How Quality Construction Work Results in One Trophy Buck

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A job well done helped Chris Baker bag an awesome Georgia whitetail. While working on a window, Chris took a break to stare at a group of deer. The homeowner noticed the pause, and asked what he was looking at.

“I told him there was a bunch of deer and he needed to shoot some of them,” Chris recalls. “And he told me I could hunt them if I would give him some venison!”

The deal was made, and Chris set up a blind and a cell camera just two days later. The camera captured plenty of does and smaller bucks right away, but a big surprise was coming. On Sept. 18, a huge, dark-antlered buck sporting double split G-2s arrived on the scene!

“He was the biggest buck I had ever seen,” Chris explains. “I started pouring on the feed to keep him there, but he vanished for the next five days. There were several other shooters coming in, but he was the one I really wanted. And my work schedule was so busy I couldn’t get away to hunt!”

Chris hunted the following weekend, but the target buck was a no-show on both days; and Monday was the beginning of a new work week. He needed more time to hunt.

“I knew he would return at some point, so I decided to go into work really early to have Tuesday afternoon off,” he explains.

After working 10 hours, Chris slipped into his blind at 4:00 p.m. with the wind in his favor as he watched for movement in the thickets. A lone coyote showed up at 5:00 p.m. Unfortunately, no deer had shown up.

“It was really slow, and by six that evening I was getting really sleepy,” Chris says.

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However, Chris caught movement off to his left. The big buck was cautiously working his way in. It was game time!

“He was right there, but he was facing the blind for six minutes,” Chris recalls. “I had the crossbow ready the whole time!”

The buck finally turned enough to give Chris a shot, and he released the bolt which hit the buck perfectly. The Georgia giant only ran 20 yards before tipping over! After he knew the deer was down, Chris went to thank the landowner.

“He told me that he had turned down a bunch of others who had asked to hunt,” Chris says. “But he liked the work I did, so he let me hunt!”

The 5 1/2-year-old buck has an extremely balanced rack, featuring great symmetry and heavy beading that goes up the brow tines. A nice reward for a job well done!