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My cousin Zack has been featured in the blogs I write for years. He’s been a huge part of my hunting life - since sitting with me in the blind when I killed my first Buck, to helping me track and drag Dozer ( a 7.5 year old 15 pt. I killed off the farm in 2024) and every mistake in between - Zack’s been around for it.
Zack and his wife moved to Maryland a few years ago and it cut our hunting time together down significantly. So between jobs, families and now the distance to Ohio - finding time to hunt is few and far between.
Zack and I had been monitoring a trail camera we had on a small food-plot. Over the past few weeks a few good bucks started to show up and we came up with a solid game plan. Zack would come into town early for Thanksgiving holiday and we’d have him get as much seat time as possible, over that 3-5 day period.
The first day (Thursday) he sat from dawn to dusk. He saw several deer but none in range worth shooting. He and I again reviewed weather and decided that going in Friday morning would be worth it due to a large weather front moving in Friday evening.
At 820am Friday morning - I get the text “I just shot a nice 10pt. But ugh it was a bit back”. This is where years of hunting experience aided in the recovery. We found arrow after 4 hours of waiting and confirmed it was back but did look like maybe liver as well. We decided to call a drone and back out.
The drone was absolutely amazing. He came in and found the deer that afternoon in 5 mins or less. We could see the deer, and wound. We decided to give the buck overnight - to ensure he wasn’t pushed.
First thing this am, we went and got to bring Bryce (my 3 year old son) on the recovery (his 2nd track -not bad for 3 lol!). The buck never moved from his first bed. That deer was shot back but with a rage broadhead. He went sub 150 yards and because we didn’t push him, we had a successful recovery.
I continue to be an advocate for large cutting diameter broad-heads and drones for deer recovery. When in doubt, back out.
With only a few days to hunt - congrats to my cousin Zack on a great Ohio buck!! This is a season we soon won’t forget!!
