Knox County Booner - Illinois
Buck of a lifetime.
Scott and his Booner.
370" of bone!
Hunter: Scott Wolfe
Cameraman: Joe Rush
Wowza...where do I start. I would be “dropping the ball” if I didn’t start by thanking Ralph and Vicki for making my hunting dreams come true. The story and pictures that follow would not have been possible without the unbelievable opportunities I have been able to take part in because of them.
It all started last Wednesday (Nov. 12th) while I was at work. I started a new thread on the Archer’s Choice forum stating how terrible my season has been....but ended it by saying that "tomorrow is another day". Wow....how true that statement would be in less than 24 hours!!!
The next day, after dropping Jeremy, aka "Youngbuck83" off at the airport, Joe Rush and I headed south to hunt with Darrell Smith’s Illinois Whitetails in Knox County. Once we arrived at the guide house, Darrell gave us a quick rundown for the week and then suggested we head over to where we would be staying so we could get unpacked and in the woods before the day was lost.
We were anxious for the first afternoon’s hunt because while on the way down, Darrell had called to let us know a GIANT had been arrowed that morning. He went on to say that sheds from that deer measured 186" so there was a good chance I would be looking at a 200" buck before the night was over!!!
Joe and I had decided that I would hunt the first night and on the way over to the farm, I was torn between using a decoy or not. Once we pulled up to the gate, I decided to leave it in the back of the truck.
Now in a freshly picked cornfield, our guide Jason walked us most of the way in to the stand location and made sure we were set up before he left. We quickly got a camera stand in position as well as all of the other gear required to film a hunt, and finally found ourselves settled in by about 2:30 pm.
All of my previous 21 years of bow hunting had been in Carroll County and this was the first time hunting a different part of the state. Everything looked the same as it does back home… but it felt different due mostly to the size of the bucks known to be in this part of the state.
We were set up on the south edge of the field and had good trails heading to the corn that were well within bow range. A strong wind was making things interesting as we waited for deer that would hopefully work their way into the field. For the first two hours, our only action was a small 6-pt that paralleled the field behind us. At approx. 4:20, I spotted a big bodied deer enter the field from the right and he put on a good show for us as he worked a scrape. He was 150 yards away but I didn’t need binoculars to know that he was a shooter buck. I took a quick peek with my Nikons and the 9”+ brow tines and great mass got my heart pumping.
The buck then left the scrape and headed south towards the corner of the field. I thought he would enter the woods in that corner but he instead, turned and started heading our way. I took one last peek with my bino’s and realized that one of the biggest bucks I’ve ever seen in the wild was heading our way.
At 50 yards, the buck turned towards the woods and I started to panic. Joe whispered to me to send a few grunts his way but I couldn’t find my grunt call. It was in the pocket it always sits in, but I couldn’t find it in the panic. As quickly as he turned towards the timber, he turned around and made his way back to the field edge.
Now back on course to a date with a HELLRAZOR, the buck was at approx 30 yards when I came to full draw. He was about 5 steps from being down wind of us so I mouth grunted him to stop. He didn’t hear me the first time so I did it a little louder. He stopped dead in his tracks and Joe whispered my favorite words that come from the person running the camera… “I’m on him!!”
At 22 yards, I sent an arrow straight through the chest and the buck bolted into the field. My initial thought was that I hit low, but Joe assured me that I had drilled him. The buck stopped just 40 yards later and Joe let me know that the buck was “pumping” big-time. Shortly after that… the buck did the “tippy dance” and piled up just 60 yards from the stand.
Joe had called Darrell before we got down and we met at the buck about the same time. Darrell’s “OH MY GOD” let me know that I had “done good” and when I finally stood over the buck… I was starting to realize that the buck I have been hunting for 21 years was fixin’ to get an archery tag with my name on it attached to his leg!!!
This 174” 9 point tipped the scales at 288 lbs live weight and sports 3 kickers and 6” bases that give this rack a ton of character. Back at camp that night there was a tremendous buzz as everyone stood over two bucks totaling 370”. It started to rain and I don’t think anyone even noticed.
A super big thanks to Darrell and the staff at Illinois Whitetails in Knox County, Illinois for helping make a dream come true… my first “Booner”!!!