Bowhunter Bags Crazy Club Buck During Tennessee Velvet Season

Christian Howes of Roanoke, Virginia, has a system for locating big bucks. He picks an area, studies onX Hunt maps in search of promising small properties, and then goes all in with old-fashioned door knocking to secure hunting permission. Howes owns a pressure washing company, and it allows him to schedule time for hunting trips when he isn’t busy.

“Over the years, I’ve kind of built a system,” he said. “I look for smaller areas, 2-20 acres, that might not get the hunting pressure that larger farms do. I also look for areas around horse farms. In my experience, horse farms don’t like the liability of allowing hunters. If I can find a small property next to a horse farm or two, there is a good chance the deer there aren’t pressured.”

Virginia hunter Christian Howes has developed a system that helps him find big buck hangouts in new areas. Image by Christian Howes

This year, Howes set his sights on eastern Tennessee and the three-day August archery season, hoping for a chance at a full-velvet buck. He picked Knox County in eastern Tennessee and started studying onX in search of potential hunting spots. After locating a number of possible properties a couple months before the season opener, Howes made the 5-hour drive and started knocking on doors. “I probably knocked on 40 doors and got told “no” every time. Some people might get discouraged, but I don’t. I just move on to the next one,” Howes said. “If I see a sports flag or something in the yard or on the house, I’ll use that to break the ice with whoever answers the door.”

After 8 to 9 solid hours of rejection, Howes finally knocked on the right door. It was a 10-acre property with a pond, white oaks, and good bedding cover, all of which he had noticed on his scouting app. When the landowner gave him permission, Howes was ecstatic. He immediately scouted the property in person, finding a good oak flat with several nice trails close to bedding cover. He hung a couple cameras and started the long drive home, not knowing if there was a good deer, or any deer, on the property.

About 9 that night, he got a camera notification. When he opened the app, he was shocked to see a large, very uniquely shaped buck in front of his camera. “He was already really nice, and I knew he still had a month or two to grow before season,” he said.

Howes eagerly watched his cameras over the next few weeks, excited to see the buck grow and thankful that it was still hanging out on the property. But then his cameras died. “It’s on me. I didn’t have good batteries in them,” Howes said.

The next month crawled by. Not knowing if the buck was still around was killing Howes. But work and the long drive kept him from heading back to Tennessee to switch the batteries out. A week or two before opening day, Howes texted the landowner to touch base and let him know he planned to be there to hunt on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

“He didn’t text me back. A day or so went by. I started to worry a little,” he said. Then he heard the news he dreaded. “He got back in touch and told me he was fine with me hunting, but his wife wasn’t happy about it and didn’t really want anyone hunting the property.” Howes was devastated.

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“I called him back and told him I completely understood. I told him I had cameras out and I would have to make the five-hour drive back to get them. Then I asked him if there was any way I could just hunt the one day when I came down to get the cameras,” Howes said.

The landowner agreed, but with the stipulation that Howes be gone before his wife got home from work on Friday afternoon. That meant a short one-day, mainly morning, hunt.

Howes drove down a few days before opening day. He quickly went in and changed out the camera batteries and hung his saddle in a promising looking spot on a trail between the bedding area and the white oaks that were now dropping. He cut a few shooting lanes out to 30 yards and quickly got out of the woods to keep his scent to a minimum.

On the eve of the opener, Howes checked his weather app. The projected wind was going to be terrible for his set, blowing straight into the bedding area. “I make it a point to never hunt a bad wind. But this was a unique situation. I only had the one morning. I couldn’t just wait for a better wind and I couldn’t really go in and move my saddle,” Howes said.

A big believer in Ozonic treatment of his clothes and gear, Howes spent the evening before the hunt treating and retreating his stuff in hopes that he could keep his scent down. The next morning, he headed in extra early. “I went to where I thought my saddle was, but I couldn’t find it. I didn’t want to use a light or even my phone, but I finally had to check onX to locate my stand. I was about 20-30 yards below it. I had to walk a little on the main trail to get to it, something I had been trying to avoid.”

Nonetheless, Howes climbed in and pulled up his bow. Like he always does, he said a little prayer asking God to look over his family and friends and keep everyone safe. As the first morning light dawned, things were slow in the woods. Finally, a few squirrels started moving, then a small flock of turkeys came by. As the morning progressed with no deer movement, Howes started to get discouraged. At around 8:20, he recalled a YouTube video he’d watched about bucks communicating year round through soft grunts. He figured it was worth a shot and made a series of three grunts with his voice.

It worked. Just a few minutes after grunting, Howes looked up to see the big buck walking straight to him. The deer stopped at just 15 yards, but faced straight at Howes with cover between them, preventing a good shot. “The buck was standing where I had walked. He could tell something wasn’t right. He just stood there licking his nose and scent checking the air,” Howes said.

As the buck came to a stop, Howes reached up to remove his bow from the hanger. The angle of the bow and hanger made it hard to remove, and it made a tiny noise in the process. The buck looked in the direction of the sound. “That’s one of the things I like about saddle hunting, I can keep the tree between me and the deer. If I had been in an open stand, he probably would have seen me,” he said.

Howes now had his bow at the ready. The buck turned slightly and took a couple steps closer, exposing its shoulder to the hunter. Howes came to full draw, put his 10-yard pin on the spot, then released. “I saw the G5 Megameat broadhead make contact right where I was aiming,” he said. “Blood was pumping out of the hole before the buck could even turn. Then I heard him crash and everything got quiet. I kind of got lower in my saddle and I could see his white belly, just 25 or so yards from my stand.

“I immediately texted my buddy who lived nearby to tell him what had just happened and to ask if he could help me get him loaded. Then I texted my pastor, who is also a good friend and hunting buddy. Next, I texted the landowner. He was excited and wanted me to bring the buck by for him to look at,” Howes said.

The big buck scored a massive 178” on the Buckmasters BTR system, even bigger than Howes had estimated from trail camera photos. Image by Christian Howes

After getting the buck out and taking it for the landowner to see, Howes fulfilled the one request that the landowner had, to donate the meat to the Hunters for the Hungry. “I had to look for a processor that was open and participating in the program, but I finally found one.

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“I’ve been blessed to kill several nice bucks, but I’ve never had one that actually grew when I got to it,” Howes continued. “I didn’t realize this buck was as big as it was until I actually put my hands on it.”

How big? Word quickly spread in the area and a nearby Buckmasters scorer reached out. The buck sported 26- and 27-inch main beams, lots of mass, and a huge drop tine. It scored a whopping 178 inches on the Buckmasters BTR system. Howes said he’s pretty sure the buck was still growing. “The ends of the points were still round and soft, so I think he might have put on a few more inches before he shed.”