Hunter: Billy Bouchillon
Points: 12 (6L, 6R)
County: Newton
Season: 2021-2022
Hunt Story
I had hunted this buck hard last year and never got a shot at him. He was a solid 18-inch 10-point with the same split brows. I knew the areas he liked to frequent and one of those was a small field. So this year I set up a stand on this field and planted it with clover. Then like all good Georgia hunters do these days I started putting out Attrax last week and he was quickly coming to it. I just needed to wait for an East wind which we were supposed to have yesterday, but as it turned out it wasn’t a real steady East! I went in a little after 4:00 and sprayed Bowhunters Fatal Obsession on the branches above the scrape he was using last year and settled in the tree around 4:30. I had deer around me all afternoon and despite the swirling winds I never got winded. I sprayed BFO every 10 minutes or so and the deer all seemed pretty comfortable. Around 7:15 this tall 8-point that seems to run with the buck I shot came in and about 3 or 4 minutes later all the deer in the field looked up and out came the 12. The buck comes in and is quartering hard to me and feeds for a couple of minutes and then starts to get fidgety. I’m in a dilemma. I have the buck I hunted all of last season without getting a shot standing in front of me at 25 yards getting ready to leave. I have 100% confidence in my shooting ability, so I elected to tuck the pin in the pocket behind his shoulder and squeeze off the shot. To say I was happy when I saw the RamCat and Glory nock disappear in the exact spot I was aiming is an understatement. My son and brother met me at the land and after an hour we went and gave it a look. It was apparent the arrow exited guts but still had to take out a lung his diaphragm and liver. We decided to back out and go back later. We went back at midnight but there was very little blood. I decided to text Nick Skinner and see if he could help the next morning. I was wide awake in bed when Nick called at 5:30 and said he’d meet me a little after 6:00. We started tracking around 6:20 and despite very little blood those amazing dogs found the buck around 6:40. And amazingly the deer was still alive but so weak he couldn’t get up. Waiting him out was a great decision. This is my 4th P&Y from Newton County and is easily bigger than the 138 3/8 buck I killed in 2007.
