Hunter: Clae Mathis
Points: 11 (5L, 6R)
County: Taylor
Season: 2017-2018
Hunt Story
This hunt almost never happened. Last year, my family decided to lease this property out to one of the power companies that is leasing land to put solar panels on. We didn’t put any cameras out last year or anything. This property is where I learned to hunt, and even though it has never had bucks as big as some of our other properties on it, I would rather hunt here than anywhere else. The power company decided to put things on hold, so my daddy and I put out a feeder and a camera to see what we might actually have left on the property. The first night we had our camera out we got text messages with pictures of this buck on them. This buck was one of the bigger bucks we had on camera two years ago, and we also had him on camera three years ago. I have hunted with strictly a bow for the last five years, but this stand is the only spot that we can hunt on this property. It's about 140 yards from the food plot. I decided I would hunt after work on Wednesday, and asked my daddy to go with me if he wanted to. He came to sit with me, but we forgot the seat cushions, and he wound up getting down to go to the truck after about an hour and a half. We had already seen two does at that point. I wound up seeing five more does and a smaller buck before this buck showed up. He came straight in and stopped broadside, but he didn’t stand still long enough. When he finally stopped, he was about 140 yards slightly quartered away. I squeezed off, and watched him drop in my scope. I stood up and my daddy could see me raise my hands in celebration and thanks to God. I called my wife while I walked to get him. It has been a long drought for me killing a big buck. I have killed bigger bucks, but I would trade hunting anywhere in the world to kill a buck on this property. I’m very thankful.
