Giant Suburban Buck Arrowed in Long Island

Gunner Herbert is a dedicated whitetail hunter from New York. He tagged a huge typical 8-pointer that has more shock factor than most mature whitetails taken in the Empire state. He aged the whitetail at 5 1/2 years old, and it was certainly in its prime.

“After the 2022 season concluded, I conversed with a buddy of mine who showed me a video of a massive 8-point working a scrape,” Gunnar says. “I would later learn that he also had dedicated his season to this whitetail, sitting over 20 times with zero encounters. Additionally, he had found his matching set of shed antlers from 2022, 2021 and a left side from 2020. We had his rack as a 2-, 3-, and 4-year-old buck, and were excited about what he could turn into.”

With the buck’s sheds from 2 1/2 on, and an extensive library of trail camera photos, it was developing into a great story. He was grateful for having access to the suburban permission property in Long Island.

“Last year, I sat 25 sits for this deer and never laid eyes on him,” Gunnar recalls. “He was only coming out at 1:00 a.m. I knew my only chance was getting right next to the bedding area; I was 70 yards from it. I got a lot closer to his core area.”

The final hunt for this big deer was on Nov. 10, 2023. It was unseasonably warm, but it was destined to be the best day of the rut. His hunting spot was in a thin strip of woods between houses. It connected to a bigger patch of timber that deer bedded in.

He kicked off the morning hunt in a hang-on stand in a promising location. To his right was an open field, and the thick bedding area was nestled between houses to his left. It’s a peninsula of bedding, and they can only come out the one way. Gunnar’s position was in a spot to catch them moving back and forth.

The action started well before daylight, as a couple bucks made a racket fighting nearby. After daylight, deer began moving. Some smaller bucks sparred nearby, too. It sounded like bucks were grunting and snort-wheezing in multiple locations.

Around 7:15 a.m., a 125-inch buck approached from the other side of the field. It eventually worked closer to his position. The buck walked in before grunting his way into the bedding area.

All the while, Gunnar kept thinking about the trail camera photo he received of the big buck chasing a doe into that small bedding area at 3:00 a.m., but it didn’t seem to come back out. He had to be close by.

Seconds later, the doe bolted out, and the big buck was behind her. It stopped broadside just seven yards away, and Gunnar released the arrow; the shot connected! The massive 8-pointer ran a short distance and toppled over.

“I absolutely pummeled him,” Gunnar claims. “He ran 40 yards and did a backflip. That ‘phone-call’ feeling to share these experiences with my brother, family and friends is what it’s all about for me. And this buck in particular will have a special place in my heart and mind for the rest of my days.”

Incredibly, four other bucks walked out after the shot and started “fighting” the dead buck. From start to finish, from the deer vocalizations to fighting, the hunt was loaded with unique behavior hunters rarely get to see in person.

After the recovery, Gunnar and his brother, Dieter, got the buck back to camp. They scored the deer and processed it.

“This was definitely one of the most meaningful deer I’ve ever killed,” Gunnar says. “It’s a top two or three deer for me. With the kids, I had very limited time to hunt this season. I killed a 150 the past three years in a row. And I knew I wasn’t going to settle for anything less this year. And to watch him fall, too; it was crazy.”