MD nt buck 2014

Today’s guest blog from bowhunter Eddie Roberts:

Hi Mike: I would like to share a story of the whitetail hunt I went on in Chestertown, MD November 10-15, 2014. I booked the hunt with Kirby Bryan, outfitter for Chesapeake Hunting on the Eastern Shore of Maryland.

The first 3 days of the hunt were warm, and the deer were moving during the early morning and late evening hours. I saw plenty of deer that were 2 ½ to 3 ½ years old, but I was hunting for a mature buck.

On November 14th I was in a stand positioned between a bedding area and a feeding area. I finally had a good NW wind. It was cold and windy, but I saw a good number of deer. As I was finishing lunch in the stand, I looked up and saw a 7 point coming in at about 30 yards. The buck was very nervous, but I knew he had no idea I was there. He was nervous about something else.

The buck ducked into a thicket and I saw another set of antlers coming through the same brush. I threw up my binoculars and sized this buck to be at least a 10 point, about 80 yards from me. He chased the 7 point down a little green patch of road. My heart dropped as I watched this big shooter disappear.

I grabbed my Extinguisher grunt call and bleated to him 3 times, softly. Before I knew it 7 does appeared out of the thicket and came right in front of my stand. I looked back toward the thicket and saw a doe just standing there. Then I saw more movement… the shooter buck had returned!

The doe eventually moved to mingle with the other does. The big buck stepped out, made a scrape, rubbed a tree, licked his nose and went right for the doe. I readied my Matthews Z 7 Extreme Bow. I drew back when he was at 32 yards. I needed him to take 3 more steps and he would be completely broadside at 30 yards.

The buck stopped, and I let down the bow, waiting for him to make his move. Then I noticed that the doe had made me. I said to myself, “Now or never.” I had a good view of the vital area, and I let my Gold Tip Arrow rip.

I hit the buck a little back from where I intended, but I saw the arrow hit and there instantly was blood. The buck took off and ran back into the thicket. I called Kirby and told him what had happened. He told me to stay put until dark so as not to bump the buck and push him further. I sat there all afternoon, thinking over and over that this would be my trophy of a lifetime if my shot was a good one.

We decided to let the buck lay overnight. Needless to say I had a very sleepless night. The next day we found him 120 yards from where I shot him. I was in shock just looking at the 15-point non-typical antlers. Kirby had called this buck “Freak Nasty, Jr.” and figured he was at least 6½ years old. The rack scored 158¼ inches. I couldn’t be more proud as a bowhunter to harvest such a deer of this caliber. Thanks so much for reading my story.–Eddie

Love the look of that buck, way to go Eddie!