Big Buck 411 Blog

On Their Own, Until Afterward

On Their Own, Until Afterward

By Mike Handley

Sixteen-year-olds Jackson Hicks and Chase Sollis hunted together, by themselves, on Sept. 24, 2017, which is rare. Their fathers are not completely sold on the idea of the boys hunting steep, rattlesnake-strewn hills an hour’s drive from home.

This isn’t to say the teenagers weren’t experienced enough, however. Both have been tagging along with their dads since they were about 8. Going into the 2017 season, Jackson had already shot three bucks wearing 130 or more inches of antler.

The boys knew a dandy buck was roaming the Obion County, Tennessee, tract because they’d retrieved trail camera photographs of it.

They arrived about 4 p.m. and went to a ridgetop where one stand was already positioned. They lugged in a second so they could hunt together.

“We made a fair amount of noise (hanging the other stand), and it was so hot – about 80 degrees and buggy – that I never really thought it was going to work out for us,” Jackson told Lisa Price, who’s writing the story for Rack magazine.

Au contraire.

The wait was less than two hours for the four bucks that had been hanging together during the summer to arrive. Last in line was the one they wanted, a typical 12-pointer with a split brow tine.

Rather than take his new crossbow hunting that day, Jackson had borrowed his father’s compound bow, which he’d shot only once or twice in their back yard. When he attempted to draw it, he regretted his decision.

“The first time I tried to draw, the buck looked right at me,” he said. “Three of them were within 20 yards, and they all looked up at us.”

When all the deer miraculously looked away, an adrenaline boost helped Jackson draw the bow and make the shot. Even better: Chase recorded the whole episode on his cell phone, and they sent the clip to Jackson’s father.

It took five people four hours to drag the buck back to the truck.

“We didn’t get home until about midnight, and we had school the next day,” Jackson added. “It was like I wasn’t tired. I couldn’t sleep. I don’t think I slept right for a couple days.”

No wonder. The antlers tally 178 4/8 on the Buckmasters scale, which lands the deer in the No. 3 spot among Tennessee Typicals felled by compound bow.

— Read Recent Blog! The Do-over: Adam Cartright heard about the top-heavy Illinois deer he wound up shooting in 2017 long before he saw it.

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