Bowhunter Decides to Leave, Then Tags Beautiful Nebraska Buck

• Hunter: Neil Formanek
• Buck: 180 1/8 inches (gross)
• Date of Harvest: November 4, 2024
• Location of Harvest: Nebraska
• Weapon of Harvest: Mathews V3X bow

Neil Formanek had trail camera photos of this buck for three years. In 2023, it was already big, but he chose to let it grow one more year. In 2024, it turned into something extraordinary.

Once the 2024 season rolled around, Formanek hunted the buck 12 total sits. Once his trail cams revealed the deer was moving well during daylight, he moved in to hunt.

“On October 23, I decided not to sit, and right before dark, he walked by three of my cameras,” Formanek said. “This really didn’t bum me out. I know I missed an opportunity, but I was not pressuring him, and this was the first time he made a mistake. I knew he would do it again if I played my cards right.”

His vacation started October 31, and with three weeks off, his plan was to kill the deer or eat his tag.

On November 4, 2024, he finally saw the buck face-to-face. The morning hunt started with cloudy skies and a light, steady rain. His setup overlooked slightly rolling hills dotted with oak flats and lined with flowing creeks. A clover food plot and picked cornfield were in front of him. A steep ravine and creek bottom with oak trees and brush were behind.

The smell of fresh-cut corn and cool, crisp, rainy air filled the landscape. Unfortunately, he didn’t see a single deer early in the morning hunt. The woods were quiet.

Around mid-morning, he got down to check some trail cameras. While pulling two cards, he saw a deer in the distant corn field. It was a 145- to 150-inch buck, but not the one he was after.

Needing to leave for an appointment, Formanek decided to pull some SD cards and then leave. He pulled cards from cams a ways off. Just as he returned to the clover food plot to pull that cam’s card, he spotted the massive deer walking toward him. Formanek was stunned.

“When I walked up the hillside and got to the top, the buck I’d been dreaming about was standing on the edge of my food plot in the cornfield,” Formanek said “If I was still in my stand, it would’ve been a 30-yard shot. I was now 38 yards away from him, but he had no idea I was there.”

Leaning against a small tree, Formanek quietly drew, anchored, settled, and shot. Much to his surprise, the bow limb hit a branch above him, and the arrow sailed over the buck’s back.

While Formanek regained his composure, the deer turned and walked toward him.

“I was kneeling, and he just kept coming with his nose to the ground,” Formanek said. “I came to full draw when he was behind a tree about 20 yards away.”

At 7 yards, Formanek took the broadside shot. However, due to tall weeds, he had to aim higher than he’d liked.

“I saw my arrow hit high,” he said. “I watched the buck run up and over the hill and I had no idea where he went. I tried looking for blood but didn’t find anything. All I could do was track him by his footprints in the mud.”

He tracked the deer about 100 yards with no blood. So, he backed out and called his friend. That afternoon, he made the walk back into the area he shot the buck.

“During that time, I said many prayers along the way, just hoping he would be lying dead in the creek bottom east of my stand,” he said. “I got to the edge of the field, looked over the bank where I thought he went in, and nothing. I started climbing up my stand, got to the top step, and looked to the South. I saw a white belly laying on the edge of the tree line. He was dead. I’m pretty sure I just stood there in awe for what felt like 5 minutes. I could not believe my eyes.”

In disbelief, he climbed down to go see the deer. The buck had been dead quite a while. While the arrow struck the vitals well, it didn’t exit, which accounted for the lack of blood. The buck went 80 yards further from where Formanek formerly stopped and backed out.

“I am a conservationist first and a hunter second,” he said. “I give back more than I take. I plant an average of 200 trees or shrubs every year creating habitat for deer, pheasants, and all other game. I plant milo, alfalfa, clover, chicory and oats food plots for whitetails.”

His son helped with camera deployment and season prep. Formanek’s father, and best friend, Joey, helped him recover the deer and get it cut up.

“Growing up, my fondest memories were seeing my dad come home from a hunt and listening to his stories and looking at his polaroid photos,” Formanek said. “But the older I get, the more I realize that deer hunting was never about the killing, it is about bringing family and friends together to create memories.”

Even so, a 180 1/8-inch buck is a great bonus.

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