I put my Muddy trail camera out on Sept. 12 about 40 yards off of an unplanted food plot on a 750-acre tract of land in Catahoula Parish that is owned by Dr. Jeffrey Seiler. On Sept. 14, at approximately 10:30 p.m., my camera went off while I was watching TV. I opened my app and saw the biggest deer I have ever had on camera. The next day, I shared the picture with Dr. Seiler and my father-in-law, and they both said “that must have escaped from the zoo.”
Over the next several days, I showed some other friends and co-workers, and they asked me if I was going to bow hunt him. I didn’t give it too much thought due to the fact that my crossbow had been sitting in the top of my closet for close to two years collecting dust.
Patterning a mature buck
Over the course of the next week and a half, I started patterning the buck. I was getting pictures of him in the daylight hours as well as early morning. On Sept. 25, I took a few hours off work that morning and ran to the property to hang my climber and replenish the attractant (Big & J apple scent). I found a tree about 25 yards from my camera and cleared some openings, but I didn’t want to disturb too much of the natural habitat. Then, at 2 p.m. on Sept. 26, my camera went off and he was there. The temperature on my camera showed 105 degrees. He stayed for probably 10 minutes and then left.
On Monday, Sept. 28, at 6:39 a.m., I had him on camera again and he was beginning to shed his velvet, and like clockwork, he was back that afternoon at 2:20 p.m. I told my wife that I was taking off work the first two days of October to hunt him both days.
My alarm went off at 3:15 a.m. on Oct. 1, and the first thing I did was check my camera. There he was at 2:30 a.m., and he stayed until 2:54 a.m., which was an odd time for him. I gathered all my things, kissed my wife and two girls goodbye and headed out trying to mentally prepare myself for the next 14 hours. I knew that today was probably going to be the day that I would get my chance.
I get about 18 feet up in the tree about an hour before daylight and settle in for what is possibly going to be a long day. Daylight comes and I see several does, two spikes and an 8-point. Several more deer came through from 8 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. At noon, I started to really struggle with the heat and being cramped up in my climber for over seven hours.
At 2 p.m., it started to rain, which was more than welcomed by me at this point because I needed some relief from the heat. The heat index was 101 degrees. I grabbed my Barnett crossbow off its hook and laid it across my lap.
After just five minutes, the rain stopped. I pulled my hood and face mask off and was just sitting there miserable. That’s when something caught my eye about 85 yards out and I saw him. He was facing my direction and it appeared that he was on a line to come in. I eased my hood and face mask back on and got my body in position.
The wait begins
At 2:46 p.m., the big buck was standing 24 yards away. He was facing me the entire time and never gave me a shot that I felt comfortable taking. He started feeding and milling around out to about 100 yards and I thought that was it, he wasn’t coming back. The wind by this time had picked up to gusting at 15-20 mph due to another weather system about to come through. The buck stopped and scraped a tree for about 10 minutes and then started working his way back in my direction. I was ready for him to just turn the slightest bit to offer me a broadside shot.
At 3:26 p.m., he turns to leave but stops for a second. I let it fly. I knew that he was quartering away from me slightly and that I hit him kind of far back. He ran a few feet and then began walking. I could see on his side something not looking right so I knew I had hit him, but it appeared further back then I liked.
I got all of my stuff together, climbed down and walked over to where I shot him, but there was no sign of blood. I walked the path he walked and nothing. I got to where he stopped for a minute and found about a dollar bill-size pile of blood that was foamy and dark red, so I knew at that point I had good blood. I was in the process of hanging my hat on a limb right there for a marker when I saw him standing about 50 yards away looking away from me. I thought “this dude is going to see or smell me and run for two miles.” I froze, and he laid down. It started to rain, which helped with my scent, and I was able to keep him in my view. He probably stood up and laid down 10-15 more times. About 20 minutes passed and he expired. At 4:05 p.m., I was able to get my hands on my biggest buck to date, which scored 144 3/4. This proved to me that big mature bucks can be patterned if pressure is lower and food resources are good.
– Capt. Corey Clark
