Lane Scott of Iron Station, NC killed an 8-point buck in Gaston County, NC on Oct. 18, 2026.
He shot the buck with a Compound Bow – Mathews Arc during a morning hunt while sitting in an elevated stand from 50 yards away.
Scott summed up the hunt with these words:
“This hunt turned out to be the most incredible morning I’ve ever had in the woods and I give most of the credit to my dad, who actually passed away from cancer in February of this year.
My brother got permission to hunt this piece of farm property last year from a very close family friend. I helped him setup some stands/blinds, plant a food plot and fix the entrance gate.
Our friend had told us and shown us pictures of this deer. They had watched this deer for 7 years, grow from a spike to a 23-5/8″ wide ghost. Over 10 people have hunted this farm over those 7 years and not a single one had ever seen him in the daylight from a treestand.
I’ve never killed a deer with a compound bow before this one here. I’ve drawn back on a few does and even missed a nice buck from not adjusting my sight pin to the correct yardage, this was back when I was maybe 18-20. Never made my first bow kill, my daughter was born when I was 21. I sold the bow for extra cash. I was a huge amateur obviously not adjusting my bow sight, but I’ve always been able to aim pretty good.
Although I hadn’t picked up a bow in 10+ years, I’ve always hit the woods with a rifle or muzzle loader every year. Usually in the worst deer holes imaginable. Where a whole week of sitting might produce a doe or one spike. I tagged a beautiful 3-4 year old basket racked 8 point in 2024 that was my biggest deer ever.
Fast forward to this past August I decided to buy myself a nice bow and actually try to get my first deer with a compound. After Dad’s passing I really felt the need to be out in the woods. I purchased a nice bow and practiced religiously. I took it out once in September with my brother to the farm but didn’t see anything. One day practicing in the yard I noticed some string fray in the bottom cam serving loop. It was really alot of fray actually… On a brand new bow… I took it to my local archery shop (Shout-out to Barefoot Archery in Charlotte) but obviously it would be 3-4 weeks most likely to restring. Upset is an understatement. We had this big guy on camera all over the farm in August and September and I showed the guys in Barefoot what I was about to miss. Well I sulked around the shop a little bit and eyeballed the new Mathews ARC on the wall… I made the decision to accept the punishment my wife was going to give me, and I purchased the Mathews ARC… Barefoot got me setup and ready to go within a few hours, prioritizing me on a real busy morning. Seriously, huge shout out to them.
Went home and started blasting arrows through the ARC. Dialed her in and got comfortable. Shot like a dream. Paired it with a Easton Axis Pro 5mm, 300 spine shaft cut to 28” and tipped with a G5 Megameat for 450gr overall arrow weight. At 70# and 29.5 draw, she was cooking and hit like a freight train. I had done my homework this time.
October 17th, that Saturday rolls around. The wife gets up early and takes 2 of my 3 kids to the Lincolnton Apple Festival. I got up early and folded 3 loads of laundry and cleaned the kitchen. The wife assumes I’m hunting the next day, she is correct, somewhat.
My brother was supposed to go hunt as well Sunday morning but he hadn’t slept good in a few nights and was unsure if he was going to go or not. I told myself all day that if he didn’t go, I wouldn’t either. We hadn’t had anything good on camera for weeks and I really didn’t think I would see anything. Dad had been on my mind alot lately and I decided that if I woke up on time, I would go just to get out there to feel a little closer to him. I couldn’t shake the feeling that something was telling me I had to be out there.
I finally fell asleep about 11pm and the alarm went off at 5am. I looked at my phone with my eyes half shut and I saw a Moultrie notification. A doe went left into her bedding thicket at 3:28am. At 3:30am, this 7 year old stud followed her. My eyes immediately sprang open. I had just told my brother a few days earlier that we need to stop driving his big jacked up diesel down there to hunt, its too loud. So I decided not to take my truck either and I loaded everything up in my wife’s Ford Explorer. Snuck in real quiet with the lights off and decided since my brother wasn’t there, I would sit in the elevated blind near the food plot where it crosses over to a creek.
Our friend (David) had called me that morning on the way there and asked if I was going, him and his son were going to hunt on another part of the same property. I told him yes and he said good, that I needed to be out there.
(David is a lifelong family friend, awesome guy, my brother’s business partner. He has a personal relationship with the farm owner who is also a very respectable man. David has hunted this deer for years…)Sun comes up and I watch a nice little 6 point come in the food plot and slip into the doe thicket. About an hour later I watched a doe with 2 yearlings run out of the thicket and a different, smaller buck chasing her around the plot. They did this for about 5 minutes with yearlings in tow until he chased her off over the creek. A little later that little 6 from earlier came out of the thicket and walked the plot edge. He stopped at the hardwoods edge and looked directly into the morning sun (facing away from me) long enough for me to get a nice picture. He slips in and dissappears. A small spike walks the plot from hardwoods to the doe thicket a little later. It’s about 9:30 when the wind picks up HARD. We were getting 12-15mph sustained and gusts of 20+. At one point I thought the blind would lift up.
I had text my brother all morning and told him about the small deer I saw and that I was about to pack it up because of the wind. That was about 9:50am. I decided to stay a few more minutes. Text David and he said his son had shot a little 6 pointer and they were dragging it out. At 10:08am I sat up to leave and looked out the window of the blind toward the food plot one last time.
There stands a 7 year old ghost that had never daylighted to a hunter on that farm. He was a legend to them, almost a myth other than the trail cam evidence. He stopped on the edge of food plot and stared away from me towards the sun. Like it was the first time he had ever felt the warmth of it. He was quartered perfectly to me, head lifted slightly and turned to his left. I thought my heart would explode. He had stopped exactly where I had ranged 30 minutes prior, 50 yards on the money. I also moved my sight pin to the 50 yard position this time. Something had told me to be ready for this moment. I snatched my ARC up and locked the release on. Pull back on her, I get stuck about 80% of the way through the draw because I’m an absolute nervous wreck. That “oh no” moment hit me, somehow I powered through it and hit full draw. Lined up my peep, leaned right to clear the half closed blind window. The whole time I’m thinking he’s gone, it took too long to do this… I pivot right and my pin lands dead on him.
50 yards away in 12mph wind I let her fly. She hit with a massive thud and he let out a loud “UGHHH” sound. He tried to kick but his back legs gave out, his butt hit the ground and he rolled over onto his right side. My arrow didn’t make a pass through. He had turned quartering away enough in that split second that my arrow hit right behind his right ribs but went diagonal through the rest of his rib cage. The arrow punctured out but his hide stopped it from going through. When he hit the ground he rolled over and broke the arrow off in him. He got up and ran into the wood line.
I immediately called my brother and told him what happened. He couldn’t believe it. I told him I wasn’t sure if it was the big one or not but it was big. I call my wife and tell her. Then I call David to tell him. He rides down there and my brother arrives a few minutes later. 2 drops of blood and my broken arrow is all we find but I knew I hit him pretty good. We head towards the creek and that’s where David finds him. He had went 80 yards, jumped the creek, landed down in the creek on the other side and gave out.
I slid down the creek bank on my back after I saw him. I couldn’t even move. 7 years this warrior has been hunted by some dang good hunters, and I get blessed with the first daylight sighting from a stand, the first shot at a legend, my first compound bow kill and the deer of a lifetime.
It’s a long story but when I tell you the stars aligned and I had someone sitting with me, I really mean it. I told my wife later that day that I wished my dad was here to see it. She said “he was there”, and then it all clicked. He told me to go, he told me to stay longer, when I was stuck mid draw he helped me through it. He told me to be ready for that shot of a lifetime just like he taught me to be ready for anything.
Now I’ll prove he was there. The next day, that Monday afternoon me and my brother went to the gym together. One of dad’s favorite songs was always “Funky Cold Medina”. The first song on the radio when we got there was Funky Cold Medina. I just smiled and started my workout.”
Scott is now entered in our Bag-A-Buck Contest, and is eligible to win our monthly prize pack, which includes a set of Ultimate Eyes & Ears Combo from ShellShock Pro, a YETI Rambler bottle, a prize package from Buck Commander and Duck Commander, and a Carolina Sportsman hat, as well as our Grand Prize, a 2-day hunt for two to Cherokee Run Hunting Lodge in Chesterfield County, SC.
