The voices inside Blake Wilson’s head lasted for nearly three months.
From the moment the 28-year-old bowhunter from Rison, Arkansas, retrieved a trail camera photograph of a jaw-dropping 9x9, he had to tamp down the urge to return every day to see if there were more.
He couldn’t stand not knowing if the deer’s mugging for the lens was a fluke or routine. He also could not abide the thought of boogering up the area and pushing the buck into another zip code.
He returned a few times, but never without taking precautions.
“I felt like I was constantly on the line between watching and not keeping track. I wanted to know where the deer was, but I was concerned about doing more harm than good,” he told Lisa Price, who wrote his story for Rack magazine.
The first pics were taken in July 2017. Opening day of bow season was Sept. 23.
When the curtain finally opened, Blake was accompanied by his dad, James, brother Tyler, Uncle Jeff Wilson, and Jeff’s sons, Jacob and Nathan. The all met at the family’s deer camp, which includes 1,000 acres.
Blake chose to hunt where he’d seen the 18-pointer’s running buddy, a 5x5, the previous season.
The morning weather prediction was for a balmy 70 degrees, and the wind was perfect for hunting the hardwood draw the 10-pointer had traveled the previous season. Before heading for it, Blake slipped a couple of large rocks into his pocket to throw at wild pigs, if necessary.
“We have a bad hog problem. They had destroyed four out of six of our food plots,” he said.
Twenty-five minutes after he’d indeed thrown those rocks to scare off a hog, Blake saw his wish-list buck approaching. He immediately tore his gaze away from the antlers.
“I took a deep breath and told myself, Don’t mess this up,” he said. “When the buck stopped under thick brush, I drew.
“I let him put that front leg forward before taking the shot,” he continued. “The arrow flew perfectly. The deer jumped, bucked and headed back toward the pine thicket.”
The antlers tally 166 7/8 on the BTR scale.
— Read Recent Blog! Double the Trouble: Benny Bell | Rifle | Louisiana | BTR Score: 223 6/8