Hunter: Carly Patterson Brooks
Points: 8 (4L, 4R)
County: Tift
Season: 2022-2023
Hunt Story
My father-in-law had him on camera for weeks so we knew he was consistently daylighting in the mornings but, due to work I had only been able to go in the afternoons so far. The evening of October 4th, I got off work and hurried to the stand around 5:45. I had been seeing multiple deer every day but, this day was slow with nothing coming in. At 7:15 I heard one coming in behind me. I hadn’t had one come from this direction so I was hopeful it would be him. As soon as I caught a glimpse of the dark antlers through the trees I knew it was him. He slowly made his way through the hardwoods and I finally laid eyes on the biggest buck I had ever seen out of the stand.. and boy the pictures did not do him justice! He turned to walk down the firebreak away from me, giving me the perfect opportunity to stand up and get ready. He finally crossed into the clear cut walking straight to me at around 15 yards. Luckily he turned to walk to the food plot and I drew back. At 7:24, he finally quartered and gave me the perfect shot at 27 yards. I saw the fletching still sticking out and was hopeful the slick trick would get it done even without passing through. I was shaking and so scared that it was only by the Grace of God that I hit him. I called my brother, husband, and father-in-law in an absolute panic. I could not believe I had put an arrow in a buck that size. Our family friend, Tyler Goforth, and his dog Drake always come to the rescue so we knew we wanted to wait on them to get there. Finally, after the longest three hours of my life, we all headed back out to search. Four hours after I shot and 450 yards later, we tracked him through the river bottom and found him laying in the edge of the pond. I am not sure who was more excited. Our uncle Tye came out, at midnight, to rough score him at around 150” gross. I am still in absolute shock and disbelief! This one was worth all the tears, work, and waiting!
