On October 17, Kansas hunter Jeff Ahrens found a good-looking piece of property. It had a cut cornfield and standing beans, with a 40-acre strip of timber separating the two. Ahrens went old school, found the landowner, knocked on the door, and gained permission to hunt.

Image: rr_ahrens_3

After gaining permission to hunt a new farm, Jeff Ahrens was shocked to see a massive buck on his trail camera. Photos by Jeff Ahrens

After hanging some cameras, Ahrens was pleased to quickly get pictures of a nice 160-170 buck. But when he woke up on October 22 and checked his trail photos from the night before, a new buck immediately got his attention. “I saw kickers, trash, and the most mass of any deer I’ve ever had on trail camera. I immediately showed my buddies the picture and we all came up with mid to upper 180s as a score,” Ahrens said.

After seeing the photo, Ahrens went to work like usual. At 10:43, his phone alerted that he had a trail cam photo. He opened the app to see the new buck working a mock scrape he had set up in front of his camera.

Don’t Miss: AN OHIO MEGA BUCK ON 18 ACRES

He showed his boss, Rodney Cowdin, long time hunting guide and owner of Rising Covey Outdoors, the photo. “He said there was a 50/50 chance that the buck would show back up before dark, but he would go if it were him,” Ahrens said.

Image: rr_ahrens_5

Jeff left work early on the off chance that the buck might still be in the area.

After taking off early and getting his gear, Ahrens headed to the stand, climbing up around 4:15 that afternoon. Almost immediately after settling in, a young 8 came by and worked a scrape, followed by several does. Over the next hour, several deer came through the area. Around 5:50, Ahrens looked up to see the big 10 come in at 38 yards. “It’s hard to pass on a 170-inch buck standing broadside, but I knew what else was on the farm and I made myself hold off,” Ahrens laughed. The big buck worked a scrape before moving off into the timber and out of sight.

Image: rr_ahrens_4

Ahrens did what is unthinkable to most hunters and passed on a 170-inch buck in hopes that the big one would show.

A few minutes later, Ahrens heard noise over his shoulder. He turned to see a small buck emerge from the cover and walk his direction. The buck passed directly under his stand. As the buck walked by, he heard more noise coming from the same direction. Assuming it to be another young buck, he quickly glanced that way.

Don’t Miss: MINNESOTA BOWHUNTER SPOOKS GIANT BUCK, ARROWS IT TWO WEEKS LATER

What he saw took his breath. It was the massive buck from his photos, and he was just 25 yards away. Ahrens was already standing, but his bow was hanging nearby. The buck started to walk, luckily stopping with his head behind a tree, allowing Ahrens to lift his bow. When the buck’s head passed behind more cover, the hunter came to a full draw. He held for an estimated 30 seconds as he followed along with the buck. When the deer stopped in a shooting lane just 8 yards away, Ahrens had a small window to the buck’s vitals. Something made the buck turn and look toward Ahrens, and so he settled his pin and took the shot.

Check Out Our Latest Camo Pattern: Realtree APX

“I’ve been lucky enough to take some big deer over the years and I usually don’t get too shook until after the shot. But this buck was different. When he turned to look at me at that close of a distance, my heart dropped,” he said.

At the shot, the buck whirled, causing the hit to be a bit forward, angling deep into the chest. The deer crashed away and ran straight into a metal fence post, breaking off a 3-4 inch kicker point in the process, then bounced and kept going. Ahrens watched the big buck stumble as it crossed a creek and went out of sight.

After gathering his wits and calming down, Ahrens called his wife. When she didn’t answer, he called his longtime hunting buddy Seth Beihler (read about his giant Kansas buck here). “I just shot a 200-inch buck,” Ahrens told Beihler, who laughed and replied that he didn’t think the deer would score an inch over 199.

Don’t Miss: BOWHUNTER ARROWS 22-POINT BUCK FROM THE GROUND

After going home to give the buck some time, a team consisting of Ahrens, Beihler, another buddy Mikey Porter, Ahren’s wife, Kelsie, and their son, Cayson, headed back to the woods to search for the buck.

After finding blood at the last spot Ahrens had seen the buck, they followed the trail another 50-75 yards until it ended at a bed. There wasn’t much blood in the bed and no noticeable blood trails leaving it. Ahrens started to get nervous. The team fanned out at the bed and started searching. Finally, they found blood entering a thick growth of cedars. As he followed the blood, Ahrens looked up to see the big buck down just in front of him. “My first reaction when I got my hands on him was,” What did I just shoot?”

The giant Kansas buck had 17 scorable points on a 5-by-5 main frame. With 13-inch G2s, nearly 11-inch G3’s and 6-inch bases, it didn’t take long for the score to add up to a mind blowing 203 ⅛ inches.

Don’t Miss: FATHER AND DAUGHTER TEAM UP ON GIANT KENTUCKY BUCKS