Tennessee bowhunter rewarded after fleeing stand to attend his son's birth.
I've been enjoying reading Rack magazine for many years, and I finally got a buck of lifetime and would like to share the story.
I first saw this deer in 2019 when he was a 130-ish, tall 8-pointer with a unicorn that split. He broke off the unicorn point and another tine that year, and I only saw him a couple times from treestand. I let him go in hopes he would make it another year and grow even bigger.
I was relieved when we got pictures of him after all the hunting seasons ended. My buddy was able to find his shed in the spring of 2020. We were both excited for upcoming season to see what he was going to be.
I started to get pictures of him in early summer, we named him forks. Forks had a bigger rack every time we got pictures of him. I couldn't wait until Sept. 26th and the opening day of deer season.
That morning, I climbed into my treestand before shooting light. As I was waiting, my phone rang. It was my wife with news that it was time to head to the hospital. I frantically packed my gear, got down and headed home. She gave birth to our son at 1:26 in the afternoon.
After a week staying home with my wonderful wife and son, I was able to get back to the farm to hunt. I knew Forks was a fighter, and I was hoping to get him before he broke off any tines. I saw him for the first time on Oct. 6. He was in a cut cornfield about 120 yards away. I snuck closer but ended up rushing the shot and missing with my crossbow.
I saw Forks again in another field a week later at more than 200 yards. Then, on Oct. 23, a cold front dropped the temperatures more than 20 degrees. I got to my stand little bit late that day, and it was only 15 minutes before a few deer showed up.
Then, I saw Forks. He came out and started to feed my way. I watched him for 45 minutes until he got close enough. I was fortune to make a perfect shot.
Although I was confident in the shot placement, I waited a few hours and asked some friends to come and help me track him. Turns out, it was an easy trail, and we found him just 40 yards off the field.
After a 60-day drying period, Forks ranked as the #1 bow kill and set a new archery record for Maury County, Tenn. He scored 174 6/8 inches.
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