20 Scoreable Points Headline Giant 192-Inch Iowa Trophy Buck

Curtis Johnston is predominantly a public-land bowhunter, but going into the summer the Iowa native was granted permission on a piece of private land in Southern Iowa.

"I’d been talking with a fellow co-worker," Curtis sais. "And one thing led to another about a possible hunting opportunity on this new piece of private property."

Anxious to get some cameras placed, Curtis set several out on the new parcel and let them soak for most of the summer months. He couldn’t wait to see what was on his cameras, but much to his dismay, all that had shown themselves were a few decent bucks.

Evaluating the property more, Curtis scouted some key locations he wanted to focus on more. He located several beds, and also saw some scrape activity beginning as well. Moving some cameras around and placing some in a few new spots, Curtis felt better about his chances of finding a worthy buck. A big CRP draw split the property with a cornfield paralleling each side.

On September 1st, Curtis got pics of his target buck which amped up his excitement of hunting the new property even more.

“I thought by looking through trail cam pics that the buck was coming from the south," Curtis explained.

At work on breaks he’d sit and theorize with co-workers regarding where the buck was, what he was doing and where he was going — pulling up maps and the most recent trail-cam pictures in the process.

But then for two weeks the buck went missing and Curtis couldn’t figure out why. A few pics from his cell cam showed that some racoon hunters had been in the area, thus altering the bucks pattern for a bit. Eventually, however, the buck was back to hitting scrapes quite regularly.

A call from the landowner one day got Curtis even more aggressive on killing his target buck.

“I only had seven more days to hunt the buck," the bowhunter said.

The landowners cousin and buddies were heading down to hunt Iowa’s early muzzleloader season, which runs through mid-October for a week.

With time running out, Curtis actually drew a map on a dry-wipe board at work to plan his last few hunts on the property. Back in September while scouting, Curtis noticed one large tree out in the CRP that he could get in. It was a spot where he felt he might have a chance at the buck.

With work and family obligations, Curtis was down to the wire on hunting the property.

“I said screw it," he said. "This is one of my last sits on this farm."

Off on his e-bike the bowhunter rode to the start of the grass drainage and slowly crept the last 500 yards on foot just inside the corn for cover. After a two-hour cat crawl walk, Curtis was finally situated for the evening hunt in his tree saddle

At around 6 p.m. Curtis heard some rustling in the corn. The sound continued to get louder and louder, but he couldn’t pinpoint what was making he commotion. Just then, busting through the corn with its tongue hanging out, the big buck Curtis had been pursuing appeared.

Stopping in the CRP, the buck took a scan of the open terrain to get his bearings. The bucks lifted his head to the sky, however, and got a whiff of his scent.

With the buck getting ready to flee at any moment, Curtis drew and found a small hole to send an arrow through. It was a long shot, but all the previous 3D practice paid off with a perfect hit. The buck didn’t go far, as Curtis was able to watch him fall after a short run.

With 20 scoreable points and a gross score of 192 inches, Curtis Johnston is one happy bowhunter this season.