After a long and difficult season, Brett Petitt arrowed this big, Tennessee buck. Photo courtesy of Brett Petitt
September 13, 2023
By Clifford Neames
Brett Petitt was having a tough 2022 Tennessee bowhunting season. He put in many hours on stand and could not get to the finish line. His target buck, a nearly 150-inch 8-pointer, had come close in early October while he and his friend, Seth, were trying to video a hunt. Unfortunately, he never got an opportunity for a shot. November came and went without Brett filling a tag. He was in a deer drought!
Brett likes hunting a small block of woods surrounded by planted fields not far from his home. His brother, Logan, has a lock-on there, hanging just inside the tree line. Does cluster in the small woods late in the season, and that stand produced a nice buck for Logan the year before. Late in December, Brett took a shot at a big 9-point there. Unfortunately, he missed the deer.
“When I am on a stand, I find peace feeling I am closest to God,” Brett adds. “But the frustration was beginning to add up.”
The last two days of the season arrived, and Brett was restless. He was wound up, thinking he might not get a buck. It was time to make something happen. So, on Jan. 7, he woke up earlier than usual and headed out again. While he was sitting there in the dark, nature called. So, he climbed down, found a spot behind the stand, and did what he had to do.
Brett actually climbed out of his tree stand because “nature called” just before this buck showed up. Photo courtesy of Brett Petitt Once back in the stand, he heard something. “There were three does heading right to where I had just been,” Brett laughs. “And I couldn’t get a shot at any of them either!”
However, his luck was about to change. Turning back toward the field, Brett spotted a huge buck coming from across the cut beanfield. The buck had his eye on the does as he cut into the woodlot, and he was closing fast.
“He got in behind me, and the arrow hit a little back,” Brett recalls. “And he crossed the fence! I have to admit, I was concerned.”
The giant deer went about 80 yards and bedded. Brett called his dad and everyone else he could think of, telling them he had just shot the biggest buck of his life. Unfortunately, 20 minutes later, the deer got on his feet again and disappeared.
“There was a pond down there, and I knew that hurt deer head to water,” Brett says. “I was sure that was where we would find him, but just to be sure, we decided to fly a drone over the pond. And there he was!”
This bruiser buck net scores 186 3/8 B&C. Photo courtesy of Brett Petitt The bruiser buck nets 186 3/8 Boone and Crockett. Brett says, “God kept me in the stand all season, and all of the waiting was worth it!”
