Kansas hunter Seth Biehler and his family had been watching a great buck on trail camera all through the 2024 season. Seth thought the buck was young, with loads of potential to get huge, but it was already in the 170-class. Everyone agreed that a buck of that caliber, regardless of age, wouldn’t be a deer to pass up. The big whitetail evaded Seth’s uncle one day last year, with daylight running out on the hunt. The family hoped the buck would survive through until this season — and it did.

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Kansas hunter Seth Biehler and his family had been chasing this buck for two seasons when he finally closed the deal. Images by Seth Biehler

The big buck showed back up this past spring. Even that early in the year, it was obvious that the buck had blown up substantially. As the antlers grew throughout the summer, each trail camera photo revealed the makings of a world-class whitetail.

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When the buck showed back up on trail camera this past summer, it was clear that he had added several more inches of antler.

With the archery deer season approaching, the buck was a regular on the trail cameras, but usually at night. The deer’s home range was on a cattle farm with a mixture of hardwoods, pasture and scrub brush. Biehler knew it would be better to wait until it started showing during the evening hours to get in close and hunt.

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“I’d hunted another farm a time or two while I waited him out,” Biehler explained. “I was targeting this buck in particular, but with the season open, I felt like I should be hunting, so I went a couple times, mostly just to say that I had.”

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As soon as the buck showed on camera during shooting light, Biehler knew where he needed to be the following evening.

About two weeks after the opener, the buck finally appeared on camera before dark. Biehler immediately made plans to hunt the following evening. He checked the wind direction, and the hunt was on.

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It was two weeks after season opener before the mostly nocturnal buck appeared on camera before dark.

“The buck was in a thick area, close to his bedding spot,” he said. “There weren’t any good trees for a treestand nearby, so I went in early and cleared out a spot next to a cedar behind some chest-high grass.”

The conditions were rainy and cool. Biehler hoped the rain would subside as the evening progressed, and it did, about 45 minutes before dark. The clock was ticking. With about 15 minutes of daylight remaining, Biehler knew that if the buck showed up, the encounter would likely be up close and quick. He decided to stand up so that he was fully prepared.

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Just minutes after standing, movement caught his eye. It was the buck he was after, only 60 yards away and quickly closing the distance. The buck stopped 35 yards away, but Biehler held off, hoping the deer would continue walking closer.

After pausing a few seconds, the buck started moving again. At 30 yards, the buck stopped and locked eyes with the nearby hunter. “I don’t know if he saw movement, heard something, or caught just a little scent, but he was looking right at me. I knew it was now or never.”

Biehler drew his Hoyt bow, settled his pin on the deer, and released his arrow. He heard the arrow hit with a solid thud, but with the low cloud cover and darkness rapidly approaching, he couldn’t tell where his arrow hit.

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“I sat down and had a mild panic attack,” Biehler laughed. “Then, I called my wife, dad, uncle, and a buddy to tell them the news.”

After backing out, he headed home to give the buck some time and wait for everyone to assemble before going out to look for the deer.

“My wife tried to feed me dinner, but I was too nervous to eat,” he recalled.

After about an hour, the team headed back to the spot of the shot. They soon found some blood. After 50 yards, the blood trail really opened up. Another 50 yards later, they found the buck. The massive buck had 22 scorable points, and it green-scored 219 4/8 inches.

“It was even bigger in person than it appeared on camera. I really want to say thanks to my family for putting up with the countless hours I spend in the woods working on treestands and cameras,” Biehler finished.

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