walk about 10 more feet, and then do the same thing. It came like that all the way from about 80 yards.

“When the buck got to the bait, I just centered the pin on its chest and released an arrow. The deer mule-kicked and ran about 40 yards back the way it had come before we heard it crash, and everything was quiet,” he grinned.

James had a wallhanger in velvet, and Luke had his poster buck.

Editor’s Note: For more information about Luke Carswell’s operation, call (606) 356-9416, or look for 7 Bar Outfitters on Facebook.

Hunter: Luke Carswell
BTR Score: 195 4/8
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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