The buck has multiple extra points off his bases and sports split brow tines. (Photo courtesy of Jake Ede.)
February 12, 2026
By Clifford Neames
After his buddy, Mitch Stamm, killed a giant early in the 2025 Wisconsin bow season, Jake Ede got his chance at another awesome deer. The two, along with Jake’s brother, Cole, are involved in Bluff Country Outdoors, videoing hunts for their You Tube channel.
“We had this one on our radar since 2023, when he was a mainframe 12 point”, Jake says. “But we couldn’t get it done back then!”
Cole managed two encounters with the buck, and their dad even got in on the action, but the buck managed to thwart their best efforts over the ensuing 24 months.
“He gained a bunch of mass over the summer of 2025 and lost his G5s”, Jake adds. “But all of the daylight pics stopped.”
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When the season opened, Jake decided to just hunt hard and see if he could catch a break.
Jake had history with this mature buck and didn't hesitate to take his shot when the opportunity presented. (Photo courtesy of Jake Ede.) After 5 hunts without a sighting, hot weather rolled in, usually the death knell for deer hunting above the Mason-Dixon line. Days passed without a break in the heat and trail camera pics weren’t showing much action. “All I could do was wait for a change”, Jake continues.
On October 5th he caught that break, a cool front came in lowering the temperature by 20 degrees. Jake and Cole took off from work the next day, each planning to hunt separately and self-video, trying to capture the kill on camera.
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Jake climbed into his elevated blind that afternoon refreshed and ready for action. Once he had all his gear set up, he settled in for the hunt. A small buck and a pair of does paraded by, feeding in the plot before exiting.
Suddenly, the sound of a twig snapping broke the afternoon calm. When Jake learned forward to look, his target buck was only 30 yards away and closing. It was about to get busy!
After 5 days without seeing the buck, cooler temps increased deer movement and Jake's patience paid off. (Photo courtesy of Jake Ede.) “I turned the camera on and pointed it toward him, then got ready for the 20-yard shot”, he remembers. But the giant buck stepped out of the frame and there was no time to readjust. He was about to walk out of bow range, so Jake had to take the shot. The arrow caught the buck midsection, then stopped short of full penetration, as the huge whitetail lurched away.
“I wasn’t sure about the hit, so I called my dad and brother and snuck out as quietly as I could”, he continues. “We waited four hours just to be sure, then went back to look for him.”
The track started slowly, but when they spotted the Lumenok in the tall grass the search ended. The 5 ½ year old buck had died running wide open! Jake says, “He was probably dead before I even got down out of the blind!”
“I hated not getting the kill on camera, but I wasn’t going to let him get away!”
The mainframed ten-point rack with split brows and lots of stickers scored 188 4/8ths when they put the tape to it. Well done Jake, well done!
