Hunter: Lawson Bradshaw
Points: 9 (4L, 5R)
County: Lee
Season: 2022-2023
Hunt Story
It was a warm, sunny afternoon with the wind blowing just a little bit when we arrived up at the farm. My whole family plus Uncle Greg was there for the afternoon hunt. My dad was going to take my little brother (7 years old) over to the bean field where they were after a buck and my Mom was going to take me and my little sister (4 years old) to a shooting house on a food plot on a hill near the creek. We played football for a little while at the cabin until it was time to go. We all started getting dressed and ready to go out. We loaded into the buggy and off we went for the afternoon. My dad dropped me, my mom, and my little sister off at the shooting house. He got us situated inside and ready to go. My little sister made her a pallet down on the floor and was watching cartoons on my moms phone. It wasn't 20 minutes and deer started coming out into the food plot. There were several good bucks that came out to feed on the food plot but none that we could, or wanted to shoot. There was one buck we call "Hightower" but he is too young to shoot, maybe 3 year old 10 point. We were waiting on an older buck to come out that we call "Mr Shoulders." He is a huge 6-point that probably weighs 300 pounds. Does, small bucks, and 5 or 6 bucks were all feeding around us at about 20 to 25 yards. We sat there watching all of the deer eat hoping "Mr Shoulders" would come out. Then all of the sudden my mom saw a buck come from the bottom and said, "Lawson, there is a huge body deer with a really nice rack." I got a good look at him and sent my dad a picture of the deer to his phone asking if this one was okay to shoot. It seemed like it took forever for him to give us the "okay" to shoot this buck. He replied back and said "go ahead, we have never seen that buck before". I was already in my shooting stance when he sent back the text. The buck was around 25 yards feeding broadside. I was shaking so bad I did think my legs would hold me up. By this time, my little sister had stood up to watch all the drama unfold and i was scared she was going to scare them all away. I watched him for a little bit so I could make sure I made a good shot. After all, this was my first deer with my crossbow. As I watched him, I took several deep breathes and got steady on his shoulder. I squeezed the trigger and away the arrow went. We heard a "smack" and my mom said, "you made a great shot, you rolled him!!!" I kind of hollered out loud, "YES!!!!" I was so excited, I had done it, I got one with my bow. The deer ran about 10 yards and piled up right on the edge of the food plot. I text my dad and told him that we had gotten a big buck. He was trying to finish hunting with my brother so he told us just to sit tight and they would be over to us in just a little bit. I could hardly sit there any longer. When I finally saw the buggy lights coming through the woods towards us I was really excited. I could hardly wait to get down out of the stand. I knew I had just gotten a monster buck with my bow. I showed my dad where I had shot him. He walked out there and found my arrow was broken in half with a ton of blood. We walked over there to the edge of the food plot and saw him laying there. It was such a great feeling seeing him on the ground where I could get my hands on his rack. When we got over to him, his body was as big as a cow!!! We all hugged each other, gave high fives, and took some pictures. It was an epic night for me!!! We loaded up and went back to the cabin and took pictures with Uncle Greg and then off to the processor we went. The deer weighed in at 222 pounds!!! I am so proud I got this deer!! I will never forget this hunt as long as I live.
