Hunter: Zach York
Points: 10 (5L, 5R)
County: Hart
Season: 2024-2025
Hunt Story
I had never seen, nor had pictures of this deer until a few days prior to killing him. I hunt hard during bow season but then get busy harvesting my crops and planting wheat back after I get done with harvest, so my hunting is limited from mid Oct thru mid Dec. But as harvest and planting was winding down I had some time in the afternoons to slip in a stand or on the edge of a wheat field for a couple hours in the afternoons. I slipped on the edge of a winter wheat field on Dec 15th and saw him right at dusky dark about 400yds away. Couldn’t tell much about him but he was big enough to get my attention. The next day I went back to the same spot and he fed out into the field but this time worked back towards me and I got a better look at him. I had a rifle with me and I actually had him in the crosshairs several times but wasn’t comfortable with the shot distance so I just continued watching him until dark. He didn’t seem pressured at all and I wanted to keep it that way. I had a lock-on set up close to where he was coming out and really wanted to kill him with the bow so the next day I moved some cameras around to try and hone in on him some more. I started getting pictures of him and continued watching him in the afternoons until I got the right wind. I needed an east wind to hunt my existing lock on. Sunday the 22nd I got the east wind and slipped in there. He fed out into the field about 5pm behind 5 or 6 does at about 80yds. After about 5 mins I noticed some of the does were looking across the field nervous and next thing I know a dog is running across the field towards us. Of course, they run off. Hunt over. Discouraged and with the wrong wind on Monday and Tuesday I watched him from a distance on the edge of the field both days. He was on a string up wind of my stand like clockwork both afternoons. Christmas afternoon I had the east wind and felt good about having an opportunity to get a shot on him if he did what he’d been doing the past few days. So I get settled in the stand and shortly after begin to see deer. But they were thru the woods behind me. Feeding in the OPPOSITE direction they normally did. I thought, well hopefully that’s another group of does and that’s not the ones he’s been with. I watch them as they feed on off checking to make sure he doesn’t come out and go towards them. Time passes, he never does. More time passes, the does that had been feeding out in front of my stand never show. Light is fading, nothing. Then about 5:45 I see movement on the edge of the field to my right about 80yds, it’s him! But DOWNWIND… I get my bow and immediately think this isn’t good. But he keeps coming. He gets to 25yds facing me and stops and throws his nose up. My heart was pounding thinking, he’s about to bust me. He stood there for what seemed like an hour trying to smell me, looking up towards me occasionally. He couldn’t smell me or see me but he knew something wasn’t right. He’s at 25yds and I don’t have a shot. After another min or so he settled down and came to 15yds but he’s still facing me. He begins getting nervous again and quartered to me ever so slightly. I thought to myself, he’s fixing to get out of here, it’s now or never. As soon as he turned his head away I drew and shot in what felt like one motion. Hit him a little far back but I watch him run off and thought I heard him crash him a couple hundred yards away. Knowing the shot wasn’t ideal, I backed out and gave him some time and called a couple buddy’s to come help me track him. We got on good blood and sure enough he was about 200yds from where I shot him. Probably going to be my best buck to date!
