10-point shot with a bow @ 30 yards
I finally got a good wind to hunt an old logging lane on our land, so I climbed up in my stand around 2:30 that afternoon. It rained steady from about 3:00 to 4:30, but I waited it out. Once it quit, the woods started moving again. Between 5:00 and 6:00 a few does slipped through, and I figured the evening might get interesting.
Right around 6:30, a little spike came out chasing does all over the place. A few minutes later, an 8-point stepped out — the same one I’d had on camera the evening before. I had planned to take him, but he walked straight to me and ended up right under my stand without ever giving me a shot. I thought that was my chance for the night.
Then I caught movement at the edge of the woods and out stepped a 10-point chasing a doe. He stopped at the wood line about 25 yards out, broadside as could be, right around 6:45. When he started to walk off, I tried to get him to stop, but my voice wouldn’t work. I finally just hollered loud enough to make him freeze at 30 yards. That was all I needed. I settled on him and let it fly.
The shot felt good, and he tore off about 60 yards before crashing in the woods. He ended up weighing 148 pounds with a rough green score of 124.75″. I’m hoping he’ll officially score 125″+ so I can finally get my name in the state record book. I have taken three other deer since I was 13 that just missed the cut, so I’m really hoping this one finally makes it.
It was one of those hunts that had it all — rain, patience, close calls, and finally the kind of buck every bowhunter dreams of tagging before dark.
Hunter’s name: Taylor Bishop
Ware Shoals South Carolina
Abbeville County, SC
10/5/2025
10-point buck
