This 2025 deer season has started off better than I could have ever imagined. I put in countless hours leading up to opening day 2025—planting food plots, hanging stands, checking cams, and preparing for a buck I called Curls. But just a week before season, like a ghost, a brand new deer appeared on camera. No history. No pattern. Just here one day—gone the next. I gave him the name Houdini. Houdini is a GIANT main framed 8 point with a drop tine, incredible mass and trash/kickers on his bases, which where I come from if you can hang a ring on them it counts, so he’s a 14 pointer.
The night before opening day, Houdini finally slipped up and showed in daylight. I knew it was now or never. As long as the wind was right, I had a chance. That opening evening, Houdini crept out of the pines at 100 yards, slowly making his way into range. After 15 long minutes of Houdini standing out of range he finally made his way into the corn at 25 yards and I Drilled him with my Mathews bow and beast broad-head.
What makes this buck so special is the amount of work I put into this season; my cousins and I also started a YouTube channel, Three Thirty Six Outdoors, where I got this hunt all on film! Houdini is by far my biggest deer to date and first ever velvet buck with a drop tine!
YouTube and Instagram: Three Thirty Six Outdoors
Hunter’s name: Corey Cook
Belews Creek NC
Stokes County, NC
9/13/25
14-point buck
