While turkey hunting in the spring of 2018, Shawn Durben saw a buck with huge velvet-covered knobs.
Trail cam photos documented the deer’s meteoric growth throughout the summer months, and Shawn also got a glimpse of it while bush-hogging a dense crabapple thicket.
With that deer in mind, Shawn brushed-in a new double blind beside a food plot late in the summer, and he set out a trail camera that would communicate with his phone. Two hours after he left, the bull of the woods passed in front of the lens.
He couldn’t wait to share the blind with his son, Shane. The big buck and another impressive whitetail, a 13-pointer, were on their radar.
“I had made up my mind that my son would have the opportunity to shoot the first buck he wanted if it passed the blind, either the larger or the smaller. I hoped he would have a shot at the larger of the two,” Shawn told Ed Waite, who’s writing the story for Rack magazine.
Father and son hunted from that setup the first evening of Ohio’s 2018 season, but they left before either of the bucks showed. When they returned the next afternoon, they were prepared to stay until dark.
The 13-pointer they’d been monitoring, the smaller of the two, came onstage about 25 minutes before nightfall. Shane drilled it with his crossbow, and it collapsed after running less than 30 yards.
“We were both ecstatic as we shared high-fives and hugs. I’m sure we were pretty loud,” Shawn said. “I started texting people to let them know he had shot the 13-pointer. We carried on for five or six minutes.
“At that point, I started to worry about the buck getting back on its feet and leaving, so I immediately re-cocked the Raven crossbow and seated another bolt. Shane wanted to go look at his deer, but I insisted we give it more time,” Shawn continued.
Good choice.
Moments later, the giant buck arrived. The guys were already standing in the blind, and Shane had to sit in order for Shawn to have a shot at it.
The first time the elder Durben squeezed the trigger, nothing happened.
“I am not used to shooting a crossbow, and I had neglected to turn off the safety,” he said. “After I realized what had happened, I quickly aimed and fired. The buck kicked and fled back the way it had come.”
That one managed to go 50 yards before losing its fight with gravity. Its rack has a BTR score of 195 inches.
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