I think I'm finally a beast.

[Matthewkatz]

It has taken me 4 years of hunting and I finally killed my first buck and I don't think its a bad one either. I got up at 3:00 on November 23, took my little jon boat across the lake in the pitch black to go hunt some public land on the other side I had scouted in january after season last year where I found an 11 point skull.. After my half hour boat ride I had to spend another half hour climbing a 300 foot ridge that was so steep I had to climb on all fours, while carrying 30lbs worth of treestand. I then set up just at daybreak and decided to do an ll day sit. I saw only one doe at around 10:00 a ways down the hill eating on acorns and that was it. There were massive rubs and scraped all over the hilltop so I know there was a buck in the area so I figured he had a hot doe on lockdown. So at around 1:00 I decided to take down my stand and move 300 yards down the ridge and sneak as close as I could get to the powerlines/cutover where I found beds last year scouting. I waited all the rest of the day freezing my but off and counting down until I can finally get home and get some rest untill 10 minutes before legal light ends this big bruiser came through trotting. I grunted at him and he kept on going to the other side of the hill and then I snort wheezed and he came sneaking back and I had a perfect broadside shot at 60 yards, mouth bleated for him to stop, he did, I settled and pulled the trigger on my granpa's .308. The buck took off like nothing happened over to the other side of the hill and I thought I missed. I kept thinking how could I miss, the shot was so perfect. I called my dad cursing and crying and he calmed down and said there was a good chance I hit him but he might have been so rutted up and full of adrenaline that he might of acted like nothing happened. So I climbed down my stand and went to look for blood bet never found any and I swear I missed and I really did not want to crawl down the 300 ft bluff way where I last heard him running but I felt I owed it to the deer to look as hard as I could. not even 30 yards down the bluffwall, the buck was laying there and all I could see was antler. I slid down the bluff and found I had a perfect heart shot and the darn thing rand 40 yards with a softball sized hole where his heart used to be. the hill was so steep that there was no way I was getting this boy back up the hill so I had to slide down the hill with him. we both slid down the 200 ft until the bottom of the ravine. I decided there was no way I was getting this thing out in the dark so I burried him with leaves in hopes it would hide him from the coyotes and I had to walk a mile through the ravine back to my boat and make it back across the lake and go home for the night and rest for the recovery mission. It was 36 degrees that night so the meat wasnt going to spoil. I borrowed a wagon made for hauling small items from my buddy and me and my dad went back across the lake at 7:00 the next morning. It took us 6 hours to pull him through all the ditches, and deadfalls, and brush in the ravine and on the way back the boat was barely sticking out of the water with us 3 big guys in it. after all that on the way home, my dad truck tire had a blowout and we didnt have a spare which means we didnt get back home until 3:00 and I still had to butcher the deer because I didn't feel I could leave it hang in 50 degree weather. I stayed up untill 1:00 AM processing it myself. I hope you guys stuck around and read this long story about my first buck. It was an adventure and I wanted to share it. Long story short, there are big bucks on tennessee public land but you have to be a little crazy to get them.It might have only been a rifle kill but the if the amount of hard work I had to do to get my first buck doesnt make me a beast I dont know what does.

[Trout]

Wow, awesome story and great first buck! There are a LOT of hunters will will never kill a buck like that in their lifetime, or even see one that big. You made a gutsy adjustment and it paid off. I'd say you're a full fledged beast in anyone's book

[HELENVILLEHUNTER]

Congratulations! Thats a hard earned buck and a great memory. Awesome deer and a great story!!

[greenhorndave]

Woohoo! Great job man!

[UntouchableNess]

Way to go for it! Congrats.

[PredatoronthePrairie]

Great deer, no such thing as a bad buck.

Although, given the story and where he fell.
Might want to do a bit of research into the guttless method and take him apart in the field and pack him out on your back if that is an option legally in your area.

Would of made quick work with 2 guys let alone 3.

Congrats again on a slammer

[Tribute80]

Awesome job on a great deer.

[d_rek]

That is quite an adventure! The picture of the buck in the garden wagon gave me a laugh. Congrats on the great buck and experience you'll never forget!

[Tsom]

Great story, great buck! Congrats! Sometimes you just gotta out work everyone else and don't worry about how your getting the buck out out till they're dead.

[Matthewkatz]

next time im packing out, to be honest I wanted to show off how big he was. He was over 200 lbs on the hoof witch is huge for the south.

[bowfreak8]

Nice Job! Good lookin buck

[hunting_dad]

Nice job and great buck!

[Drenalin]

Great buck, congrats! What part on TN are you in - west, middle, east? Don’t name your public land, please!

[Scott S]

Congrats, brother man. Beautiful buck.

[Matthewkatz]

I was hunting west tennessee