james bao 06 buck

What Makes a Trophy

James Ferguson

President/CEO

Bowhunting North America, LLC

After hunting and running the camera for a total of 8 straight days on two different pieces of property, I was pretty worn down and ready to go home. When the alarm went off on the morning of the 9^th day it was hard to crawl out of bed.

I staggered to the bathroom and took a hot shower with my Wildlife Research Center soap. As I stood there in a daze, I began to think about the close encounter I had two days earlier with a nice 10-point buck. The more I thought about the possibility of connecting on such a great buck, the more awake I became. I suddenly was able to locate the motivation needed to get me through the last hunt of my trip. Before I knew it I had eaten breakfast, dressed in my Max-1 Camo, and was on the way to the stand.

As I walked to the stand with John Shelley my substitute camera person, I began to wonder what was in store for me over the next few hours.

We would be hunting a stand that had come through for the Bowhunting North America Team and me on 4 other occasions. My hopes were high for a 5^th buck from this stand.

I was settled in the stand well before day break and did not have to wait long until the shadows around me were moving. It looked like three deer were scurrying around the old Oak tree that I was perched in.

As the sun began to rise I could see that the three deer were bucks. There were two 4 point youngsters that really had some potential and a 2 ½ year old 6 point that was outside of his ears.

The 6-point did not hang around long. For some reason he decided that he had somewhere better to go. Just as the 6 point had disappeared, one of the fork horn bucks looked down the road and perked up his ears. I could tell by his body language that something was headed his way, more than likely a larger buck. I grabbed my bow in hopes of the big 10 showing himself.

Just as I was ready for a shot, a deer appeared walking down the road towards the fork horn. It was a buck! A mature buck!

As the buck walked into my shooting lane, I realized that it was not the 10 point I was hunting for but a very old 8 point. My mind and heart was racing! I knew this was not the buck I was looking for but it was the last day of my hunt and I knew he would have to do.

As the buck stopped in my third shooting lane I drew my Mathews XT. The arrow slid across my Muzzy Zero Effect rest quietly as I hit full draw. The buck raised his head just as I settled my 20-yard pin on his shoulder and touched the trigger of my Tru-Fire release.

THWACK! The Carbon Express Maxima arrow had found its mark! The buck kicked and turned around and took off in a dead run! His tail was waving back and forth and he was stumbling as he ran. Several times he almost went down but managed to make it over 150 yards before I saw him pile up!

I looked back to the spot where the buck was standing and there was my arrow on the ground covered in blood. The Muzzy MX-4 broadhead blew through both shoulders of the buck like they were not even there!

After 9 days of hunting I had finally arrowed a good buck! I cannot explain all of the emotions that were running through my head! Excitement, exhaustion, relief, elation……………………

I quietly gathered up my gear and exited the stand. I followed the trail that the buck had left and found him 200 yards from the stand.

After ground checking the buck, we determined that he was a 5½ year old buck. He was an 8 pointer with a broken tine on his right side. His rack was awkwardly shaped but unique. His horns did not represent his age but he was a cagey old mature buck. The kind of mature buck that makes him a trophy no matter what his headgear looks like.

This hunt was made possible in part by our sponsors:

Mathews, Inc., Carbon Express, The Gean-Edwards Company, DoskoSport, Lumenok, Tru Fire Corp.,
Limbsaver, Huntin' Hoist, Beard Buster, Sure Grip Gun & Bow Racks, Advantage Max-1 Camoflauge, Nikon Sport Optics, Barnett Crossbows,

and Muzzy Products Corp.