With the opening day of bow season now behind us hunters like Brad Bounds are fired up and already in full hunting mode. Last fall Bounds made his first trip to the Nebraska farmlands in search of a trophy buck and was rewarded with the buck of a lifetime.

Though Bounds had bow hunted briefly many years ago, he only recently took the up the sport in earnest and he has been very successful. A couple years ago Bounds purchased a Mathews Drenalin bow and began his bowhunting adventure. The first year he harvested his first deer with a bow and missed an eight pointer. Undeterred, the avid bowhunter kept practicing and set his sights on a Pope and Young buck.

With visions of a Pope and Young in his dreams Bounds, and fellow hunter Lamar Arrington, made the trip to Nebraska in search of that elusive trophy. Bounds was going to bow hunt while Arrington scouted and waited for opening day of gun season.

After a little scouting and learning the lay of the land Bounds found the perfect spot for a stand. The area was full of Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) properties, thick strips of timber, with a river bottom and fields of cut corn. “We discovered that the deer were bedding in the CRP and thick stands of timber and funneling their way to the corn fields during mid to late afternoon,” Bounds said.



Quick start



Arriving at his stand shortly before 1 p. m. Bounds detected movement immediately. The landscape came alive with deer activity as bucks and does were moving about through the small strip of river bottom. “We hunted the area during the prime time as the bucks were running does, indicating a full rut,” related the expert hunter.

The activity kept increasing as the afternoon wore on with does and bucks making their trips to the corn fields. The bucks were more interested in the does, however, and that played right into Bounds plans as he was situated in the middle of the deer’s highway, or funnel.

“During the afternoon I saw about 40 to 50 does and 16 to 18 buck,” said Bounds. “I saw several in the 130 class but just didn’t get a shot.”

“At 2 p m I stood up to stretch and saw an eight point and a four point buck and just as I sat down I caught a glimpse of movement. I looked up and saw a doe coming towards me with a “rack” moving right behind her,” he continued.

“I stood up immediately and got my bow ready just as he stepped into a tight spot and released my arrow in one motion,” said an excited Bounds. Thutunk, came the resounding thud of the arrow as it struck a tree. “I thought I’d missed him because the arrow went straight through him and stuck in a tree. The buck took a couple of steps still following the doe, wobbled slightly before he flipped over backwards.” The monster was dead by the time he hit the ground!



Perfect shot



As it turned out Bounds had made a double lung shot and the Rage broadhead had done its job magnificently. It had caused major damage that put the buck out of commission faster than most bullets would have. Bounds was shooting the Mathews Drenalin at 66 pounds draw weight and the 100 grain Rage broadhead was just the ticket for making the shot of a lifetime.

The trophy buck had 10 points and grossed 149 even with three tines broken off from fighting. It still scored high enough to make the Pope and Young trophy book! In addition to weighing in the 300 pound range the monster buck sported 24 inch main beams and had a 2 1/2 inch inside spread. With the broken tines restored to match pre-hunt photos and the points on the opposite side, the buck scored nearly 170 topping out

at 1 1/2.

This monster was a massive buck with a trophy rack and the battle scars that proved he was king of the woods. He was truly worthy of recognition had he been taken anywhere in the country. Bounds had harvested the buck of his dreams in a Nebraska field of dreams. And to top it off the magnificent buck was the first buck he had ever harvested with a bow! It just doesn’t get any better than that!



Contact Mike Giles at (601) 917-3898 or

email him at giles1958@bellsouth.net.