Illinois Giant, Matt Lynch

After Matt Lynch was unsuccessful in dropping a mature buck during archery season, he set his sights to accomplishing the mission during Illinois' shotgun season.

He was hunting a patch of land in Peoria County, IL the third week in November in conditions that were anything but ideal. Uncooperative winds were gusting over 30 mph, yet Lynch was surprised to see as much movement as he was.

During his morning hunt, he noticed a corridor deer were using in the northwest corner of the field his stand was positioned in. He decided to set up shop there for that afternoon's hunt to see if he could take advantage of his observation.

Around 3pm, after being in the stand for about an hour, things got interesting.

"I was checking in with my brother to see if he had seen anything yet, and the next thing I knew I had to end the conversation because a doe was sprinting down the hill right at me with this monster buck right behind her," shared Lynch, "he took off away from me but I was able to get the bucks attention...I was able to put a couple of shots in him with my Remington 12 gauge at about 60 yards."

The buck carried great mass and featured 18 points. Lynch had it scored at the Illinois Deer and Turkey Classic where it netted 172 7/8 inches, but it could have been quite a bit bigger.

"I was approached by a man who hunts on a piece of property a couple miles from our land," shared Lynch, "he told me he had pictures of my deer in August while he was still in velvet€¦the deer had a third beam that eventually broke off, but he also had a third drop tine and a sticker at the base that broke off as well."

Congrats on a fantastic buck Matt!

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