BUCK DETAILS

In the summer of 2021, my father and I set up trail cameras on a property where deer cross through but don’t stick around.

After setting the trail cameras, we started seeing this buck fight others constantly. No matter the time of day or what month it was, this buck claimed it as his. So we targeted him for the upcoming season.

Fast forward to October 2021, and it was my freshman year of high school — the night of my first homecoming.

My dad and I just felt like that evening would be right. The weather, the wind and the moon phase were all just perfect. Everything seemed just right.

So I called my homecoming date and canceled so I could go after this buck.

Later that evening, Dad and I heard him raking some trees, so we grunted at him. The next thing we knew, here he came!

About 5 minutes later he was trashing a tree 30 yards from our stand, positioned broadside.

I took the shot, and he ran about 35 yards and just stood there.

We got nervous because I had a history of missing deer, but just then he went down and turned belly up. It was the best memory in my life and a once-in-a-lifetime buck.