Lance Fowler didn't put this buck on his 2023 hit list, and that decision paid off in a big way. The Missouri hunter connected on the 231 5/8-inch monster on September 25th, 2024.
October 17, 2024
By Cam Coble
Lance Fowler had been running his trail cameras through the summer of 2023 on a new farm the family had recently purchased. One buck in particular — though not a giant — stood out. He was a a mainframe 8-point that Lance figured would go 155-160 inches. He was nice buck, but they had some older, more mature deer on other properties to focus on. The buck was a regular all summer, but after he had shed his velvet he became more infrequent.
"In July of 2024, I was getting behind on placing cameras on this particular farm," Lance said.
Lance's dad had been seeing quiet a few deer on the property that consisted of big waterway draws and bisecting rolling cornfields. On July 10th, the two men were out walking on the farm when they unexpectedly met up with two deer that bound up in front to them. One a smaller buck and the other a big buck. Looking at each other in disbelief, the two agreed that it was the biggest deer they'd ever seen in the wild.
Cameras were placed the very next day, July 11th. It was 94 degrees, so Lance said so he was surprised to get a notification from the camera he’d placed the day before. Unbelievably, it was the big buck in front of his camera at 11:34 a.m.
The buck became a frequent visitor to Lance's camera for three or four days a week, both in the morning and the evening.
With no stands currently on the farm, Lance knew he needed to formulate a gameplan on how to get this buck on the ground. In mid-July, Lance went to the farm to place a few stands and scout with his friend, Carter. Tree options for stand placement were very limited, but they eventually found one that worked — placing it higher than usual.
After hanging the set, they walked up one of the major grass waterways to check out another spot. Lance slowly made his way through the tall grass with a cell cam in hand when a small fork-horn buck stood up. Knowing that he was the big non-typicals running partner for the summer, he knew he was somewhere close by.
As Lance was hunkered down by a tree in total surprise, the giant no- typical stood up from its bed a mere 25 yards away. Hurrying to get the cell cam attached to the tree, Lance then took his phone out of his pocket to record the buck, which eventually came to within five yards of him before bolting away in a flash.
“I thought I’d ruined the spot," Lance said.
Fowler's buck was a regular on his trail cameras for most of the summer before becoming more inconsistent as fall drew closer. He never strayed far from the area, however, and Fowler was able to capitalize in the early season. After Lance had all his cameras where he wanted them, he left the farm. Unbelievably, later that same day the giant buck was all over the farm in front of several cameras.
The buck, who would go on to make regular appearances through July, began to shift his pattern by mid-August. He was becoming much more infrequent and very sporadic, and by the end of August the buck was gone for up to two weeks. Lance became overcome with nervous thoughts. Did he succumb to EHD? Did someone shoot him out of season?
In early September though, Lance went to the farm to made a mock scrape and place a cell cam over it. A day before Missouri’s opening day of bow season the buck was at the scrape working it at night.
With the wrong wind for a few days, Lance had to wait it out before finally getting his chance on September 23rd — a Monday — to hunt the buck one evening. Conditions were great, and Lance explained that something just felt right walking in. After getting up in his stand, Lance began glassing the crop draws. Finally spotting the buck in the tall grass, he watched the buck work away from him for a good while.
But as darkness eventually started to creep in, the buck slowly headed toward Lance's position. With shooting light was fading, the giant buck finally walked into one of his shooting lanes at 22 yards.
"I came to full draw on him, but it was just too dark to take a good shot," Lance said. "It was a heartbreaking moment to have the buck so close and not being able to shoot."
At 7:30 on the morning of September 25th, the buck was standing in front of his camera again. With a marginal wind, Lance called his brother during midday to talk about possibly going to hunt the deer that evening. Along with his Dad’s encouragement, Lance decided to go all in that evening. Before leaving to hunt, however, Lance took a few practice shots with his bow only to find out he was hitting quite a bit low from every distance.
Undaunted, Lance quickly re-sighted in his bow and continued on his way. Arriving to his stand a bit after 4 p.m., Lance sat for a bit in his tree cooling off from the sweat he'd worked up walking in.
Lance then soon began glassing the grassy waterways, and didn't see anything during the first scan. He caught movement on the second pass — the big buck at 300 yards!
Fowler's trophy featured over 50 inches of mass and 58 inches of abnormal points. "The buck would just stand up before bedding down again," Lance explained.
In between Lance and the big buck, a smaller buck emerged, which got the attention of the his target buck. In a flash, the giant buck closed the distance and pushed the smaller buck out of ‘his’ area.
The buck went back to browsing when he reached about 85 yards, but eventually he began working his way toward Lance's position.
The buck had two options as he approached Lance's tree stand — go right, where he'd end up about 32 yards away — or go left, where he'd be at 25 yards while presenting a great shot opportunity. Fortunately the buck went left. When the buck was 30 yards away, Lance came to full-draw.
"There was one limb he needed to clear for me to take a shot," Lance said. "And wouldn’t you know it: he stopped right where it was covering his vitals."
Holding his bow back for what seem like forever, the buck finally turned his head so that Lance could let his bow down. As the buck started walking, Lance once again came to full-draw while following the buck with each step. Placing his sight pin on the vitals, Lance gently squeezed off a shot.
"It was a bit back," Lance said. "But I was confident I’d hit liver and some lung."
At the shot, the buck ran hard a short distance and stopping under a tree and stood as nothing happened. Being patient in his stand, Lance watched and waited. By then, Lance's phone was blowing up from his brother who was receiving trail-cam pics of the buck that had just run by after the shot.
After about 30 minutes, Lance climbed down from his tree, nocked an arrow and walked to where he last saw the buck. Getting within 10 yards of the downed giant, Lance knew it was already over. Friends and family soon arrived to help get the massive buck out.
With over 50 inches of mass and 58 inches of abnormal points Lance Fowler's amazing early-season Missouri buck grossed an impressive 231 5/8 inches.