Bowhunter Gets Permission on 20 Acres, Nails 15-Point Buck First Sit

Brandon Reed had been on a roll when it came to his deer hunting. He’d taken good bucks several years in a row, including a 162-inch buck last season, and a nearly 180-inch bruiser in 2023. But earlier this year, Reed got some dreadful news. The farm that he’d hunted for years changed hands and just like that, he had nowhere to hunt.

After losing his usual hunting spot earlier this year, Brandon Reed had to scramble to find a new area. It fortunately worked out for him. Images courtesy Brandon Reed

Reed went into scramble mode. He remembered a co-worker had mentioned that she had 20 acres on which he could hunt. He reached out, and after discussing it with his co-worker and her husband, Reed started some mineral licks and hung a few trail cameras. At first, only does and small bucks frequented the mineral sites. But Reed knew there should be bigger deer in the area.

One day in August, he hung stands and put out feed, which is legal in Kentucky. That night, he was rewarded with a big buck on camera. “I couldn’t believe what I was seeing,” he said. “All this time, only does and little bucks were on the cameras, and then this one suddenly showed up.”

After getting only does and small bucks on camera all summer, Reed was surprised and relieved when a big buck finally showed.

The buck wasn’t a regular but it showed up often enough to keep things interesting. As the archery season approached, a pattern began to emerge. Reed compared the weather conditions with the buck’s appearances. “I noticed that he would only come in on a northwest wind,” the hunter said.

Fortunately, a cold front hit Kentucky on opening weekend, complete with a northwest wind. Reed made plans to hunt both Saturday and Sunday evenings.

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“This property is kind of tough to hunt,” he explained. “It’s long and narrow, with a creek on one side, and a road and river on the other. I planned to slip out to the stand early, but life had other plans.”

Reed works at a bourbon distillery and competes on the barrel-rolling and ricking team, and one of the main competitions was scheduled for that Saturday. Reed competed, his team won first place — a big deal among local distilleries — and then he rushed home to get ready to hunt.

After competing in a barrel rolling competition with his distillery work team, Reed rushed home to get into the stand on opening day.

“I was running late,” he said. “I changed into my camo, grabbed my gear, tossed it in the truck, and headed to the farm. Someone pulled out in front of me, and I slammed on my brakes. I turned around to make sure my bow was still in the seat, and I noticed that my arrows didn’t have broadheads. I’d forgotten to put them on. I was already later than I wanted to be, so I just turned around and went home.”

He went home and anxiously watched his cameras to see if he was missing a chance at the big buck. The deer never showed.

The next day, Reed was finally ready to go after the buck. But life still wasn’t slowing down. He and his wife, Rachel, are in the process of buying a house. They had a house viewing scheduled for mid-afternoon on Sunday, and Reed was planning to head to the farm as soon as it was over. But the viewing lasted longer than expected, and once again, the hunter was running late.

He finally climbed into his stand around 5 p.m. Soon, a doe and fawn fed by. Another doe came in on the same trail Reed had walked in on, passing within 3 yards of the base of his tree.

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The second doe fed around for a bit, eventually walking behind the hunter and spooking but not blowing. Reed heard her crash off through the woods. After seeing a few more deer, the spooked doe eventually came back in, this time, blowing incessantly. Reed worried that his hunt was over.

Finally, the doe left, and things calmed down. That’s when a pair of buzzards landed on a nearby barn.

“They bounced around and pecked on the metal roof, making tons of noise,” Reed laughed. “I shook my head, thinking there was no way this was happening. Apparently, it is a regular occurrence, because another doe and fawn came through, paying them no mind.”

Despite getting busted by a doe and a pair of buzzards making noise on a nearby barn roof, the buck still showed just before the end of shooting time.

Around 7:55 p.m., Reed’s phone buzzed. He looked down to see that he needed to sign some documents concerning the house. As he was finishing up, he heard a deer walking nearby. Slipping his phone into his pocket, Reed started looking around for the source of the noise. He saw antlers about 35 yards away through the thick brush. “I knew it was a buck,” he said, “but I wasn’t sure if it was him. Something just looked off.”

The buck had shed velvet since last appearing on camera, and he had several small sticks hanging from his antlers when Reed first saw him.

Eventually, the buck moved into the open, just 20 yards away. Reed realized that it was the big non-typical, but it looked different because it had recently shed its velvet; a bunch of sticks were dangling from the rack.

“As soon as I realized it was him, I got my bow,” Reed said. “He looked uphill away from me — later, I realized there were does up there — and I was able to draw. I settled my pin on his shoulder and released. My arrow hit right where I was aiming.”

The buck crashed off through the heavy cover, eventually reappearing for a brief glimpse in an open field, then disappearing. All was silent. Reed texted his wife and one of his buddies.

After giving the deer some time, he climbed down and went to the spot of the shot. He didn’t see much blood, but found his arrow with good blood on it. Reed started down the trail and immediately found heavy blood. He followed the trail to thick cover and decided to save the effort of fighting through the thick tangle by going around it to see if the buck had exited the opposite side.

While the buck’s right side was typical, the left side was non-typical and had 10 scorable points.

“I looked up and noticed a dark figure out in the field,” he detailed. “It looked like a log, but I was pretty sure it hadn’t been there before. I walked straight to it, and it was my buck!”

The buck ended up having 15 scorable points, with five typical points on the right side and a jumbled bunch of 10 non-typical points on the left. After retrieving the buck, Reed was able to put a tape to it, coming up with a 166-inch green score.

“I was pretty emotional as I sat beside my buck,” he said. “It was my first sit on this property; I was happy, excited, and a little sad. It was the second day of the season, and I was already tagged out.”

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