First Bow Kill for Iowa Teen is Massive Buck

It may take a lifetime for some deer hunters to find, see, or even encounter a world-class whitetail deer in their entire hunting career. Many never will as the odds are always stacked against them. For 16-year-old Brady Baker of Iowa, it would only take three years of bowhunting to accomplish that feat. The Baker family, which includes Brady's dad Ryan and grandpa Bob, hunts a parcel of land they own in the southern part of the state when time permits.

In the spring of 2023, a nice shed was picked up on the hunting property not too far from the cabin in which the hunters stay each weekend they hunt. From the shed they knew a nice deer was frequenting the property, but that's about it Ryan said. The buck seemed to be a ghost. A few trail cam pictures of the buck popped up in late-summer that year, but there were no sightings of the buck while hunting.

The buck seemingly vanished, and the 2024 season was a carbon copy with zero sightings while hunting and just a few sporadic trail cam images in early October.

Going into the 2025 season, the buck again showed itself on Baker's trail camera with most sightings being at night.

"We knew it was a nice deer, but it wasn't the best picture," Ryan explained. "So,we didn't really know how big the deer was."

Once deer season 2025 started, Ryan hunted the farm several times. He was seeing some nice bucks, and passing on others, too.

With sports and school, it wasn't until the weekend of November 1st that Brady finally got his opportunity to hunt the farm. With several pre-set stands, Brady chose to hunt a stand no more than 100 yards from the cabin that was situated in a long finger of timber jutting off from the main block of woods with an agriculture field off to the north. Ryan said that the particular stand had been pretty good over the years with several deer taken from it.

Arriving at his stand around 3 p.m., Brady had been sitting for a little over two and a half hours without seeing anything.

“I was looking at the landscape off in a different direction when I heard a stick snap," he said.

Naturally, the bowhunter looked over at the source of the sound, and unbelievably the giant buck was standing broadside already within range. Grabbing his Diamond Edge bow up off its hanger, Brady drew back and sent the arrow on its way to the intended target standing just 22 yards away.

"I knew I'd hit him good," Brady said. "I could see a red ring on his side upon impact."

A quick text message to his dad simply said, “ I just shot a massive buck— at least 180 class!” Following his dad's instructions, Brady waited until dark before getting down which allowed time for help to arrive before taking up the blood trail.

Soon after taking up the trail, the crew hadn't found any blood within 30 yards and decided to let the buck lay overnight. The next morning Bob and Brady resumed the search by going back to the location of the shot, while Ryan went to another stand on the farm to hunt.

Once back at the stand site, Brady climbed back up to get a better perspective of where the buck was standing the previous evening. Once that was determined, the blood trail was easily found and quite short. Traveling just over 100 yards, the heart-shot buck likely expired soon after the shot.

Bob was the first one to see the buck, and he was speechless at the sheer size of the bucks rack and body. A quick text from Bob to Ryan stated “he's massive!” Ryan got down from his stand on his way to the location where Bob and Brady were with the deer. Upon arriving, Ryan was just as impressed with the buck as well.

Beginner's luck? Lucky weekend in November in southern Iowa? Either way, I don't think Brady and his family are disappointed by creating some memories that will last a lifetime.

After the 60-day drying period, the tall-tined Iowa buck was officially measured. The total gross came in at 209 5/8 inches with a gross typical frame of 200 7/8 inches — a world-class 5x5 typical. After sizable deductions, the buck still nets 184 2/8 inches as a typical — not bad for a first buck with a bow and arrow!