Missouri Hunter’s Unlucky Stand Produces 14-Point Bow Kill

Brian Wittu didn’t have any trail cameras out, but his dad had seen a good buck in the area, and so Brian decided to try a quick hunt one afternoon after work. All images courtesy of Brian Wittu

Few people have ever seen a typical whitetail sporting seven tines per antler, let alone killed one with a bow. But Brian Wittu got both opportunities while bowhunting on a hot afternoon shortly after Missouri’s bow opener. And the cool part is that he had no idea the buck was in the area.

In fact, he probably wouldn’t have gone hunting the day he killed the buck because the weather was so warm — the daytime temperature hit 90 degrees. But Brian’s father, who owns 60 acres with two ponds, had been sitting on a side-by-side watching the ponds in the evenings and was seeing some bucks, including a pretty nice 10-pointer. He told Brian that he should take his bow out and give it a whirl.

That intel was all Brian had leading up to his first sit of the 2025 Missouri deer season. He used to run trail cameras in previous years, but they had quit working. With a stand already in place near the ponds, all he had to do was go deer hunting. The stand, though, is anything but a regular producer.

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“In addition to the ponds, the property has a bunch of oaks and quite a few cedars around the edges,” Brian explained. “We’ve had a stand about 70 yards from one of the ponds for 12 years. I’ve hunted it every year and have only seen deer from it once, about five years ago.”

Given the stand’s track record, Brian’s confidence was low as he prepared to hunt the dud stand the afternoon of Sept. 19.

Wittu shot the big buck from his “unlucky” stand, which has been in place for 12 seasons.

“It was too hot to hunt,” he said of the conditions that day. “It was at least 90 degrees during the day. But Dad had been seeing those bucks, so I decided to go hunting after work around 3:30 p.m. I had zero camouflage because I’d given mine to my son, so I hunted in my work clothes — a green shirt and jeans. I didn’t think I’d see anything.”

Around 6 o’clock, Brian noticed a young 4-pointer walking his way.

“I was so excited just to see something,” he said. “Again, I never see deer from that stand. But the bucks just kept coming. A little way behind the 4-pointer was a nice 8-pointer. And then came a 6-pointer, and behind it was the good-sized 10-pointer Dad had seen. I couldn’t believe it. The 10-pointer would have been my largest bow buck, but I decided not to shoot it because the temperatures were so high.”

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Although Brian’s afternoon hunt was made, the buck parade wasn’t over yet. Another small buck walked by. Then, way down the ridge in the timber, he noticed the front legs of another deer.

“I thought, ‘Oh, man, that’s Mr. Swampy right there,” he said. “The buck was obviously traveling with the others, but he was staying pretty far behind them. When he cut the distance to about 50 yards, I could see that it was a big one, and since I was wearing a green shirt, I drew my bow right then. The other bucks were just off to the left.

“After holding at full draw for a long time,” he continued, “I realized that I’d drawn back way too early. I was holding and holding. The buck was about 35 yards away and facing me. I didn’t want to let down because I worried that he or one of the other bucks would see me.”

The buck began to turn and was slightly quartering toward the hunter. After holding at full draw for so long, it was now or never. Brian’s arrow connected with the buck, striking the spine and angling down into the body, dropping the animal instantly.

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“When I got down and looked at the deer, I couldn’t believe how many points it had,” he said. “Dad was watching the ponds, so I walked down to him. I said, ‘You got a knife? I got the big one!’ Then we rode up on the side-by-side to look at my buck. At first, Dad was jealous, but then he was proud of me. I don’t know what was more special: Dad giving me a hug, or seeing that buck on the ground.”

The buck weighed 168 pounds, field-dressed. The rack features seven points per side in a clean, typical configuration, but a small split on the left G-2 and a kicker off the back make it a 9x7. Although the antlers haven’t been scored and are currently with a taxidermist, Brian knows it’s his largest buck to date — and a pretty good turn of fortune from a dud stand.