22 Points, 208 Inches: Epic Missouri First Day Buck

Back in late June, Bo Eads put a green plot in with hopes of getting a deer from the previous year on camera. Months went by and he wasn’t getting a whole lot though. One night, however, he happened to check it again and there he was out of nowhere — one picture of the only buck he had been looking for.

“I couldn’t tell much about him," Bo said. "But you could tell he could be something special."

On opening morning of Missouri’s archery season, Bo wasn’t even actually hunting that deer. Having only one picture of him in three months, there were other deer showing up way more consistently, so Bo went after another deer he had years of history with.

He settled in his blind around 5:00 that morning with a gut feeling as if something was going to happen. At daylight, some does started coming into the switchgrass field Bo was hunting. A great start to the morning, Bo thought to himself.

The first buck to walk into the field was an 8-point that was probably around 130 inches. Surveying the area with his binoculars, Bo was looking to see if anything else was with him. About the time Bo pulled the binoculars away from his face, he looked to the west and noticed another buck peaking his head out of the brush. 

It was him.

"As soon as I saw him my heart dropped," Bo said with excitement. "He was way bigger than I could have imagined. Immediately I knew this deer was special."

As he studied his rack, it seemed like the buck stood on the timber edge forever, but in actuality it was probably only about 10 minutes.

"When the buck started working his way toward the green plot, my heart was beating out of my chest," Bo continued. "I’d never seen a deer of this caliber, let alone one of the first bucks of the morning."

As he got closer and closer, Bo picked up his bow and started telling himself to calm down while taking deep breaths.

"If there was one thing I knew, I knew this may be the only time I run across this caliber of deer," Bo explained. "It wasn’t until he got about 80 yards from the tower stand that I could see almost every point he had. He came into about 60 yards and stopped."

About that time, he turned his head which allowed Bo to open the window on his blind and get ready.

"As he stepped closer, my heart beat faster and faster," Bo stated.

Earlier that morning, Bo ranged a mowed road he'd walked in on at 32 yards.  

"I knew if I could get him to it, that was my chance," Bo said.

Another minute or two went by and the buck eventually came right to the road. Taking a deep breath and pulling his bow back in one fluid motion, Bo waited for the perfect shot.

As the buck stepped on the road and stopped for a brief second, Bo took careful aim and squeezed the release. Watching the arrow fly through the air, Bo prayed that it would connect.

It did!

When the arrow hit him, it was a little further back than what Bo would have liked, but still — a very good hit!

"I watched him run through the switchgrass into the brush and thought I heard him crash," Bo said. "I got so excited that I called almost everyone I knew. Of course, no one believed me when I said how big he was."

About an hour later, Bo climbed down from his blind and followed the blood into the timber. When he reached the timber, the buck jumped up and went down the ditch a little further. It was around 8:30 at the time, so Bo backed out.

Although returning to the house and waiting a few hours seemed like forever, the decision paid off.  Accompanied by his dad, the two went back to where the buck was jumped earlier, and the duo saw a white belly laying 40 yards in front of them.

"I started jumping up and down and ran up to him," Bo said. "The deer was way bigger than I ever imagined."

With 22 points and a rough gross score of 208 inches, it will take an extra special deer for Bo to top this opening day memory.