Doublin’ Up In Walton County

David Boone (right) had the unique opportunity to double up on great bow bucks with his son, Caleb. The pair of bruisers were taken Sept. 18, 2023 in Walton County.

By David Boone

On Sept. 18, 2023 my son Caleb Boone and I headed out for an afternoon archery hunt on our lease in Walton County. My father Buddy Boone and I had just hung a lock-on tree stand the week before on a spot where Caleb had an encounter with a large, main-frame 8-point from a ladder stand, but the giant 8 was out of range.

It was a cool afternoon as we headed out for an evening hunt. I had been studying the wind all week, and this was the first afternoon when we could both hunt. I had a good feeling and had almost said out loud, “What if we double up tonight?” I decided to keep quiet so I wouldn’t jinx our chances. My father had pictures of a big non-typical buck on the stand I was hunting, but the batteries had been dead for almost two weeks.

We pulled into our hunting property and closed the gate. I drove my son to the edge of a field and let him out to walk to his stand. After a good luck and an I love you, I headed to climb up in my stand.

Twenty minutes later I was set up and ready for the hunt. I was only in the stand for about 15 minutes when a 4-pointer walked in front of the feeder. He hung around munching on corn and clover and was out of sight in less than 10 minutes. The wind was perfect and it was cooler than normal for that time of year.

About a hour later, four does appeared and were making their way toward the feeder. Suddenly one of the older does started putting her nose in the air, and it had become obvious that the wind changed. After about five seconds, the deer scattered and ran across the field and began snorting. She probably snorted 15 times before they all disappeared.

At 6:52, Caleb had texted me and I told him about being busted. He also had a deer snort from behind him.

Around 7:25, the 4-point showed back up and headed out into the clover plot and started feeding. About five minutes later, a giant buck appeared with a tall rack. He was walking right to a perfect shooting lane. I grabbed my bow and slowly put my release on the string. I drew back the compound and the buck stopped and looked right at me. I lowered my pins until my 20-yard pin went across the top of his lungs. I hit my release and watched the arrow sink into the buck a bit high, but it was a double lung shot, no doubt.

The big, non-typical 10-pointer ran across the field on a dead run as hard as he could go. My adrenaline was at 1000% as the buck did a big circle in the field and crossed back toward the woods and out of sight. As the buck was running, I could see the broadhead sticking out the other side of the deer. I texted my son and let him know I shot a big buck. He replied back and told me a buck was at the other end of the field where he was hunting.

I called my dad and let him know that I shot a buck, and he said he would finish up dinner and bring lights. I got out of the tree and found a small amount of blood. I called my dad again. I was nervous with only a small amount of blood. My dad told me to go to the truck and chill out and wait for him. I hung up the phone and started back to the truck. As I crossed the field, I saw the buck piled up on the edge. I walked over and grabbed the biggest buck I’ve ever harvested with a bow. I was so excited. Then my phone rang. It was Caleb letting me know he just shot the big 8-point. I hurried to the truck and drove to his spot.

Caleb showed me his arrow covered with bright red blood. At this point it was getting dark, so we decided to go load my buck up and wait for my dad and his friend Gregg to bring lights and help blood trail the deer. It wasn’t long before both my dad and Gregg arrived, and we started trailing the buck. The blood was steady, but it took time to find each spot. Then the blood became more and more heavy after about 10 minutes of tracking. I started looking ahead with my flashlight, and suddenly I noticed a rack sticking up on a mound and the buck was laying facing us dead on the ground. I was overjoyed for my son, and I grabbed him on the shoulder and said nothing. Caleb was confused thinking I was trying to keep him from walking into a spiderweb. As I pulled him to me and put my arm around him, he saw the buck and the rest is history. We hugged and drug the heavy buck out of the woods.

We took pictures and headed to the house to show friends and family. It was absolutely one of the greatest experience of my life. To kill two bucks of that size with compound bows is definitely a bucket list moment that I will remember forever. What an awesome moment to share with my son and my father!