Joe Lacefield works for the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife as a wildlife biologist, and he’s an excellent deer hunter. While others embrace modern technology, Lacefield remains a traditional bowhunter and often hunts with self bows, which he makes.

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Wildlife Biologist Joe Lacefield prefers the challenge of traditional archery equipment, even when hunting mature bucks like this old monarch. Image by Joe Lacefield

For three straight seasons, a nice buck had been on his trail cameras. While the buck’s antler frame stayed consistent from year to year, it gained considerable mass. The buck's body also became massive. Lacefield estimated the animal to be 6.5 years old this season. Larger antlered bucks were on his cameras, but they were all younger than this one. Knowing those other bucks had loads of potential, Lacefield focused on this heavy eight-pointer, which he called Stickers due to the extra point off the buck’s right G-2.

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Lacefield watched the buck grow from year to year, estimating him at least 6.5 this season.

Lacefield knew of a large red oak that consistently drops acorns a week or two before the other oaks in the area each year. Over the years, he’d taken numerous early-season deer from that tree.

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On opening day, he was in the stand when his target buck stepped out and walked in to feed on falling acorns under the tree’s massive canopy, within easy bow range. Lacefield drew his Herway XRTD bow, made by Kevin Brown, aimed and released the arrow, only to see it clip a limb and strike the ground harmlessly between him and the buck. The big buck bolted, and Lacefield wondered if he would see him again. Just in case, he trimmed the offending branch.

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A few days later, he was back in the same tree. As evening approached, a few does milled around. Just before sunset, to Lacefield’s surprise, the buck stepped out. “He came out of an old roadbed about a hundred or so yards away,” he said. “I knew it was him, and I knew I was loosing light in a hurry.”

The buck slowly approached, taking two or three steps, stopping, looking around, and then taking a few more steps. Thirty minutes elapsed, and daylight was fading fast. Eventually a doe moseyed beneath Lacefield’s stand, feeding on acorns. The doe’s presence seemed to give the buck some confidence, and he walked in to 13 yards.

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Lacefield, also a beekeeper, has an unusual scent-control method. “I fire up the smoker I use to calm the bees and puff it all over my clothes and body before I head to the stand,” he said. “I firmly believe it helps. I’ve taken numerous bucks, some directly downwind, after doing this.” He believes the deer still smell the human scent, but think it is much farther away, so it doesn’t alarm them as badly.

Even though the old buck was within traditional archery range of the waiting hunter, it was still alert and on edge. At the shot, the buck dropped, causing the arrow to strike slightly higher than Lacefield had intended.

The buck crashed through the thick cover, and once it had covered about 75 yards, Lacefield believed he heard it crash. The woods grew quiet. Even so, Lacefield worried his hit had been too high and lacked penetration.

He quietly climbed down and rounded up his son, then texted his brother and nephew. While waiting on his brother’s arrival, Lacefield and his son, Ashton, went to the oak tree and began looking for blood. After a few yards, they spotted the glowing Lumenok in the thick cover, leading them to the downed buck, right where Lacefield heard it crash. Even after Joe’s brother and nephew arrived, the four of them still struggled to drag the buck’s massive body through the thick cover.

While Lacefield is an official scorer for both Boone and Crockett and Pope and Young, he has yet to measure the heavy 8-point frame. He did say that the buck’s rack was too wide to fit crossways in his deep freezer.

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