Dean Morris-Gainesville, GA

As Eddie Salter will tell you, shooting a nice buck such as this is above the norm in the mountains of northeast Ga. On September 25 I was hunting some private land that a buddy of mine had permission to hunt.

We were in our stands well before daylight had even begun to creep over the horizon. The first quarter moon shown brightly through the clear sky. As sunlight started to peek over the mountain tops of northeast Georgia I surveyed the area that I was hunting.

This was the first time I had been able to hunt this year due to my ever changing and wacky work schedule. My friend had put me in an area on a hardwood ridge that I had hunted several years before where I shot 2 does in one morning on the last day of the season. There was a slight northwest wind blowing through the still green leaves.

Before I climbed up in my stand I put out two scent wicks with 2 Drop Supreme about 35 yards from my stand. As I settled into my stand I hung my Forge bow, pulled out my True Talker and nocked my arrow. As I sat in my stand I went over everything to make sure I had done everything to make sure that I was as scent free as I possibly could be. I try to do everything by the book from storing my clothes in a scentlock bag with a Fresh Earth scent wafer to showering with Scent Away soap. I thought back to when I arrived at my friend's house and dressing outside his house and spraying down from head to toe with Scent Away spray before entering the woods.

As the sun began to brighten the woods I pulled my range finder out and hit a few spots that I thought the deer would come into. I sprayed down one last time and settled down and with my binoculars watching the woods intently for any movement. As I sat intently in my buddies ladder stand I watched several squirrels search for and feed on the sparce amount of white oak acorns on the ground and in the trees. The whiteoak acorn crop this year is way below normal, which means the deer will be moving more to find the acorns instead of staying in a specific area. The area of woods that my buddy and I were hunting was a 40 acre tract of woods nestled in between a corn field on one side and a pasture on the other with farm houses on the other 2 sides.

While I enjoy watching all types of wildlife, the warm September temperatures were really heating things up and the bugs were starting to get irritating. I put on my HS full head mesh camo cover to help keep the knats and other flying bugs out of my ears. As I sat and watched the birds and chipmunks scurry around the forest floor I could hear some squirrels barking in the distance. My instincts kicked in I grabbed my binoculars and glassed the area that I thought I heard the barking.

I gave a few soft grunts on my True Talker. Not seeing anything I hung my glasses back up and went back to listening and watching. To my surprise within about 20 minutes after giving some soft grunts from my True Talker I caught some movement out of the corner of my eye from the opposite direction from where I heard the barking.

I slowly turned my head to see three bucks headed my way. I sat and watched the bucks come down the same trail that I had come in on. I watched as the lead buck a main frame 6-pointer come in and start picking acorns from a white oak about 45 yards from my stand. He then turned and I got my first look at the big 9-pointer that was lurking a little behind him with a small 4-pointer nudging him into the opening of sunlight.

I sat and sized up the where I thought I would get a shot and how I was going to stand up to be able to make the shot. I saw the 4-pointer nudge the big 9 once more and watch as he showed the little one his superiority with first a small kick to his shoulder and then he whirled around and butted heads with the little buck. The little buck then ran up to the big 6-pointer who then butted heads and did some soft sparring with him.

With all their heads down feeding I slowly rose to my feet, grabbed my bow from the hook. The big buck then started to work his way to my left away from the other two bucks. He went a way that I had not figured there was a trail so I had not ranged it.

I put my Tru-Fire Hurricane release on and watched for an opening as the deer was quartering toward me. As he went behind a tree I drew my bow and came to full draw as he came out from behind the tree. He turned, giving me a perfect 35 yard broad side shot. I released my Arrow Dynamics arrow with the Gold Tip Gladiator tip and dropped the deer in his tracks. My shot was a little high and hit in the spine, sending him crashing to the ground.

Borrowing a phrase from Stan Potts, I had to take a moment. I set down for a few minutes before calling my friend on a walkie talkie and letting him know about the Monster Buck that I had just shot. I could not have come close to shooting this buck if it weren't for great products from Hunters Specialties.

Spec's on the Buck were:
Field Dressed 142 lbs.
Estimated Live weight 175 lbs.
Main Beams 21 1/2 inches
Inside Spread 16 1/4 inches
Longest Tine 7 1/2 inches
The Buck was a Main Frame 8 with a 1 1/2 Sticker Point between the G1 and G2 on the Right Beam

Thanks again for some great products.