Bryan County Bow-Kill Grosses Mid 140s

Owen Osden with a super 10-point that should have no problem being the new No. 1 bow-kill from Bryan County once it is officially scored.

When 11th grader Owen Osden left Richmond Hill High School on the afternoon of Sept. 21, his sights were set on getting to the deer stand as fast as he could.

“I had to swing by and grab a bag of corn first, but I had been getting pictures of several good bucks for a few weeks, including one that was an absolute giant,” said Owen.

After grabbing a sack of corn, Owen hurried toward his roughly 5,000-acre Bryan County hunting club that he and his family have been members of for the last six or seven years.

Around 4 o’clock, Owen poured his corn and climbed, situated overlooking an oak bottom adjacent to a small creek.

Activity was fairly low until around 6:45, when antlers began to show up. A young 8-point appeared first, quickly followed by two more bucks of roughly the same size.

“It was tough not to take a shot, these weren’t bad 8-points… I just knew I had a bigger buck in the area, and I hoped he would show up,” said Owen.

About 15 minutes later, at roughly 7 o’clock, the three bucks began to grow spooky, obviously nervous about something.

“I slowly turned around and that’s when I first saw him. He was roughly 50 yards away and headed in my direction walking along the creek,” said Owen.

Owen prepared for a shot knowing his opportunity was coming. When the giant buck stepped into an opening 24 yards to his right, Owen let his arrow fly. Feeling he made a good shot, Owen gave the deer a little time, then climbed down to search for the buck.

“He ran about 35 yards and piled up. I bet the blood trail was 2 feet wide. When I saw him, I couldn’t believe it.”

The Bryan County 10-point has been unofficially measured at 144 total inches, and with very few deductions, it should net in the high 130s, easily becoming the new record bow buck for Bryan County once officially scored after the mandatory 60-day drying period.