Zach Halbert, 22, of Bossier Parish spent the last three years watching a remarkable buck develop into the deer of a lifetime. After an intense pursuit that included more than 40 hunts in just 23 days, his patience finally paid off on the morning of Oct. 23, when he arrowed the massive 20-point buck on private land in Bossier Parish.
Halbert and his family first captured the buck on a trail camera three years ago. Although the deer was already impressive, they ultimately decided to give him another year to grow.
“Three years ago, we debated on shooting or passing him but let him go eventually,” Halbert said. “Last year, we chased him and he had great palmation, a no-doubt shooter. But we never got a chance to harvest him.”
When the buck reappeared on camera in velvet this summer, his antlers had grown considerably. Halbert and his brother, Daniel Halbert, began an aggressive pursuit of the deer, spending nearly every available opportunity in the woods.
The family had several ground blinds positioned throughout the property, but as the season progressed, they decided to make an impromptu setup along an old deer lane to take advantage of more favorable wind conditions. The shooting lane had not been mowed and was still thick with vegetation. Although they had only begun feeding corn and rice bran in the area two weeks earlier, the hastily prepared location would ultimately provide the opportunity they had been waiting for. On the morning of Oct. 23, with temperatures around 48 degrees, Halbert settled into the makeshift setup hoping the buck would finally make an appearance.
A three-year pursuit comes to an end
After the first 30 to 45 minutes, the woods had grown quiet. Because of the blind’s position, he had to lean toward the left window to see back into the shooting lane on his right. At 8:08 a.m., he slowly leaned over for another look and was met with an unexpected sight.
“The clock hits 8:08, and I’m just doing my lean to the left real slow to check out there, and boom, there he was,” Halbert said. “It’s crazy how fast you can go from calm and not thinking about anything to two seconds later full-blown panic mode.”
Despite the excitement, Halbert managed to slowly raise his Bowtech Realm bow without making contact with the blind. He watched the buck for approximately three minutes, waiting for a broadside opportunity. After holding at full draw for nearly 15 seconds, the deer finally turned enough to offer a shot. At 8:11 a.m., Halbert released an arrow tipped with a Rage Hypodermic broadhead, connecting with the buck at just 21 yards. The deer bolted into the woods, traveling approximately 375 yards before going down.
“After listening to him crash, the excitement exploded, and I was so pumped up I almost shook the ground blind over,” Halbert said.
Still overwhelmed with excitement, he called his girlfriend, father and brother to share the news. Before leaving the blind, Halbert took a moment to thank God for the opportunity and remember his late grandfather, Pa Dan.
“I know my grandpa, that isn’t with us anymore, Pa Dan, just wouldn’t believe his eyes if he got to see this deer,” he said.
A huge set of antlers
The family believes the 20-point buck was approximately 5½ years old. According to Halbert, Simmons Sporting Goods measured the rack at 200 4/8 inches using the Buckmasters scoring system, while a separate measurement using the Boone and Crockett system produced a reported gross non-typical score of 210 inches.
Although Halbert was the one fortunate enough to harvest the buck, he credits much of the success to his brother and father, who helped prepare the property and pursue the deer throughout the season.
“I definitely would not have been able to kill this deer without my brother and dad’s help,” Halbert said. “We put a lot of work in the past year to possibly give each of us an opportunity to kill him.”
For Halbert, who has been deer hunting since the age of 5 and bowhunting for the past 11 years, the 20-point buck represents not only a remarkable hunting accomplishment, but also the reward of three years of patience, dedication and time spent pursuing a shared goal with his family.
