Mann Buck

My Buck Hunting Story

In the fall of 2023, just as bow season had started, a friend of mine was harvesting beans in the field adjoining my property when he called me and told me to be on the lookout for a big mature buck next to my house. I hunted several times during bow season and never saw any signs of this so-called buck. As time went on, I still never saw this buck. That all changed on November 18, 2023.

It was the opening day of shotgun season. I went out around 5:15 a.m. and got set up in my hunting spot. That morning was really slow with very little movement. There were only a few deer that came through super early before legal shooting light, and it had been crickets since. Typically, the deer moved through my area around 7 a.m. and then pushed out until later in the evening.

It was now 7:45 a.m., and I was deciding whether or not to get down. Just as I was about to call it quits, I caught movement out of the corner of my eye from the south. It was a small young doe making her way north along the tree line directly in front of me. She was roughly 70 yards out and keeping a steady pace when I noticed her stop and look back over her shoulder.

I quickly glanced to the south and spotted MY BUCK. He was roughly 40 yards behind the doe. He quickly made up ground and was right with the doe. They continued north for another 35 yards and came to the end of the tree line next to the road. This all happened within two minutes, so I knew I had to act quickly to see if I could change their path of travel.

I rattled to see how the buck would respond. He began to stomp his feet and lick his lips, but he refused to move away from the doe. I then tried a snort wheeze. Again, he stomped his feet and kept licking his lips. I continued to communicate with him for the next hour and forty-five minutes with no luck. They would not come out of the cover they were in.

Then everything changed.

The doe quickly glanced over her shoulder, looking to the south. I spotted a young spike buck running toward their location. The doe spooked and quickly started making her way directly toward me. My buck quickly followed her and made it to around 40 yards when I grunted and was able to stop him.

He was perfectly broadside to me.

I squeezed off the shot and knew it was a perfect shot. He ran off, and I lost sight of him. I quickly loaded another round. I saw the doe making her way across the field WITHOUT my buck. I waited roughly 20 minutes, never seeing my buck appear.

I made my way down to where I made the shot. There was very little blood, but I knew by how he jumped that it was a good shot. I made my way in the direction he ran. I walked around 30 feet in a half-moon pattern, and there he lay.

I didn’t realize just how big he was, for the simple fact that I didn’t have any binoculars, and my gun only had a red dot sight on it with no magnification. I was in complete disbelief. He was a beautiful buck—the biggest buck I had ever taken.

I immediately texted my friend and told him, “I got him!” I called my wife and told her I shot a big mature buck, and she and the kids came, and we embraced the moment together.

What a special moment that will last with me for the rest of my life.