Hunter Takes Blind-Eyed Kentucky Booner

Kentucky hunter Chris Smoot noticed a stand-out young buck on his trail camera back in 2021. Even at a young age, the buck had an impressive rack, including a split brow tine. Also noticeable in photos was that the buck had one blind eye. Smoot watched the deer in 2021 and 2022 but targeted other bucks both seasons.

Smoot had watched the buck on trail camera since 2021. Images courtesy Chris Smoot.

In 2023, the animal disappeared completely, but it returned in 2024. “I honestly thought something had happened to him when he didn’t show for so long,” Smoot said. “I was surprised when he showed back up last year.”

The buck didn’t stick around long, however. The giant that Smoot took with his crossbow in 2024 had pushed this one out of the area.

When Smoot got word that nearby hunters might have taken the buck in 2024, he didn’t put out cameras on the farm in late summer as he normally does. But he connected with said hunters just before the archery season, learning they actually hadn’t taken the buck. And so he hustled to get cameras placed.

After hearing false reports that the buck had been taken by a neighbor, Smoot didn’t start running trail cameras on the farm until just before season.

His cameras had been out for about two weeks when he captured the first picture of the massive buck. After that initial photo, the deer was consistently in front of the camera for the next few weeks, albeit always at night.

Still, the buck would often appear on camera just before daylight, and so Smoot began placing more cameras around the area, hoping to catch the deer heading to its bedding area and identify a pattern.

Don’t Miss: INDIANA BOWHUNTER ARROWS 205-INCH BUCK DURING HIS LAST HUNT ON FARM

“I was thinking this deer must be Houdini because he would only appear on the one camera and nowhere else,” Smoot laughed. “I had a dozen cameras around the area and never got a photo of him elsewhere. He just kept giving me the slip.”

Even though Smoot had trail cameras in numerous locations, he couldn’t figure out a daylight pattern for the buck.

Knowing the buck was in the area but unable to peg a pattern, Smoot decided to just go hunting. On Oct. 25, he climbed up into the stand. The buck never showed. On Halloween, he reached the farm well before daylight. As he sat in his side-by-side preparing to head to his stand, his phone issued a new photo from his trail camera. It was the big buck. Smoot made a plan and headed into a drainage ditch, hoping to catch the buck returning to its bedding area. Again, the buck never showed.

After that, the case went cold. Smoot went days without seeing any sign of the world-class buck. With the firearms season rapidly approaching and knowing that all of his neighbors were also trying for a crack at the big deer, Smoot took off the entire week before the firearms opener to hunt from daylight to dark.

“I was constantly moving around the farm but never saw him,” Smoot explained. “This deer was making a fool of me.”

Don’t Miss: NEBRASKA RECURVE HUNTER ARROWS GIANT BUCK AT 6 YARDS

At 4:45 a.m., the Friday before Kentucky’s gun opener, Smoot headed in on his side-by-side to climb into his stand. The moon was full and bright, making the surrounding area plainly visible. Scanning the nearby fields as he drove, Smoot heard the unmistakable sound of a buck grunt. He turned in the direction of the grunt, and there stood the huge buck, locked down on a doe, 10 yards away. It was Smoot’s first in-person encounter with the elusive animal.

Early one morning while heading to his stand, Smoot had a close encounter with the buck from his side by side.

After turning his side-by-side off, Smoot watched the buck in the moonlight. The buck grunted as it chased the doe. After the pair disappeared, he drove down to the creek bottom, where he parked and made a big circle to hopefully get out in front of the buck and catch him on the ground. But once again, the deer eluded him.

“All I could think was that this might be the only time I ever actually lay eyes on this buck,” he said.

The next morning was the gun opener. Smoot grabbed his rifle and headed to the farm, climbing a ridge near where he had seen the buck the morning before. He had a commanding view of the surrounding area. As the sun rose, Smoot noticed a neighbor hunting on an adjacent ridge.

“He was just standing there in the open, wearing a blue hoodie, jeans, and an orange hat and vest. Deer were spooking and blowing all around him,” he said.

Don’t Miss: DRAW HUNT BUCK POTENTIALLY THE LARGEST EVER TAKEN BY A WOMAN IN SOUTH CAROLINA

Deciding he needed to move to a different area, Smoot packed his gear and worked down to a creek bottom where he stopped to glass a nearby field stand of tall grass and cover. He was scanning a line of cedars when he caught a glimpse of what looked like a nice rack.

“It looked like a good deer,” Smoot detailed. “Then, he turned his head, and I was like, ‘Oh God, it's him.’”

The buck was standing 280 yards away, surrounded by a handful of does. All of the deer were tuned in to the nearby hunter. It was now or never. Smoot took careful aim and squeezed the trigger.

After switching locations on opening morning, Smoot spotted the buck in a nearby tree line.

At the shot, the buck disappeared. Smoot could see other deer running, but not his buck. He carefully started to work toward where the buck had been standing, hoping to catch a glimpse. On the way, the buck, which he had leveled, stood back up. Smoot quickly raised his rifle and put a second shot into the deer, anchoring him.

“I immediately called my friend, Andrew, and his four-year-old son, Weston,” Smoot noted. “I wanted both of them to be there when I recovered the buck.”

Check Out Our Latest Camo Pattern: Realtree APX

Once they arrived, the trio made their way to the buck. “The closer we got,” Smoot said, “the bigger the rack got. I started to get emotional at the realization that I had taken a buck like this two years in a row. Weston and I are tight, and when he noticed my emotions, he started giving me grief. I was getting smack talk from a four-year-old!”

The giant buck featured a 5-by-5 frame with the trademark split brow, 23-inch main beams, and heavy mass all the way out. Even though it had broken off multiple points on each side, the massive rack still taped out at 185 2/8 inches, green. Interestingly, the deer’s hooves bore the trademark damage that marked him as a likely EHD survivor, possibly explaining the nearly year-long lapse in camera photos.

The massive rack taped out at 185 inches, making this the second Boone and Crockett class buck for Smoot in as many seasons.

Smoot finished, “I still can’t believe it. This one was only about 100 yards from where I took last season’s buck. I’m so thankful to be able to take two bucks of this caliber. I don’t think anyone will ever understand just how much this means to me.”

Don’t Miss: THUNDERSTRUCK | WISCONSIN HUNTER BAGS 185-INCH TYPICAL ON 38 ACRES