Chatham County hunter wins first monthly Bag-A-Buck contest

Second chance was the charm with 8-point buck

The second time was the charm for Jake Muehlbach. Early in bow season, Muehlbach, from Pittsboro, had a big 8-point buck wander in close to his stand in Chatham County, but the buck was skittish and left without giving him a shot. On Sept. 16, however, he got a second chance, driving an arrow through the buck.

His luck got even better when his entry into North Carolina Sportsman’s Bag-A-Buck contest was drawn as the winner of the monthly contest for September.

Muehlbach will receive a gift certificate to the online Sportsman’s Outdoor Store and a year’s subscription to North Carolina Sportsman magazine.

Along with everyone who enters the contest, he will be eligible for a drawing for the grand prize: a Leupold optics package that includes a rangefinder, binoculars and rifle scope. It will be presented at the Dixie Deer Classic next March in Raleigh.

“I was hunting a little urban area, a 100-acre tract,” said Muehlbach. “I’ve been getting (trail-cam) pictures of him. I saw him a week earlier and didn’t get a shot – he got skittish and ran out of there.”

On Sept. 16, however, he got in his stand at 6:45. He saw a couple of does, then saw the buck come out of a thick cutover.

“He was 15 yards when I saw him, and he came right under me,” Muehlbach said. “I pulled back, but he stepped around with his butt to me, and I had the three does there, so I had to hold for a minute-and-a-half.

“He finally stepped to his left, and he gave me a good quartering shot. It hit him a little far back, but it went through his heart and lodged in his far shoulder.

“He ran out of sight, about 60 yards. I had it all on video, and you can hear him fall and crash about 10 seconds after I shot.”

Muehlbach was shooting a Mathews Master 7 bow and Carbon Express Mayhem arrows tipped with a 100-grain Thunderhead broadhead.