On the evening of August 22, 2025, Tennessee bowhunter Jeremy Sadler was set up on a buck he’d known for months. It wasn’t a surprise encounter or a stroke of luck—it was the payoff to a plan that started taking shape back in mid-June.
“I’d been watching him in the bean field since June 15th,” Sadler says.
The mature deer was moving between bedding cover and a soybean field, and Sadler had found a transition zone that looked just right for a setup. It all came together that evening when the big buck stepped into range.
“I told myself it was going to happen—and I had to make a good shot,” Sadler says.
Armed with a Mathews V3X, he settled his pin at 30 yards and let the arrow fly. It was a perfect shot.
“I felt like I did after shooting my first deer,” Sadler says. “It didn’t really sink in until later that night when we put a tape on him.”
And what a deer it was. The velvet 18-pointer taped out at 186 1/8 inches, a true giant by any standard. There wasn’t much chaos after the shot—just a steady track job with a few good buddies.
The location? Jeremy prefers to keep that one under wraps. But with a hunt like this, the exact spot hardly matters.
This wasn’t a deer that just showed up on camera. It was one that had been watched, patterned, and hunted with purpose. And on a warm August evening, the hard work all paid off.
Sadler’s story is proof that sometimes the most memorable bucks are the ones you know by heart—long before they ever step into range.
