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The ‘Gawd-awfullest Buck’

The ‘Gawd-awfullest Buck’

By Mike Handley

Kentucky’s 2020 archery season has yielded several great whitetails in and out of velvet, but few can match Joey Craver’s kickstand buck.

Joey can thank a coon hunting buddy for allowing him to hunt 300 acres in Bath County, 40% of which are timbered. He gained permission in 2018.

The first summer, he retrieved a trail camera photograph of a buck he nicknamed Stickers because of the irregular growth around its antler bases. He never saw the animal while hunting, however.

Joey thought a neighbor must’ve shot the deer until it reappeared in front of a camera the following summer.

By September, the few daytime photos Joey collected stopped. Soon thereafter, the deer disappeared again, not to be seen until February, when Joey spotted it in a hay field.

By mid-August 2020, a new camera setup was yielding lots of photos of Stickers. And the deer’s rack was far bigger than it had been in 2019.

On the Monday following the season opener, Joey arrived at his treestand about 3 p.m.

“I didn’t see a deer until 6:18, when two does came in and fed for about 15 minutes,” he told Dale Weddle, who’s writing the story for Rack magazine. “I was watching them when, suddenly, one got fidgety and looked hard to my right.

“When I glanced in that direction, I saw the gawd-awfullest buck I’ve ever seen walking straight at me. It was Stickers, 25 yards away and coming closer!” he continued.

When Joey took the shot, the deer put pedal to metal.

Although he’d planned to wait a couple of hours before taking up the trail, probably with friends, Joey’s resolve disintegrated after a half-hour.

“I couldn’t stand it any longer. I got down and picked up my arrow, which had stuck in a vine. I was a little concerned that the expandable head hadn’t opened right,” he said.

He needn’t have worried.

Joey’s distinctive deer has not been taped for the BTR as of this writing, but we’ll know the numbers soon. Meanwhile, his story will appear in Rack next year.

— Read Recent Blog! Redefining Dangerous Game: The buck is No. 3 among Kentucky Typicals in the crossbow category. It’s the largest in its class recorded from Fayette County.

Copyright 2024 by Buckmasters, Ltd.

Copyright 2020 by Buckmasters, Ltd