3-Year Story Ends with Giant Buck During the First Sit of the Season

Michael Reed of Midwest Whitetail has been killing big, mature bucks for decades. In fact, he moved to Iowa to live and hunt in one of the top states in America to do just that. This season, he shot another one. The buck lived on a property Reed purchased in 2020. Reed had three years of history with the 5 ½-year-old buck, including trail camera videos and numerous encounters in 2020 and 2021. This season, the buck was big enough for the hit list.

On October 6, the conditions were prime to hunt. It was Reed's first sit of the season, and he was ready to capitalize. An early season cold front was pushing through, which brought northwesterly winds, a high barometric pressure, and temperatures in the 60s. Things were lining up for a great hunt.

Prepared for an afternoon sit, Reed eased along a low-impact entry route to his selected stand location along a river bottom wetland area. He was camped out in a small pocket of red and white oaks along a slough. Once in the tree, his back was to the slough, oaks were to the right, with canary grass and wetland bedding cover in front and to the left. He also kept an eye on a culvert and creek crossing nearby.

The afternoon sun sank toward to the horizon, and Reed's anticipation built. As it dipped lower, a few does, fawns, and small bucks exited the bedding cover and fed into the oaks. After a while, the big deer stepped out, too.

He was focused on the does and small bucks feeding in the oaks, and walked down the lane over the crossing, and into bow range, Reed said. He reigned in his emotions as the deer stepped to 40 yards, then 30, and then 20. Soon, the buck stood broadside 17 yards away.

Reed slowly drew back, anchored, settled in, and took the shot. It hit hard, and the buck dashed for cover, making it only 100 yards before falling over in view of the treestand. It was the first time I've ever killed a target buck on the first sit of the year, Reed said. So, it was exciting to experience such a great hunt in early October. Also, having success managing the deer herd, following a buck for multiple years, passing him, and watching him grow into a giant, are very rewarding.

Looking back on the success of this hunt, Reed also credits the cold front, and focusing on the acorn crop deer were keying on. It was an exciting hunt, especially for the first one of the season. Of course, the 180 3/8 inches of antler don't hurt anything, either.

Those who would like to view the full hunt can tune into Midwest Whitetail to see how the entire multi-year story unfolded.

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