I got in the stand at 5:12pm. Lots of squirrels and birds got settled in when a doe came in at 6:15pm. She was on alert. She got to the corn and I was gonna take her and out of no where, a squirrel charged her and scared her off. I was mad. I thought my hunt was over. I even texted my wife and told her what happened. She says, “you got plenty of time left; just wait it out, more deer will be there soon.” So, for once I actually listened to her and at 7:03pm I texted her “big buck”. I got binos up and couldn’t see his horns until he stepped out of thicket. I said to myself, “that’s him; just hope I get a shot”. He browsed on some acorns and finally made it to the corn. But I had no shot where he was standing because of the limbs. I kept range finding him at 39.2 and then I had another deer walk in. A young 6 point come straight up the creek, straight to the corn. I froze. I didn’t want to get busted and that young buck was looking dead at me head up and down trying to figure out what I was. Then a limb or squirrels rustled up some leaves and they both went to opposite sides. Finally, after 5 minutes, they came back in. The young buck ranged at 52 yards. Then the 8 point stepped down off the bank and I said, “well, its now or never”. I ranged him again at 39.4 yards. I held at 40, as I’m shooting elevated, and hoped for the best. I new there was a good chance I’d miss with the limbs but was anxious at this chance being my first archery harvest after years of sitting with the bow and no visitors. I took off the safety as I lined up my shot and squeezed the trigger on the Barnett crossbow. I heard the loud “shwack” after the arrow was released and I watched the 2 deer run off. Still shaky and heart pounding, I gathered my things in the stand and walked to where the deer was standing. At first I thought I missed: No blood, no arrow. I then look to the left and I find the top part of my arrow with blood all over the ground. I was so excited. I got good blood. I called my wife and said, “Hey, I got good blood; I’m going to look for the deer”. I called my buddy up the road that had his tractor and told him I might need some help, but I have to find him first. So I started marking where last blood was and it was honestly no question on where he was going: straight down the creek bank. He made it 150 yards [max]. After tagging and pictures, scooped up the family and headed to the processor. They caped him out for me and got a quick weight of 190 lbs. The best part about it was a perfect heart shot. I was amazed with myself. Smiles all around and such a fun story to tell. I was so excited, I barely slept last night just brainstorming and browsing at how I was gonna mount this awesome deer. We will see how he turns out in a couple months.
Hunter’s name: Trevor Reynolds
Salisbury North Carolina
Rowan,nc
9-20-25
8-point buck
