Frantic Bowhunter Takes Huge-browed Buck After Rushing Out Of Work

We cover the biggest and most unique whitetail racks at North American Whitetail, and Trayven Kirkhart’s October 2022 bowkill from Oklahoma fits that bill perfectly with its unusually long brow tines.

Trayven began his season by putting out a little corn and a cell camera along the edge of a river on some private property near his home in Alva. He was excited about the new season beginning, and he wanted to check out the prospects.

On Oct. 15, a big mainframe 8-point with crazy brows showed up, and Trayven knew this was the deer he wanted. Trayven hung a hang-on 17 feet up in a cottonwood the next day, with plans to hunt the following afternoon.

The buck seemed to be bedding in the thick cedars lining the river and venturing away from that cover to feed in nearby fields. As deer leave those thickets, they filter across open ground while moving toward the feeding area. If this setup worked, the big buck should pass by close enough for a shot.

“The first hunt produced a lot of deer sightings,” Trayven says. “But the big guy was holding back.”

Trayven decided to try again the next afternoon, planning to leave work and head back to the river bottom. Then, he stayed late to help another employee, and he ran behind getting to his stand. There wasn’t much of the afternoon left by the time he got off the ground. This was going to be a short hunt.

“Not long after I climbed up, I spotted some does coming out. Then I heard corn crunching,” Trayven recalls. “I was watching a nice 9-point with my binoculars. Then, I heard more noise off to the right and spotted those brow tines!”

The big buck was headed right to his tree, so Trayven grabbed his bow as it closed the distance. “When he got to 10 yards, I stopped him and let it fly,” Trayven says.

The buck sprang forward, slammed into a cedar tree and crashed!

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Those unique, 12-inch G1s dominate the tight rack; and they reach the top of the G2s, making this dark-horned buck hard to forget!