Jet lag doesn’t spoil hunt
Big boy first showed up on camera on Sept. 19th. He was in there pretty consistently over the following week, mostly in the morning. My hunting buddy, Kyle did one sit in the afternoon but had no luck. While this was happening, I was on a business trip in Europe, staring at a monster buck 30 yards from my stand while I was nearly 5,000 miles away. I returned stateside the 25th and wasted no time. I bought a crossbow on the 26th (I normally don’t make it in the woods much early season), sighted it in on the 27th, and made it to the stand the morning of the 28th.
The morning of the 28th, still feeling a little jet-lagged, I got up at 4am. Showered, drank some coffee, and headed out to the farm. It had rained that night and was significantly cooler than the previous day. I slipped into the stand without busting any deer—though I did have a stare-off with a doe, but she ran off without blowing when I stomped at her. Finally settled in the stand at 6am, I sat there and prayed that big boy would make an appearance and that, given the opportunity, I wouldn’t screw up the shot with my new crossbow.
Big Boy shows up
After two does wandered through the area, I heard something to my left and glanced over to see a few deer heading directly towards my stand. The time was around 7:23am. My heart rate instantly went up. I scanned the incoming deer. The first was a cowhorn, followed by a small 6-pointer, and a young 8-pointer. I knew big boy had been hanging out with that 8-pointer and saw a big-bodied deer coming in behind him. Sure enough, the stud that had been on my mind as I flew around the world appeared. I identified him quickly by the distinctive crab claw on his left side. After that, I tried hard not to focus on his rack.
He and his companions walked right under my stand down an old tractor path in the hardwoods. As they headed to a corn pile in front of our WiseEye camera, their backs were to me. As quietly as I could, I grabbed my crossbow off the tree hanger. I got the crossbow steadied and flicked the safety off. No time was wasted ranging him, as I had already ranged the area and knew he was standing around 30 yards away. He was still facing away from me, so I waited until he gave me a shot. What seemed like forever, was, in reality, merely seconds. Big boy turned ever so slightly and gave me a quartering away shot. Wasting no time, I fired a bolt right behind his shoulder.
Good blood trail
He jumped and ran off down the hill towards a creek. I could see him pretty much the whole way thanks to my lighted nock sticking out of his side, but lost him towards the bottom of the hill behind some trees. I took note of the time. It was 7:25am. The whole thing happened in under two minutes.
I tried texting my uncle and Kyle that “big boy just got stuck” but couldn’t get anything to go through due to the lack of cell phone service. Deciding it wasn’t going to disturb him, I got down almost immediately (generally a bad idea but the circumstances seemed appropriate here). I walked over to where he had been standing and found good blood and some hair. I ranged back to my stand: 32 yards. Right in the money zone for where my crossbow was sighted.
I decided to back out and look for some cell signal to get some back-up to search for, and hopefully, pull this giant out of the woods. As I walked out of the woods into a field, I got a call from my Kyle. He had seen me inspecting the ground in front of the WiseEye. I told him what happened and he jumped into action to load his 4-wheeler and get over there.
Once he arrived, we went back to the scene and started tracking the blood trail. It was steady and followed the same path I had witnessed the buck take from the stand. We probably went about 70 yards down the hill when I stopped looking for blood and saw the white belly of the beast.
Memorable day
We walked up gingerly. Once we noticed he was down for the count, we rejoiced. We knew this was a once in a lifetime deer. It’s something we’ve been chasing together since we were kids—a collective effort we call Duty Calls Outdoors. This buck is just as much Kyle’s as it is mine. While I made the fatal shot, it was Kyle who set the cameras up and kept a steady buffet of corn for the deer (and as he reminded me, all while I was “gallivanting” around Europe (I swear, it was for work)).
Years of work, sweat, and heartbreak all seemed worth it that day. A day that we’ll remember forever. The day that “big boy got stuck”.
Hunter’s name: Philip Thomas
Raleigh NC
Rockingham County, NC
9/28/2025
19-point buck
