A Small Property Bow Buck on Opening Day

Kentucky hunter Trevor Wilson pours his heart and soul into managing his small property for wildlife. “We own 56 acres and it is a good feeling to see all the hard work pay off. The food plots, the improved bedding areas, the elevated box blinds, it’s all part of what we do to try to hold deer,” Wilson said.

Like many hunters, Trevor Wilson works hard to make his farm attract and hold big deer for he and his family to enjoy. Image by Trevor Wilson

This year’s hunt started way back in early May. That is when Wilson first noticed a good buck on one of his cameras set over a clover food plot. “I could tell by the mass that he was going to be a good deer when he finished growing,” he said.

Wilson knew right away when he started to get the first trail camera photos that this would be a special deer.

The buck was transient over the summer, showing up on trail cameras sporadically at best. But once August rolled around, Wilson was legally allowed to put out corn, and the buck settled into more of a routine. Wilson began putting a pattern together.

“Throughout the month of August, the buck would show up in daylight 4-5 days a week, so leading up to opening day, my hopes were pretty high,” Wilson said.

Wilson likes the early season. “Over the years, I have always had a lot of success during the first part of season. I would honestly choose the first two weeks of September over the first two of November when it comes to patterning big bucks,” he said.

But the early season pattern that the buck had been following began to change as the opener drew near. “The entire week leading up to season, he only showed up at night. I didn’t have a single daylight picture,” Wilson said. The hunter was worried that the buck had changed its pattern altogether after shedding its velvet. But finally, just two days before the Saturday opener, Wilson got a photo of the deer in hard antler.

Wilson worried that the big buck would alter his summer pattern soon after shedding his velvet. Image by Trevor Wilson

Wilson slipped into his blind at around 4 that afternoon, and it wasn’t long before deer were on the move all around him. “Some young does came out, but with a 15 mph wind, they were really spooky,” he said. “One doe blew twice and ran off. A half hour passed and the same group of does came back to the clover plot. But again, one of the does blew three or four times and they all ran off. She was really testing my patience, but knowing the big buck was probably close by, I didn’t want to risk spooking him by shooting her.”

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Around 6 pm, the wind settled and everything got still and quiet. Deer started to pour into the food plot in front of Wilson’s blind. “I was watching out the window in the direction the bucks usually entered the plot and I lost count at 12 deer in the clover in front of me,” he said. “A few of the does started to act skittish and out of the corner of my window, I saw my target buck standing at 10 yards. I grabbed my bow and raised up slowly and I could see the top of my buck’s antlers passing below me. I lowered back down, quietly drew my bow, then slowly raised back up. By this time, he was standing broadside at 20 yards. I double checked to make sure my arrow was high enough to clear the window ledge, aimed, and released.”

The big buck came in to 10 yards from Wilson’s blind. Image by Trevor Wilson

“I went through my normal ritual of texting my wife, then all of my buddies to tell them I had gotten a shot at the buck. Because I wasn’t 100 percent sure he was down, I decided to ease out and give him an hour or two. As I climbed down out of my blind, I looked up on the hill and could see his white belly shining back at me. I FaceTimed my wife and kids so we could all share the experience of walking up to him,” Wilson said.

The buck was a good one, with a heavy 5x5 frame that featured tall brows and G2s with multiple small kicker points. It gross scored 153 inches.

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