Hunter: Micah Johnson
Points: 10 (5L, 5R)
County: Murray
Season: 2022-2023
Hunt Story
On the morning of September 10th, 2022 I got up and suited up for the Georgia archery opening day. A day I hadn’t missed in over two decades! It was a slightly breezy morning and was hotter than I had hoped it would have been. That morning I got up and headed to this big oak ridge I have been feeding a new mineral I make myself called skull candy. I’ve had over 10 bucks coming onto this 10-acre tract at my camera regularly and seen one that caught my eye. He was a pretty decent 10-point that had a good size body and sported a set of beautiful chocolate horns. I have been hunting since I was 4 years old and never had an opportunity to harvest a 10-point. I had harvested many 7, 8, and 9s but a 10-point seemed to be my kryptonite I suppose. That morning as I crested this steep hill toting my API stand I poured out a new bucket of the skull candy hoping the fresh scent and slight breeze would hopefully entice the deer to get on their feet. Not 30 minutes after I had set up a small doe came walking in behind me picking small green leaves off the underbrush of the forest and crept by at about 22 yards. Within 15 minutes or so a larger doe proceeded up the same path but seemed to be calling for the smaller doe and walked by at about the same distance. She would bleat and listen and when she hadn’t gotten an answer she would walk 30-40 yards and bleat again. This went on until she got out of sight and hearing range and was about 7:45 in the morning. About 8:15 I saw movement at about 60 yards and an older tall 8-pointer came walking into the mineral site. He ate for a few minutes, then eased off the hill to return a few minutes later. This piqued my interest and I assumed he had heard another deer coming and left but he hadn’t. He proceeded to come and go three times before finally easing off on the same trail he came in on. I sat there for a few more hours and around 11:30 I eased up out of my stand to stretch my legs. I stood up for about 5 minutes and eased back down into my seat and decided I would sit until about 1:00 pm since most of my photos seemed to be between 11 am - 1 pm the last week or so before the season. About 11:40 I caught movement to my right, which was not the way the other three had approached and my eyes locked on intently to see 4 sets of horns and big bodies walking side by side around the edge of the top of the ridge I was sat up on. They were in no hurry and were also picking leaves as they approached giving me plenty of time to get ready. If they would have continued their path I would’ve had a 15-yard perfect broadside shot but the larger buck decided to split from the other three and walked fairly quickly up to the top of the ridge. The way I set up I had zero side cover because I hadn’t intended on anything approaching from that direction. I got settled in and had my bow ready and said when he passes that big oak he will bust me sure as the world. As he passed the big oak, sure enough he slammed on the brakes and looked directly at me. Little did he know, I had already had time to get settled and was waiting on the shot he gave me. Plop!!!! The arrow hit him exactly where I was aiming. He barreled down the 60-yard ridge and went through a dry creek and started back up the other side and slid to a stop. He was down in under 80 yards. I had to call two of my good friends to come help me load him. Of course like all good friends do, they ragged me about shooting that little baby deer. I took him and had him measured and he green scored 127 6/8. Finally my first 10, my first chocolate horned buck, and my first deer on a piece of property that I will one day own was under my belt!
