This article contains affiliate links. If you purchase through one of these links, we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. Learn More
Jonathon Stuart had done his homework.
He’d watched this 10-pointer all summer long and planned his September 6 velvet hunt in Kentucky almost down to the hour. A bachelor group and his target buck had been feeding on one particular area of a bean field. Jonathan knew that’s where he needed to be on September 6th.
But the bachelor group he was after beat him to the spot by just 15 minutes.
“I had a plan to be in by noon since the deer had been showing up on my Stealth Cam as early as 2 p.m.,” Stuart says. “But I was walking in around 11:45 with my Millennium stand, and that whole group of bucks showed up in the beans 100 yards from the walnut tree I’d picked.”
With no other options, Stuart hit the dirt.
“I had to lay in a fence row for over two hours waiting for them to clear out,” he says. “Thank God for that Stealth Cam Revolver 360 2.0—it let me see the whole field and know exactly when they left.”
Once the coast was clear, Stuart ditched the hang-on stand, fearing it would make too much noise or movement. Instead, he hung two climbing sticks, worked up to about 16 feet using limbs, and found the perfect branches where he could stand and lean back against the tree.
“I had a great backdrop and figured I’d have to make it work,” he says.
By 5 p.m., some does and a decent buck fed into the field, followed by a wave of younger bucks around 6:30. Stuart’s target buck finally stepped into view and bedded at 275 yards just before 7 p.m. Jonathon thought the hunt was over.
“I figured that was it. He wasn’t coming. But a few of the other bucks fed straight toward me, and then one of the bigger ones followed. I grabbed my bow, thinking the older buck would bust me if I waited too long.”
Sure enough, Stuart looked up his target buck was closing in fast.
“He stopped at 30 yards behind a limb, and I drew. But I had to hold forever—he just stood there. Finally, he stepped out at 13 yards, and that was it.”
The arrow hit its mark. Stuart watched the 177 3/8-inch buck crash in the beans just 80 yards away.
“It all came together, but it started way earlier in the day than I expected,” he says.
Stuart had taken a 192-inch buck two years before, but says this one was still special—especially with the work it took to get in position.
His advice for anyone hoping to tag a buck like this?
“Learn your access routes and always keep the wind in mind. Be willing to adapt. Put in the work and never stop learning.”
