September 21, 2011
By North American Whitetail Online Staff
The winding road a dedicated whitetail hunter takes searching for a trophy buck often times begins with a shed find. Knowing that something massive has dropped its headgear to live another year gets the blood pumping and strategy sessions fired up for the next season.
That's exactly what happened with Mitchell Wood when a co-worker of his showed him a shed find that was simply massive. The incredible find was scored at the 2009 Iowa Deer Classic and measured a whopping 194 inches! The bone was better than anything Wood or his family had ever taken and he set out to put the deer on the ground.
Wood was unable to connect on the buck during the 2009 season but saw the buck in January of 2010 feeding with several does. A couple of weeks later, Wood noticed that the buck had shed his antlers and Wood and his father immediately went searching for the bone, which they found two hours into their quest. They took the sheds to the 2010 Iowa Deer Classic and the rack scored 193 inches.
Trail cameras were set and Wood again dedicated his 2010 season to trying to take this massive buck. The only problem was, this trophy deer was proving to be elusive, never posing for a picture on any of the cams and playing the part of the invisible man all through the summer and early season.
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Wood started his quest on October 1st and spent day after day in the stand waiting for the big boy, when on the 17th, he finally spotted the bruiser stepping out to feed 300 yards away before heading back into the timber to bed.
The next morning, Wood moved his stand in an attempt to get the drop on the buck later that afternoon. The plan worked brilliantly as the buck stepped out and headed right towards the Tink's Scent Bomb that was hanging from a limb near Wood's tree. Wood drew his Mathews Outback bow and sent a Goldtip arrow topped with a G5 Montec broadhead at the buck of a lifetime from seven yards, connecting cleanly on the monarch.
Wood waited until the next morning to recover his buck, which was found 80 yards from where the shot was taken. The deer grossed 198 inches and netted 193 3/8.
"My family has been very fortunate over the years to shoot multiple 160's, 170's and even an 181-inch giant...but now I can say I've got the biggest yet!" shared Wood.
Indeed he does...congratulations Mitchell!
We want your buck as our Deer of the Day! Please send us an image of your buck, a brief description of your hunt and the gear used to whitetail@imoutdoors.com
