Hunter: Caleb Upton
Points: 9 (4L, 5R)
County: Hancock
Season: 2018-2019
Hunt Story
This is a buck that has been seen on trail camera since August, but most of the pictures were nocturnal. However, late in the season this buck was seen in the field by both grandfather and father, who were both tagged out. The trail-camera pictures throughout December indicated the buck was coming in just after 5 p.m. almost every day of the week. Caleb and his dad set up in a ground blind approximately 100 yards and hunted the buck the weekend of 12/29. The buck came out just after a small doe and was acting nervous. When a broadside shot presented itself, Caleb shot and the buck bolted. After checking the area, it became evident that the shot was a miss, especially since the bullet hit was found in an oak tree behind where the buck was standing. The next day, Dad and Caleb combed the woods in the rain just to make sure, but the trail camera revealed that the buck came back an hour and half after the miss! What a relief... Caleb will have another shot at him, which never happens with a trophy buck. Caleb returned the next weekend and didn't see the buck Friday, Jan 4, but there had been a huge amount of rain and the hay field was flooded like a lake which may have hindered the buck's path back to the hunt location. Caleb returned to the blind with his Dad early in the afternoon on Saturday, Jan 5. At 5 p.m. sharp, the buck walked out! In less than a minute, he presented a broadside shot, and Caleb shot. The buck dropped in his tracks and the celebration began! Dad took over a hundred pictures of the deer on that big hay field!
