Crossbow Deer Hunter Bags Maryland Monarch

Thinking outside of the box led to Hunter Schmitt killing what might prove to be the largest buck taken on public land this season in Maryland. “It was me and Big Joe on the go”, Hunter says describing how the hunt came together.

It all began when he spotted a moderately sized early season scrape on the edge of a field October 9th, 2025. Ordinarily, that wouldn’t be anything special, but this one had a huge buck track stamped dead in the center.

“I knew he had to be somewhere in the area, so I told my sister, Krysten, we needed to go check it out. The pair have been hunting together since Hunter was big enough to walk alongside her, so the next afternoon they grabbed their crossbows and headed into the woods. Hunter suggested she sit close to the scrape, and he went further down the field and just into the woods.

About 6 PM, Krysten texted Hunter, “I see some does, can I shoot one?” Hunter replied, “If that is what you want to do go ahead.” Her shot center punched a nearby tree, leading to a humorous text amongst other family members, but the afternoon hunt was far from over. 45 minutes later, she spotted another group of deer. This time her text read, “There is a huge buck right by your normal spot!”

Hunter grabbed Big Joe, and began creeping to the edge of the woods. 

“When I got to where I could see, the biggest buck I have ever seen was feeding on winter wheat about 150 yards out there”, he remembers. “He would step out of a small stand of saplings, take a bite, then back into the cover.” “I knew I had to close the distance, so I started crawling, pushing Big Joe out in front of me for cover, a little at a time.”

The tactic was working, but the end of legal shooting time was just a few minutes away and daylight was fading.

“With nothing left to lose, I decided to snort wheeze at him”, Hunter continues. “At first he kept eating….” “Then, he stepped out into the open, shook like a wet dog, and trotted straight toward me.” “He was posturing in a show of dominance 30 yards away!” 

Hunter set his sight pins on the buck and touched the trigger, but nothing happened. Realizing the safety was still on, he released it to try again. This time there was an audible whop as the bolt hit hide. The giant deer dashed toward the wood line, then stopped to look back before slipping into the trees Krysten, who had witnessed the whole hunt, flashed another text to his phone, “YOU GOT HIM!!!”

“I thought I heard a crash”, Hunter adds. “But I decided to go back to the house and give him some time.”

Once he told the story, he had plenty of help with the recovery. His dad, an uncle, his sister, and two friends, Shawn and Ray, all decided to help get the buck out of the woods.

“I had always told my dad that someone would kill a record sized buck out there, and when we found him, I was right!”, Hunter smiles.

The super wide 7 x 6 rack spans 23 3/4ths inches and has 26-inch beams. It has not been officially scored yet but will be over 190 inches. And he killed it laying on a camo bean bag chair!

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