My Pennsylvania Giant
- Thesouthpaw
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My Pennsylvania Giant
I just want to start out by saying that this is by far the largest buck I have ever seen in PA, in roughly 17 years of hunting up there. Also, without The Beast, I'm not sure that I would have ever killed him.
I found this buck this past summer while glassing bean fields around my Aunt's farm in South-Central PA. I had no prior knowledge of his existence, in fact I thought this year was going to be horrible on this particular property because 11 bucks got killed on it last year during gun season, which is quite a few for 150 acres.
Once I found the buck, I deployed half a dozen trail cameras in order to figure out which bedding area he was primarily using, and once I figured that out, I moved a bunch of cameras into that area. Mind you, this all happened around mid August, so he wasn't too worried about human pressure yet.
I determined he was bedding on the point of a thicket in the timber that is roughly 2/3 the way up a ridge, which is probably a 350 foot gain of elevation from the bottom. I assumed this, because when I was scouting this past winter, I found a couple of giant beds with a bunch of rubs around them. Even if they weren't his, I still assumed it to be the primary bedding for the area, and that he would most likely be in it. Also, this bed was roughly 250 yards from the edge of the field.
The way the bedding setup was perfect for him on a northerly type wind, because he would be able to watch the valley below him, and catch the wind wrapping around the point of the ridge. I placed a cell camera on the best trail leading toward the field, from the bed, in the latter part of August, and observed his movements through that.
It was amazing how regular he was. Anytime we had a wind out of a northerly direction, he would be on the camera, typically right on the edge of daylight, sometimes in full daylight. Anytime the wind was from a different direction, he was nowhere to be found, Although I'm pretty sure I know where he was bedding with a southerly wind, but never wanted to intrude the area with a camera.
On October 5th, I decided to move in and take a crack at him. Being a teacher, I am able to hunt most evenings for the first few weeks of the season, so as soon as the dismissal bell rang, I ran to my truck and headed north to my Aunt's farm.
The wind was forecasted for NNW, which was exactly what I wanted. The only problem was that it was a light wind, which made me wonder if he would come out, because the thermals would be pulled down the ridge, in a southerly direction.
I took my stand in and hung it ever so slowly, exactly 100 yards away from the camera that I had been getting him on, facing the opposite direction so that I could keep the truck of the tree between me and him, as I knew he would be eye level, or perhaps above me when I first saw him.
As the evening progressed, the wind totally laid down, and the thermals were pulling directly away from his bed, towards me. Normally I would've been stoked about that, but it had me worried because of how wary he seemed to be about keeping the wind in his favor.
Around 7:00, I noticed a deer moving my way, coming from the direction I expected him to come from, and sure enough, there was a large rack coming my way. He moved surprisingly quick for an older deer, and I didn't have to wait long for him to get within range. I went to full draw, and he stopped behind a bush as I did so, making me wait at full draw for what seemed like forever. When he stepped out from behind the bush, he moved off of the trail, and quartered towards me for whatever reason. Being fatigued from being drawn for so long, I knew i was either going to have to shoot now, or let down, so I put the pin on the point of his should and squeezed off.
The arrow punched though his scapula, and both lungs. He only made it about 50 yards before crashing. I wouldn't call myself a kool-aide drinker, but I'm happy I piggy backed off of the ranch fair this year, shooting a 550 grain arrow with a cut on contact broadhead. I would've bounced of of the shoulder with a mechanical.
I found this buck this past summer while glassing bean fields around my Aunt's farm in South-Central PA. I had no prior knowledge of his existence, in fact I thought this year was going to be horrible on this particular property because 11 bucks got killed on it last year during gun season, which is quite a few for 150 acres.
Once I found the buck, I deployed half a dozen trail cameras in order to figure out which bedding area he was primarily using, and once I figured that out, I moved a bunch of cameras into that area. Mind you, this all happened around mid August, so he wasn't too worried about human pressure yet.
I determined he was bedding on the point of a thicket in the timber that is roughly 2/3 the way up a ridge, which is probably a 350 foot gain of elevation from the bottom. I assumed this, because when I was scouting this past winter, I found a couple of giant beds with a bunch of rubs around them. Even if they weren't his, I still assumed it to be the primary bedding for the area, and that he would most likely be in it. Also, this bed was roughly 250 yards from the edge of the field.
The way the bedding setup was perfect for him on a northerly type wind, because he would be able to watch the valley below him, and catch the wind wrapping around the point of the ridge. I placed a cell camera on the best trail leading toward the field, from the bed, in the latter part of August, and observed his movements through that.
It was amazing how regular he was. Anytime we had a wind out of a northerly direction, he would be on the camera, typically right on the edge of daylight, sometimes in full daylight. Anytime the wind was from a different direction, he was nowhere to be found, Although I'm pretty sure I know where he was bedding with a southerly wind, but never wanted to intrude the area with a camera.
On October 5th, I decided to move in and take a crack at him. Being a teacher, I am able to hunt most evenings for the first few weeks of the season, so as soon as the dismissal bell rang, I ran to my truck and headed north to my Aunt's farm.
The wind was forecasted for NNW, which was exactly what I wanted. The only problem was that it was a light wind, which made me wonder if he would come out, because the thermals would be pulled down the ridge, in a southerly direction.
I took my stand in and hung it ever so slowly, exactly 100 yards away from the camera that I had been getting him on, facing the opposite direction so that I could keep the truck of the tree between me and him, as I knew he would be eye level, or perhaps above me when I first saw him.
As the evening progressed, the wind totally laid down, and the thermals were pulling directly away from his bed, towards me. Normally I would've been stoked about that, but it had me worried because of how wary he seemed to be about keeping the wind in his favor.
Around 7:00, I noticed a deer moving my way, coming from the direction I expected him to come from, and sure enough, there was a large rack coming my way. He moved surprisingly quick for an older deer, and I didn't have to wait long for him to get within range. I went to full draw, and he stopped behind a bush as I did so, making me wait at full draw for what seemed like forever. When he stepped out from behind the bush, he moved off of the trail, and quartered towards me for whatever reason. Being fatigued from being drawn for so long, I knew i was either going to have to shoot now, or let down, so I put the pin on the point of his should and squeezed off.
The arrow punched though his scapula, and both lungs. He only made it about 50 yards before crashing. I wouldn't call myself a kool-aide drinker, but I'm happy I piggy backed off of the ranch fair this year, shooting a 550 grain arrow with a cut on contact broadhead. I would've bounced of of the shoulder with a mechanical.
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Anything worth doing, is worth over doing.
- jmaas07
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Re: My Pennsylvania Giant
Great buck man, congrats
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Re: My Pennsylvania Giant
Huge buck! Nice job and nice story
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Re: My Pennsylvania Giant
Great story. Congrats!
- PAbowhunter10
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Re: My Pennsylvania Giant
Awesome buck for PA. Congrats and great work leading up to the kill.
- backstraps
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Re: My Pennsylvania Giant
Awesome buck and story
Congratulations!!!!
Congratulations!!!!
- Tim H
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Re: My Pennsylvania Giant
Congratulations! That's a a giant buck!
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Re: My Pennsylvania Giant
Nice buck!
- stash59
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Re: My Pennsylvania Giant
Congrats to you!!
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Re: My Pennsylvania Giant
Great buck! Congratulations
- thwack16
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Re: My Pennsylvania Giant
Awesome buck man! Congrats!
- WV Bowhunter
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Re: My Pennsylvania Giant
Congrats!! That’s a dandy buck!!
Luck is when preparation meets opportunity!!
- Jackson Marsh
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Re: My Pennsylvania Giant
Congrats on an absolute slammer
I really enjoyed the story. Share some trail camera pics
I really enjoyed the story. Share some trail camera pics
- thepennsylvanian
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Re: My Pennsylvania Giant
Ferda boys! Nice buck, congrats brother!
Be polite, be professional, but have a plan to kill everybody you meet.
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