I shot my biggest bow buck in 45 years of hunting

[tcook8296]

This morning, I was fortunate enough to take my largest bow buck ever and in NJ.

It all started early last season when I started out helping a friend with some work on his hunting lease .

I took my tractor over to his property and did some mowing and put in a small food plot.

I like to do the food plots just as much as I do hunting so I did the work for him and glad I did because it opened the door for me to hunt his property. I did not hunt much early season, we set some cams out and just watched the property for awhile to see what was around. We ended up getting a few nice bucks on cam including a nice 10 point which I ended up shooting  over the food plot in late January with the  muzzleloader. We also had a huge 8 point show up in late October last year which I sat for numerous times but never saw the deer once. I got the big 8 pts pic last week of the season so I was confident he survived.

Fast forward to this season , we started to develop a plan to hunt this big 8pt. We went back in with the tractor, cleared trees and brush and planted 2 more food plots and started putting out cameras all over the property to see if this deer was still around.

Around the first week of October we got our first confirmation pic the buck was still alive. I didnt actually climb into the tree until the 3rd week of October. On the 2nd sit I actually laid eyes on the big 8 for the first time and almost got a shot but it never happened. On the same sit, the number 2 buck on the property chased a doe right under my stand and I shot him but the deer survived and was back on cam 2 weeks later. I decided to concentrate on the big 8 as we started getting more pictures of him.

I hunted this deer hard almost every day before work, getting in the stand 2 hours before light and I was starting to think I need to lay off a bit that Im putting to much pressure on him. This deer I think was watching me. Whenever I was there, he wouldnt show. If I skipped a day he was there. I even parked my truck a quarter mile further away than where I usually parked. The property was near a fairly busy road and with this drought everything was super noisy. When I walked in, I would only take steps when a car was going by to cover my noise. It took a lot longer to get to the stand but I felt it was the only way to get in without spooking everything. Being that I was not allowed to bait, I had to figure this deer out, trails , acorns, scrapes, rubs and trail cameras.

This deer always seemed to be one step ahead of me. I ended up poking around a little earlier in the week and I found where I thought he may be bedding. I found 2 scrapes and 5 rubs in a small area. I looked around a little more and was able to find a nice pinch point location near this bedding area I found. I set a cell camera near the rubs and scrapes and 2 hours after dark, the big 8 walked past the camera.  I went in and set a stand in the dark on Wednesday evening. I hunted it Thursday morning only seeing a small 8 pt and a doe  It was hot. I went back into the stand this morning again well before daylight.

At 630am I hear leaves crunching behind me and I see a single deer walking a ridgeline coming down my way. It was still pretty dark in the woods.

I grabbed my binoculars to see what it is. My breath kept fogging the lenses and I hard a hard time seeing his rack but I was almost positive it was him but he walked past me 50 yards out and continued down the ridge. I could hear him milling around for a few minutes with a glimpse every now and then. I decided to try giving him a soft grunt, 5 to 10 minutes go by and nothing.

I can still hear him down below me rustling leaves. I figure I will try one more grunt. 10 minutes later I hear the leaves rustling again and it sounds like its getting closer. I grab my binos again and now I can see a deer walking my way with its head down.

When it got into a clearing, I could see the rack and knew it was him. He took a few more minutes to walk back up the hill.

As hes closing the distance, Im ranging a few trees and getting ready for a shot. Hes walking right at my stand now and Im like oh man here we go. He get to 32 yards and turns broadside. I find an opening and launched an arrow right through both lungs, he runs 10 yards and stops to look around . He wobbled and fell over dead right there. I couldnt believe what just happened. I was shaking for like 15 mins before I climbed down to walk up on him. No ground shrinkage on this deer. The new Grim Reaper broad head did its job. There was blood everywhere.

Special thanks to the DeerMaster for letting me hunt, giving me intel on the property and help moving  cams around to help me figure this deer out.

2 beautiful bucks in 2 seasons. I may not be allowed back next year lol.

Thanks for looking if you made it this far.  

I have lots of pictures to add , so I will continue to edit this thread to get them posted as they are on my phone.

 

 

 

2023 Pic

2024

 

 

Edited November 9, 2024 by tcook8296

[Bonefreak]

Whoah!!  Absolute stud!!  Congrats!!  Midwest or Jersey??

[tcook8296]

3 minutes ago, Bonefreak said:

Whoah!!  Absolute stud!!  Congrats!!  Midwest or Jersey??

NJ. I added to my post

Edited November 9, 2024 by tcook8296

[Recurve hntr]

Absolute beast! Congrats!

[nmc02]

Not many 8s that big anywhere....congrats 

[JHbowhunter]

Awesome 8 Tom. Congratulations !  
 

deserves a nice pedestal mount! 

[Rusty]

WOW, what a great buck!  Congratulations Tom!  

[gonefishing]

Wow congrats 

[Bowman45]

Great buck, congrats!

[gobblergetter]

Thats a keeper

[Gobblengrunt]

Thats s good one! Congrats! any idea of age or score yet?

[Michael Britt]

6 hours ago, tcook8296 said:

This morning, I was fortunate enough to take my largest bow buck ever and in NJ.

It all started early last season when I started out helping a friend with some work on his hunting lease .

I took my tractor over to his property and did some mowing and put in a small food plot.

I like to do the food plots just as much as I do hunting so I did the work for him and glad I did because it opened the door for me to hunt his property. I did not hunt much early season, we set some cams out and just watched the property for awhile to see what was around. We ended up getting a few nice bucks on cam including a nice 10 point which I ended up shooting  over the food plot in late January with the  muzzleloader. We also had a huge 8 point show up in late October last year which I sat for numerous times but never saw the deer once. I got the big 8 pts pic last week of the season so I was confident he survived.

Fast forward to this season , we started to develop a plan to hunt this big 8pt. We went back in with the tractor, cleared trees and brush and planted 2 more food plots and started putting out cameras all over the property to see if this deer was still around.

Around the first week of October we got our first confirmation pic the buck was still alive. I didnt actually climb into the tree until the 3rd week of October. On the 2nd sit I actually laid eyes on the big 8 for the first time and almost got a shot but it never happened. On the same sit, the number 2 buck on the property chased a doe right under my stand and I shot him but the deer survived and was back on cam 2 weeks later. I decided to concentrate on the big 8 as we started getting more pictures of him.

I hunted this deer hard almost every day before work, getting in the stand 2 hours before light and I was starting to think I need to lay off a bit that Im putting to much pressure on him. This deer I think was watching me. Whenever I was there, he wouldnt show. If I skipped a day he was there. I even parked my truck a quarter mile further away than where I usually parked. The property was near a fairly busy road and with this drought everything was super noisy. When I walked in, I would only take steps when a car was going by to cover my noise. It took a lot longer to get to the stand but I felt it was the only way to get in without spooking everything. Being that I was not allowed to bait, I had to figure this deer out, trails , acorns, scrapes, rubs and trail cameras.

This deer always seemed to be one step ahead of me. I ended up poking around a little earlier in the week and I found where I thought he may be bedding. I found 2 scrapes and 5 rubs in a small area. I looked around a little more and was able to find a nice pinch point location near this bedding area I found. I set a cell camera near the rubs and scrapes and 2 hours after dark, the big 8 walked past the camera.  I went in and set a stand in the dark on Wednesday evening. I hunted it Thursday morning only seeing a small 8 pt and a doe  It was hot. I went back into the stand this morning again well before daylight.

At 630am I hear leaves crunching behind me and I see a single deer walking a ridgeline coming down my way. It was still pretty dark in the woods.

I grabbed my binoculars to see what it is. My breath kept fogging the lenses and I hard a hard time seeing his rack but I was almost positive it was him but he walked past me 50 yards out and continued down the ridge. I could hear him milling around for a few minutes with a glimpse every now and then. I decided to try giving him a soft grunt, 5 to 10 minutes go by and nothing.

I can still hear him down below me rustling leaves. I figure I will try one more grunt. 10 minutes later I hear the leaves rustling again and it sounds like its getting closer. I grab my binos again and now I can see a deer walking my way with its head down.

When it got into a clearing, I could see the rack and knew it was him. He took a few more minutes to walk back up the hill.

As hes closing the distance, Im ranging a few trees and getting ready for a shot. Hes walking right at my stand now and Im like oh man here we go. He get to 32 yards and turns broadside. I find an opening and launched an arrow right through both lungs, he runs 10 yards and stops to look around . He wobbled and fell over dead right there. I couldnt believe what just happened. I was shaking for like 15 mins before I climbed down to walk up on him. No ground shrinkage on this deer. The new Grim Reaper broad head did its job. There was blood everywhere.

Special thanks to the DeerMaster for letting me hunt, giving me intel on the property and help moving  cams around to help me figure this deer out.

2 beautiful bucks in 2 seasons. I may not be allowed back next year lol.

Thanks for looking if you made it this far.  

I have lots of pictures to add , so I will continue to edit this thread to get them posted as they are on my phone.

 

 

 

2023 Pic

2024

 

 

Awesome deer, great story! Glad that other buck survived too, been wondering, thanks for update.

[Rjtfd]

Congrats that’s a great buck anywhere. 

[megavites]

Way to go Tom! Congrats!

[deerstalker420]

Congrats great deer