A Rare Feat: 200-Class Buck Taken in Snow-Covered Kentucky

• Name: Jason Brooks
• Buck Score: 209 1/8 inches (gross) | 204 inches (net)
• Date of Harvest: January 10, 2025
• Location of Harvest: Barren County, Kentucky
• Weapon of Harvest: Crossbow

Jason Brooks started hunting 40 years ago. Hunting this deer nicknamed “Brute,” was the culmination of much effort.

Brooks started leasing the property around 2012. He leased for years and invested a lot of sweat equity into it. Eventually, when the property went up for sale, he and his father purchased the farm. They continued managing the 70 acres as best they could.

“The biggest part of this was just staying out of there and not pressuring it,” Brooks said. “I just tried to play it right.”

Brooks had two years of history with this deer, but the relationships he built with neighboring hunters was even more special.

“It’s about the relationships I was able to build with two other guys, Eli Jolly and Jerrod Harper,” Brooks said. “Between the three of us, I think the earliest picture that was ever taken of this buck was in the late season of 2022. Then, in 2023, they started getting him. The only picture I ever got of him was late in the 2023 season.”

Historically, Brooks loved bowhunting. But after multiple surgeries, it became too strenuous. So, he decided to try a crossbow. His friend, Riley, loaned him a Raven to use while hunting this big deer. He practiced and felt confident even beyond 50 yards.

On January 10, 2025, there was snow on the ground. It’s rare to hunt with snow on in Kentucky. But here was Brooks, chasing the biggest buck of his life, with a blanket of white fluffy stuff across the landscape.

Upon arrival, Brooks settled into his box blind, which overlooked a long-term feeding station. (Baiting and feeding deer are legal in this part of Kentucky.)

During a previous hunt, which was three days earlier, a doe picked Brooks off while he was in his hunting house. The deer didn’t smell him, but saw him through the windows. To fix that, he bought some cheap black curtains and blacked out all but the front window.

“I was completely concealed, and that made a difference,” Brooks said. “I had them literally within 5 yards. I mean, they're just walking around this thing. If one of them busted me, he wasn't coming over there.”

Settling in around 12 o’clock, he passed some time with a few snacks. Within 30 minutes, several yearlings walked out.

“It snowed off and on the whole time I was there. At one point, there was probably 15 does in the field,” Brooks said. “Every hour, there was a different set of deer that was coming into that field.

“At one point, a three-year-old 8-point came out, and he was kind of pushing everything around,” Brooks said. “But when Brute walked out, all of them got out of the way.”

That’s when he spotted antlers about 120 yards out, but not where he expected. Based on trail camera photos, it seemed the buck was coming from the north. However, the deer emerged from the south.

“I'm watching him. I'm looking at him. The snow is falling. There's deer everywhere. There's probably, I don't know, 15 does. Another buck was in a little cedar thicket,” Brooks said.

Of course, the big deer eased out into the open.

“I was thinking that he was coming from the north because of the trail,” Brooks said. “And in all of the trail camera photos, he was coming from the north. But he was circling. Basically, he come from the south, swung wide, and then turned in southward to the corn pile.”

At that point, the buck stood 55 yards away. Brooks settled the crosshairs, the buck turned broadside, and the broadhead flew. It struck both lungs, the buck bolted, and the massive deer disappeared from view.

“He wheeled and went back the way that I thought he would've come from, which was heading north,” Brooks said. “It was a little draw that started going up the hill. I stuck my head out of the [blind] and listened. It was quiet as a church mouse because of the snowfall. All of a sudden, I heard the crash. I couldn't believe this was actually happening.”

After dark, his father and some friends arrived to help blood trail the buck. “My buddy brought this old-school lantern his dad had given him,” Brooks said. “He lit that sucker and off we went. We went to where I shot him, and the blood was frozen in the snow. We took it really easy, but with that lantern, you could see for miles.”

About 70 yards into the tracking process, they found the buck. “I just broke, man,” Brooks said. “We just stood around and looked at him. Finally, I knelt down there and put my hands on him. I prayed right then, and I was like, ‘Lord, thank you for this animal. He's brought a lot of joy to a lot of different people. For me to be the one to harvest him, I don't know why me, but I'm thankful for it.’”

“He's just a just a unique old buck,” Brooks continued. “I’m 52. I killed my first deer while I was 12. So, literally for 40 years, I've been in the woods chasing after these animals. To shoot a 200-class book, I was just filled with emotion.”

They sent the buck’s jawbone off to Deerage.com. It came back as 5 ½ years old. The deer scored 204 inches (net).

Reflecting on the hunt, it was a combination of personal experiences, input from friends, skill, and a quick nod from the Big Man above.

“Jerrod got the first pictures of him, and that was the most northern farm in the sequence of people who knew about him,” Brooks said. “We have since found out he's been all over that area and there's been several people that knew about the buck.

“We met each other, laughed, and had a big time,” Brooks continued. “We poked fun at each other. I'm the oldest one of the bunch. Eli is still in his 20s. Jerrod is in his early 40s. I'm in my early 50s. So, I'm the old guy in the bunch, but it was just neat having that camaraderie.”

This deer brought those fellows together, and deer hunting has the power to do that. In an age when big deer sometimes tear people apart, it’s refreshing to see a big whitetail bringing individuals together. That’s as humanity should be.

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