Hunter: Jason Barrett
Points: 10 (5L, 5R)
County: Morgan
Season: 2016-2017
Hunt Story
Got up at 5 a.m. Saturday morning to get things together to go get in the deer stand, my brother-in-law Chad Harris came along to hunt in a separate location. I managed to get to my stand around 6:25 a.m., I wanted to be sure I was settled in the stand before daybreak because from the trail-camera pictures we have all the bucks were moving around first light. As I am sitting in the stand and trying to get settled, I heard two deer approach, this was around 6:38 a.m., still not daylight. I could barley make out the silhouettes of the deer. Not sure if they were bucks or does, but they were feeding, walking and stopping to feed every few yards. After that it was a very slow morning, saw tons of squirrels throughout the hunt. I started to get antsy and pulled out my Kritter Getter grunt call. I pulled the top portion of the call off to make an adjustment to the lowest possible setting which simulates a very mature buck grunting. I proceeded to blow the call about 6 times through the course of 30 minutes. Around 8:40 I heard what sounded like a deer walking behind me directly toward my stand. I turned very slow to look and noticed an extremely large-bodied mature whitetail. Although I could see his body very well, I could not see his head or the rack. His head was directly behind a large oak tree. I immediately pulled up my rifle to get a better look through my scope. This deer is approximately 30 yards directly behind my stand. He proceeded to stay in the same spot for around 20 minutes without taking a step. He was not feeding either. I thought what is he doing? Does he smell me? After about 20 minutes, he takes about a foot-long step straight out from behind the big oak tree. My heart was immediately beating 100mph when I saw this beautiful 10-point rack and huge swollen up neck. At this point I knew for sure he was a shooter. I only had one problem. His body was behind that same big oak tree that his head was behind earlier. I thought why isn't he moving? Then it hit me, he was scanning the woods back and fourth over and over looking for the buck that was calling. But that buck was me and my grunt call. At that point I knew this was his spot he didn't want any other bucks around. Again, he stayed in this same spot for another 10 minutes. By this time my rifle felt like it weighed 100 pounds because I had been holding it for so long. Finally, he took another foot-long step just far enough to get his shoulder out from behind the tree. I held my breath and held the rifle as still as I could, clicked my safety off and pulled the trigger. He turned back the way he came and fell about 10 yards from where I shot. My legs and arms were shaking bad I could barley stand, I believe that's what they call buck fever. I waited a little while and started to climb down my stand. After I got down, I just stood still trying to catch my breath and get my bearings straight. I walked over where the buck was laying, and it was just as I thought a beautiful 10-point buck. The shot was perfect, it couldn't have been any better. One of the best hunts of my life one that I will never forget. Special thanks to Matt Harris, my father-in-law, for letting me hunt on his farm.
