Editor’s Note: Do you remember when you took a buck with a bow that was an exciting hunt. This week some well-known archers are sharing their adventures of bagging some of their most memorable bow bucks. Preston Pittman of Pickens, Mississippi, the creator of Preston Pittman Game Calls, teaches deer-hunting seminars across the country.

A good friend of mine, Larry Norton, who today lives in Butler, Alabama, but was a guide at Bent Creek Lodge near Jachin, Ala. for many years, drove back and forth through the lodge’s property each morning on his way to work. Before daylight one day, Norton noticed a place where he always saw bucks standing on the side of the road or crossing it. One day when I arrived at Bent Creek, Larry said, “Preston, I may have a honey hole for you. I haven’t even scouted it. But I feel certain if you go to where I’ve seen bucks crossing the road, do some scouting, and set up your tree stand, you’ll take a nice-sized buck there.”

Next, I wondered about where to hunt around Larry’s honey hole. The white oak acorns in the area hadn’t dropped yet, and I couldn’t find where the deer fed on any natural food other than water oak acorns. But as soon as I reached the area, I also saw a buck crossing the blacktop road. A pine tree plantation stood on one side of the road and a group of water oak trees had dropped their acorns on the other side. The bucks apparently bedded down in the pines and crossed the road to feed on the acorns.

On the first afternoon, I went in to scout and hang a tree stand. I spotted rubs on 10 or 12 trees and well-worn deer trails crossing the little creek meandering through the water oaks. I couldn’t cut shooting lanes or spend any time preparing my hunt site. I was afraid I’d spook the bucks bedding nearby. From my stand, I could hear but not see traffic on the road. Most hunters wouldn’t believe you could locate and take a nice buck so close to a road. But often big bucks like to hold in a region like this because no one expects to find them there or hunt them.

About an hour after I went up the tree, a doe came within 30 yards of my stand. As the light faded, I spotted antlers just behind her. I let this buck feed to within 25 yards of me, as I waited to find a hole in the tree limbs through which I could shoot. When the buck stepped into my narrow shooting lane, I drew. Then the buck more than quartered away from me. However, I knew if I put the arrow behind the deer’s last rib, the arrow would travel forward through the animal’s vitals.

Once I released my arrow, I felt sure I’d hit the buck. He ran less than 100 yards before piling up. He scored 123 points on Boone & Crockett, which was a nice buck some years ago when the Alabama deer herd was so overpopulated. However, the bad news came when Larry saw the buck. He told me, “Preston, you shot the little buck. I had a gorilla-sized buck in that area that probably would have scored 150 points or better.” But I still was proud of the blacktop buck I’d taken.

Expert Guidebooks on BowHunting Deer: Best Sellers

How to Hunt Deer Up Close with Bows, Rifles, Muzzleloaders and Crossbows
To be more successful as a deer hunter, learn all you can about the animal, the wind, the temperature and the techniques required to get in close.

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Whether you hunt private or public lands, you’ll find tips and tactics in this book from the Mossy Oak Pro Staff that will increase your odds for locating and taking the bucks of your dreams. 

If you’re serious about learning to hunt and take deer with a bow, if you’re looking for a different strategy that will help you identify and harvest big bucks, if you want to learn from your misses as well as from the shots that connect, and if you enjoy being in the great outdoors that the Good Lord has blessed us with, then this book is for you.

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Tomorrow: Dick Kirby & Will Primos Bowhunt Deer