Hunts On Outfitting Podcast

How A 19-Year-Old Archer Outsmarted A Legendary Buck

• Kenneth Marr • Season 2 • Episode 91

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A wide-racked “city buck” doesn’t get that way by making many mistakes—especially on pressured public land bordered by inaccessible sanctuaries. We sit down with 19-year-old Nova Scotia bowhunter Drew and trace a two-season pursuit that swings from Halloween heartbreak to velvet summer hope, a province-wide woods shutdown, and a string of ten-minute misses that would rattle any hunter’s nerves. What finally turned the tide? Small, deliberate choices: a new entry route, a touch of synthetic buck scent on the boots, and total commitment to a single 17-yard shooting lane.

You’ll hear how the buck first appeared as an eight-pointer with a wide frame, vanished four kilometers during the rut, then re-emerged in velvet with heavy growth and a three-day cycle. Drew breaks down how he stayed legal within HRM’s 200-meter rules, used public land smartly, and navigated constant human traffic—from dog walkers to other bowhunters who had the same deer in daylight. When the moment came, a faint trail-cam glow froze the buck, he backed into a ten-inch window, and Drew threaded an arrow without a pass-through, then trusted a slow, careful blood trail that ended with antlers rising from the alders.

We also dig into why Nova Scotia and New Brunswick can quietly produce world-class whitetails: pockets of low pressure, rugged country, and genetics that explode when a deer survives. Drew shares the exact setup—Hoyt Torrex, HHA single-pin, 350-grain arrows, Rage Hypodermic—and what it taught him about mechanical broadheads, shot discipline, and patience when you may only get one chance. If you hunt urban edges, juggle limited access, or debate passing good bucks for a special one, this story gives you a blueprint and a push to keep going.

Enjoy the hunt? Follow, share with a friend who lives for bow season, and leave a quick review to help more whitetail nuts find the show.

Check us out on Facebook Hunts On Outfitting, or myself Ken Marr. Reach out and Tell your hunting buddies about the podcast if you like it, Thanks!

SPEAKER_01:

I don't think a lot of people know that you might not think of four big boxes. And it's confident. Feel free to share folks with those that you know. And great stories. Or just for instance, you can email links.com. Or you can find us on Facebook. Or feel free to reach out and great talking with Facebook. I mean, uh I saw I came across a buck on Facebook and I saw how big he is, and I was like, there's no way he just happened to, you know, be walking in a field. Oh, there's a deer shooting, and then realized like, oh wow, I got a huge buck. I mean, just looking at the deer, I was like, this guy's got some history with him. He's had to.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, yeah, no. So uh I um it was actually an area that you know ever since I was a kid, you'd kind of drive by and you'd you'd always see giants, but there's never really a spot that I considered hunting just because it's it's pretty urban. It's in uh I call them a city buck.

SPEAKER_01:

Yep. So Well Drew, if I could just if I could just back up just a little bit before we get into the story. I'm excited to get to know the buck and how you got to know him, but first, uh can we get to know you a little? Where uh where are you living and and all that?

SPEAKER_00:

Yes, sir. Yes, sir. Um I'm from uh Cowbay, Nova Scotia. So born and raised. Um yeah, uh yeah, I spent uh spent a lot of time hunting around here, and you know, with my granddad, we're he's from here, lived here his whole life, so we've uh spent quite a bit of time in the woods around here and you know, trying to get some big ones, but this is definitely my biggest by a mile.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah. Well, do you do you find that Nova Scotia, I mean, people think of when they think of Canadian deer hunting, they think Alberta, they think Saskatchewan and stuff. Do you think Nova Scotia's a little bit of a sleeper province in the fact that with the all the agriculture land and woods there, I mean, there's some big bucks.

SPEAKER_00:

Oh, no doubt, man. There's there's big deer everywhere. It's just sometimes they're hard to find. And I I've seen today, uh, there was a I think it was a couple days ago now, it was a giant killed up in New Brunswick.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, giant. We've got some big ones too here, yeah, where I'm at New Brunswick, absolutely. I mean, the the Atlantic provinces, one New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, obviously not PEI in in Newfoundland. I mean, yeah, there's there's big deer here. Uh not maybe not the amount as some of the western provinces, but definitely the same we have a lot of the same caliber deer of like just massive.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, it's just just harder to come by, that's all.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

Um much sweeter.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah. So have you been hunting? I mean, how long have you been hunting for? Probably your whole life, I'm guessing.

SPEAKER_00:

Uh yeah, I've been hunting since I was twelve, twelve, thirteen. That's when I first started hunting. I'm 19 now, so I've been at her quite a bit.

SPEAKER_01:

You're only 19, you got a deer like that.

unknown:

Wow.

SPEAKER_00:

Yes, sir, yeah. Yeah, no, very fortunate. But uh yeah, nope. Just kind of fell into place at the right time, and yeah, I was I was able to take them.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, so all right. Um, yeah, let's let's go through. Let's go through this massive deer that you got. I mean, just that you said you had some history with them. When did you kind of first come across them? And sorry, before I cut you off, you're talking too about so a bit of the area that you hunt in.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, well, I uh again, it was just a just an area where you'd always see giant deer. Like I I've seen deer bigger than him by a mile in this area. And wow he uh yeah, so it was it's it's kind of a tricky spot because it like I said, it's a city area, so it's there's really not much access to it, if that makes any sense. So you're kind of looking for chunks of woods around it. And uh there is public land around it, so I you know, get out the the maps on the phone and just start looking, see, you know, what looks good, what looks huntable, and uh also trying to stay within regulations, right? 200 meters from a from a house or from a road or whatever. So the only way to hunt this area was bow hunt, and that's something I was kind of I've been getting more into bow hunting over the last couple years anyway, so I was I'm pretty comfortable with the bow. But uh yeah, so I went in I think it was the start, very start of last season. I did a lot of scouting leading up to it, and uh I just happened to go in and check out this piece of property, and uh yeah, I just walking through, and the tricky part about this land was I had no experience with it, so I had no clue who was also in here, who wasn't. But uh the very first day I drug in some apples, I drug in trail camera, and all that, and I set it all up, and a lady come walking through with a hundred and twenty-pound Saint Bernard, and I was like, Oh god, here we go. Yeah so that deer that deer came in, hit that, hit them apples the first night, about three hours after that Saint Bernard was there, which absolutely shocked me. But that was the first experience I had with him. He was uh he was an eight-pointer then, real wide rack. He was a nice deer, but yeah, I uh I hunted him hard that year, all through uh October, all through November, and I got I was getting photos of him, and it was kind of wishy-washy, like he kind of showed up random times. He did daylight some, but it was really hard to catch him. And I think it was it was around Halloween when I got I was in there and he come he came through and I heard him coming. I I had a ground line set up and uh I heard him coming and I was 100% gonna take him. He was he would have been one of my biggest to date. And uh he popped out and I was expecting it the way it sounded, it sounded like multiple beer coming. And I had head does, and I I had about five different bucks on camera, and they would all kind of come out together. So I uh I I didn't prepare like I should have. I should have had the ball up ready to go, and I seen him pop his head around a tree, and I was like, oh. And he just locked eyes with me. And that was that was it. He he knew I was there and he just kept on walking. And then I missed him, missed the opportunity. He didn't show up um at all. That was it. He was gone. And I ended up finding out that he was on camera over four kilometers away at a friend of mine's stand. And I was just shocked. I couldn't believe the amount of distance he put behind him during the run. And I was just like, well, there goes my chances at him. Yeah. So I I figured he that year didn't make it through the season. And uh I went in this year, started in started in July, because I I figured there'd be if it wasn't him, I figured there'd be another one in there. And uh, you know, first week it was kind of slow. Just they were kind of figuring it out that, you know, come back through this area. And uh anyway, I had a photo of this buck and I was like, Oh my lord. And it was uh he was in velvet and he was just this I just I had the first photo I got of him, he had it was just uh it was the left side of his rack and it was seven points that I could count and I was like, oh my god. Yeah. So then the chase started there and I just kept bringing the corn back, hoping, hoping. And then um I think it was it was August and he was coming pretty consistent. I had a spot there where he disappeared for 20 days, and that scared me because there's a pretty big highway not too far. And I was just getting starting to get worried, like maybe, maybe he wandered out when he shouldn't have. But um he broke that streak and then they shot the woods down. And I was absolutely terrified.

SPEAKER_01:

So if we could just so there's people from listening all over. So just to uh yeah, so the woods being shut down. So in Nova Scotia this year and New Brunswick, it got brutal dry. I mean, we hadn't had any significant rain in what, probably a month, month and a half almost. Yeah, so the the province there and here, uh part of it here had decided to shut down the woods. No one's allowed in, like no walking, four-wheeling, nothing. So yeah, just to give a little context into that. Um so that must have uh just been at home, just kind of going a little stir crazy where you're just wondering like, oh, I'd like to be out there doing cameras and you know, yeah, blinds and everything. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

100%, right? And I was that was it really. Like I I I had all my chips in on that deer. I I have other spots like my grandfather's got a big chunk of land in Cow Bay, and my family, we do a lot of hunting on that land, but uh we haven't had we it's been pretty slow. There's quite a bit of hunters in the area now, right? And it's hard to let deer walk now, I guess, to let them get that big. But uh so we haven't had much coming through there, and I knew this would be definitely the best chance I had at getting the getting a nice one. So I I had put all my chips in and then yeah, they shut the woods down, and that was that was pretty hard. Uh you know, it was for a good cause, so I I got it, but it was it was tough because I was just yeah, losing losing quite a bit of sleep over that one.

SPEAKER_02:

Oh yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

But uh eventually they come around there and they they opened her up just for HRM. And I was like, well, this is golden ticket here. So I got back in and uh as the as it got closer to the season, typical he he was holding his velvet actually for a long time. He held it up until about three or four days before the season opened. And he started to get just like he was last year, he'd come through once every three days, maybe twice in that time span, but it was usually around a three-day cycle that he would come through, and I kind of had a feeling that he wasn't living on the area I was in. Yep. But I figured the amount that he was coming through was probably the best I was gonna get. And it drove me nuts. Like I wanted to go out and do more scouting and try to find another spot, but I was like, I haven't had any people walking through because it is public land. I haven't had any stuff like that on camera yet, so I'm just gonna stick it out. And I uh I finally got in there opening day, and again, it was just the battle kept going, right? Like he he I went through a couple spots there where it was, you know, it would get longer, a week maybe, didn't see him, and now I'm just worried. Like I had no clue who else was hunting in this area. As far as I could tell, right around me, probably a kilometer radius, there wasn't anybody. But uh come to find out later, there was the three other guys that had this deer camera and in daylight. And yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

So did this just deer be start become, I mean, the size of him, he might have been a little well more well known than you thought, and I'm sure you found that out after. Was he becoming a bit of a local legend?

SPEAKER_00:

Uh ye he was with the guys that knew about him, right? I kept it here pretty quiet. I never told I never told many people about him just because I don't know, you know, you know how people are, right? But yeah. They can ruin something pretty quick for you. So I I kept it pretty quiet. A couple of my buddies knew and family knew, but other than that, it was pretty hush-hush. But uh again, every this area holds deer that are like I I would consider like world class. Like I've seen deer with double drop times, I've seen deer with just just the craziest rocks you you can imagine. Twin eight points that just giant. Like you'd see them at the same time. It did not matter. It yeah, and it's just inaccessible land, just can't hunt there. Right. So anyway, working around that, he he got less less consistent as the season progressed. And then I think it was like it was probably like I had multiple bucks coming that were nice to hear. I think they'll have potential, but they just weren't weren't him, so I I I bit the bullet and passed quite a few of them. But uh again, I was just starting to get more and more worried, like, is this just gonna turn out to be n the same thing that happened last year? He'll disappear before I get a crack at him. But uh, I think it was September 17th. He uh I was I was in the stand, same as always. I like to hunt the afternoons back there. I just found there was a lot more action. But uh I had a young buck come out. I've seen this buck probably three to four times now, and uh he was in the apples, and the way it was set up, I got one shooting lane and straight in front of me. And the furthest I could get is 17 yards. That's that's the best I could have gotten. I would rather like 25-ish, but I just couldn't get it. So he dropped what he was doing and just started staring past me. And at this point, I had not had a deer come from behind me in this entire two years that I was hunting. Right. And I thought I heard something, but I didn't want to turn because he was looking in my direction. But he just left the apples, left everything he was doing, and just started walking on a rope behind me. Walked right past the tree stand, and I just turned my head and I see him coming. He's just tucked behind a downfall, and I can see the rat going, and I was just shaking started, and I was like, oh my lord. So he came out and he he knew something was up. He walked over to the trail I come in on, he kept going towards the apples, staying in the timber on my left side. Then he button hooked back once. So now he goes back to where he started. I'm watching him this whole time, just shaking. Anyway, he turns around and comes back, and I was just thinking, this is it. I'm gonna get a crack at him. Yeah. And he then he just button hooked back again before he even comes into the apples and gone. Just walked away. Now I was just rotted. Like I couldn't believe it. I was like, that was my chance, and that was it. That's that's all I'm getting for the year. So I uh I waited till dark, slipped out of there. And uh yeah, he he was back that night, he hit the apples again, and I I was just rotted. But uh because I I hadn't seen him in daylight in weeks at this point. Like he's been coming just that dark or just before light in the morning. And uh fast forward a little bit, I uh I slept in one morning and I regret that. He uh he showed up at the 30 all day. Shooting light, like perfect. And I was just I could not believe it. I I turned up there, started to slip in, and I missed him by about 10 minutes. Oh just close. He was he was there when I was there. I know he was, but yeah, yeah, he was no good. He he knew I was coming. So I I took a night off, I think it was Friday night. My family and me went up to the rodeo there in uh Nova Scotia.

SPEAKER_02:

Okay, yep.

SPEAKER_00:

So that was pretty good. We went up there and sure shit, he was out that night, same as always. And uh it kind of started to happen where that whole week I was missing him by about 10 minutes. Like I would come in, sit all night, there'd be four bucks, five bucks in the apples, and then I'd flip out and ten minutes would go by and he'd walk in. It was just like he knew me like clockwork every single time. Did not matter. So I was just like, again, more frustration, like you don't know, like yeah, he he's on to me, right? So I I switched up my the Friday or the Saturday after the rodeo, I switched it up. I was like, I'm gonna come in a different way. And I had uh some of that synthetic bucks then, yep. And I sprayed that on my boots, and this is the first time I did that. Walked in Yeah, I came in a different way. Okay and I came in a way that the deer were traveling more, I suppose. And uh yeah, it it was still good light, like uh it was probably about 45 minutes before dark, and he came cruising, just the same exact way that I walked in, he was following that. And oh, just shaking man again. I was like, this gotta be the chance, this gotta be it.

unknown:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

And uh he he played red, light, green light the whole way to the apples. He would walk with two feet and then just stop. Look around. And two feet, stop, look around. And I was just like getting so antsy. Uh I drew back on him and it looked like he was gonna come and he stopped. And I I'm stuck in the tree now. Drawback. I I I had uh I had my phone set up and I was recording. And uh I had I think I it was two minutes, I was holding draw and I was like, I can't do it. So I let off as slow as I could. And uh he just kept I think my draw weights around 70.

SPEAKER_01:

Oh yeah, that's a that's a bit to hold back, yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

Well, I I was shaking so bad, I was like, I gotta I gotta let it off. There's no way. So I uh I dropped it back and then he he kept creeping up a bit more. And finally he got to an area where I was thinking like I could try to float it through the trees, but it was just it's it's kind of a little chunk of hardwood and it's all softwoods around me. But there's a couple hardwood trees that are like just close to my shooting lane, and he was standing right behind it, and I was like, shit, should I float it? And I was like, No, he's coming. So finally he took a step out, and now he's in the shooting lane, but there's still a few hardwoods just before you get to the apples for me to have a clear spot. So I drew back when he got behind the hardwoods, and he's coming, he's coming, he's coming, and then my camera flashed. And for some reason, he it's never bothered him before, but he saw that red glow from my trail camera, yeah, and he did not like it. He just stopped right in his track and then just started backing up. And he backed up. I was I was like, Well, if I don't shoot now, I'm not shooting because he's he was on something. So he took two steps back, and there was a little opening, and the opening wasn't more than probably 10 inches between these hardwood trees, and I waited and I he just stepped back and I had the shoulder and I was like, Well, fuck it. So I sent it and uh I I hit him. I hit him. I didn't know how good I hit him at the time because again, it was it's low light back there just because of the timber that I'm in. So when I shot, it I knew it made solid contact, but I could see the there was definitely not a full pass through. So I was kind of concerned, like, did I hit him in the shoulder? Couldn't really tell at the time. And I was more so focused on watching and listening to see if I could hear him go down or you know, just see if he started staggering, whatever. And then uh yeah, then the shaking really started, and I couldn't really believe it that I I cut one loose on him. So I, you know, I called Grant's and I called uh called Ma, let them know. And uh yeah, I slipped out of there. I went over and I just checked to see, you know, in the immediate area if there was any blood, and if, you know, if I clipped him good, but I did not want to push him just in case. So I uh I went over and there was there's a birch tree right next to where I hit him, and he turned and there was spray. And I was like, Jesus, there's no way I got him. I was like, there's no way. So I uh I slipped out and uh my trail kind of connects to I wouldn't say a walking trail, but it's definitely a trail people kind of just eat through the woods on in there. So the trail I use to slip into my stand kind of meets at like a just an intersection, right? So I hang a left and go back out and sitting in the truck waiting. You know, my my grandfather, good family friend there, and then uh my little cousin, they all show up, but an hour goes by. So we start we start back in with the flashlights and uh yeah, we picked up blood and we started trailing, and it looked really good at first, and then it just kind of got bad. And I I've never really let deer sit. I've almost always been able to see them go down in that.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

So I kind of knew. But uh, yeah, so I was thinking, fuck, did I let them sit too long and have the blood's drying up? Because it's kind of mossy bottom back there. So we we end up just kind of slow and steady. We picked blood up here and there, picked blood back up, and then it got real good. And uh we start me and uh the family friend there, we were down pretty near on all fours, just crawling, looking for the next patch, looking for the next patch. And my granddad's like, holy shit, boys, he's standing behind us with the flashlight, and he he seen the fucking one side of his rack just sticking up out of the out of the alders. You know, it's like, oh my god. So we all went over and yeah, no, it was definitely the uh it was definitely the biggest year of my life and probably ever will be, but yeah, oh it's it's huge.

SPEAKER_01:

I mean, what a roller coaster. I like how you took us through the whole, you know, all the hunting, uh, the whole story really well. And um, I mean, yeah, what a roller coaster. But I mean that's the way it's gotta be for tier like that. It it it always seems to go that way normally. Sometimes you have flukes where it's just good luck. I mean, I I've been a part of that, but um, I mean, yeah, you put in the work and you uh that's a hell of a deer. Did you end up getting him scored?

SPEAKER_00:

Yes, I did. So I'm planning on taking him to the uh show here in March. I know Boone and Crockett and Pope and Young do go there. But as far as um just get them kind of a rough idea, I took him to Nunchucks, I think I'm saying that right. It's a hunting store in East Hance, out that way in Nova Scotia. So um I took them out there and they taped them, and I got I think I got I taped them at home and I got roughly the same numbers, but it I wanted to make sure it was 158 and 28 inches, or four eighths inches, sorry. And uh his inside spread was twenty-four and two eighths inches. Yeah, no. Yeah, he's pretty solid deer.

SPEAKER_01:

I mean, yeah, you gotta wonder how he was getting through the woods so well with you know a big wide rack like that. I mean, there's a lot of there's moves taken that aren't that wide.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, no, he was uh he was wide, yeah. Yeah. That was and that is the same thing last year. Like, you know, I my first deer I ever got, I got lucky, it was an 11-pointer. And he was a beautiful deer, like 195 pounds, dressed, like nice animal.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

It was just luck, but this thing was like you could fit that rack inside of his last year.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

And I was just like, yeah, no. He's uh he's a special deer, very special.

SPEAKER_01:

Oh, absolutely. So uh just curious when you're talking, what is your uh your bow setup?

SPEAKER_00:

Uh I run a Hoyt Torex. So I run a Hoyt Torex with an HHA site, single pin. Um, yeah, I I think I'm running 350 grain arrows. And I run uh I think I shot them with rage hypodermic rod heads.

SPEAKER_01:

Okay, yeah, I I use those ones. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah. No, that listen, them things are if you ever are iffy about mechanicals, I'm telling you, like I I used to run a fixed blade and I can't say I'll ever go back. Uh I know there's you know, there's obviously the risk of you know something going wrong, but your bow could also explode when you pull back. You never know. That's a good way to put it. You gotta chance it, but them things like the hole that went in it, because I I never even got a complete passer. It it never the arrow never punctured the other side.

SPEAKER_01:

Really?

SPEAKER_00:

So yeah, it w it was really strange how that happened because it we I mean it was 17 yards, like it wasn't a fast shot, and it the hole that I put in him on one side was I'm gonna say it was three inches, just the way it hit him. Yeah, like it must have cut more high than what the actual broadheads were. They're two inch cut, and I think they were 100 grain. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, probably, yeah. Yeah, no, it yeah. Just worked out. Yeah, that's all I can say.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, I mean, yeah, those rage ones, uh, even though they are mechanical, they are designed that I mean it it's gotta be quite a uh fluke for them to not open just the way they're designed. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, yeah. No, they're they're quality. I I've only shot rage as far as mechanical goes, so I haven't really explored other, but uh, I'm not changing it. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, exactly. Um so I mean what what's next for you now? Like uh you're not gonna try to top that area or oh well I got nothing to top it with.

SPEAKER_00:

Um I got I got a few other spots. Um I'm I got out of that area that I was in. Um like I said, there was other hunters in there probably within three kilometers of me. But you know, same thing. They were hunting chunks around the piece. And um one guy actually messaged me on Facebook the night that I made the post, and he uh he said you beat me to him, and he sent me a photo of him, and I was just like, damn. Yeah, I I got pretty lucky. I got pretty lucky.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah. I mean, well, you you did you luck, but you also, you know, you put your time in and stuff and we're scouting and everything. And I mean, yeah, it just all came together. But I mean, at 19 to get a deer like that, that's uh yeah, that's impressive. And it the fact that you got it also with a bow, not not a crossbow, but a compound bow, you know, that's that's awesome.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, no, it was definitely pretty special. I uh I put a lot of time in with it. I I try to get as accurate as I can. I mean, I I I just don't want to make a bad shot, I guess. I know it happens to every bow hunter at some point, and I've missed before. So I like I've grazed them, like just looked like somebody exploded a bag of uh a pillow in the in the field. It's just white fur. Like, yeah, you know, I it happens to everybody, but uh I definitely knew if I was gonna get a crack out of him, it was probably gonna be one, so I had to be had to be shared. Yeah. But yeah, you know, I I ain't got much now. My little cousin there. He uh he just took up hunting, so we're uh we're really trying to get him get him a buck here. So I've been I've been on that with him for the last probably three weeks, steady. He's been giving up as much time as he can to come. So yeah, we're waiting on a it's a smaller eight pointer, but it's uh it's big body deer. So you get to crack at them.

SPEAKER_01:

Do you think I mean the deer there y you said that they grow so big 'cause it is a bit harder to access and stuff, but I mean, uh there must be some good minerals in the there, like what they're eating and things like that to grow the bodies in the racks that they do. Good genetics.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, like I I don't I don't know about many other places. Like I I don't we don't have a camp or nothing like that, so we don't go hunting really far. We pretty much are just within HRM.

unknown:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

So we're hunting, which is Televised Regional Municipality in Nova Scotia. Um but we're pretty we're pretty much confined to this area. So the deer around here at least, like it's tricky because if you get a a spot like where I'm from in Cal Bay, there's so much hunting pressure now that I find that deer don't have a chance to get that big. Yeah. If that makes it it's just like there's not many people that are gonna let deer walk, I guess. So it doesn't matter if it's a spike corner or if they get lucky and they see a 12-pointer, it's hitting the dirt, right? So it's it's kind of hard. If you get a nice deer on camera, you you just never know what's gonna happen. But the area I was in, the genetics in there are absolutely insane. Like just world class, I would say. But they have the opportunity to get that dig because there's no hunting. So it's just kind of hope that they come come outside of this area. But uh, yeah, no. I I think as far as the province is considered in New Brunswick too, like my grandfather, he's from uh Maramachi.

SPEAKER_02:

Okay, yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

And he shot a 150, 150 inch deer in in Maramachi, and that was the deer dressed 250 pounds. Wow. Yeah, they huge. Yeah, they had uh a biologist come down from the Dan Arctic. My granddad never seen something like that. So that was that was a pretty big one. And like same thing, right? It's just rugged country. It's yeah, there's most of the ones that we hunt, if the if they're any size to them, they're they're pretty tucked away. They don't they don't come out they don't come out to play too much anywhere other than where they're safe. Yeah. And they know that. So it it's just kind of hope that they make a mistake, really.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, and dude, did you happen to did anyone tell you how old they thought the deer your deer was, like with through the teeth? Did anyone roughly age it?

SPEAKER_00:

So I went again at Nunchuck's there, the hunting store. Yep. They uh they do tax derby too. So the lady there that does all the tax derby work, she was actually there and she came over and was talking about the deer, and I had his head still intact when they scored him. So she was feeling his teeth and that and having a look at him. But uh she roughly aged him at about three and a half. Really? Yeah, yeah. Wow. Yeah, young. That's that's the first thing Buddy said, like after he got done scoring it, and said, Man, like obviously you can't, like, I would never in a million years consider letting that deer walk. But he said, if you did, man, like he could have been 180 next year. Like you just never know.

SPEAKER_01:

Wow, you think he was out they thought he was that young, eh? Wow, because that's yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

His teeth were not that warm. Yeah, they really weren't. Like, I I've had I took um well my first deer, 11 pointer, he he was a big deer, like he was a solid deer. And uh I we took that jawbone into the DNR office, and they uh they the lady there, she compared it on the wall and she said that's two and a half. And I couldn't believe it. Like my grandfather said that ain't right. He said he said that's not there's no way. And uh then another one come out, game board and come out and he said the same thing. That's 100%, yeah. But it just goes to show, like, I I've I don't even think I've ever seen a six-year-old deer if that's the case, because like they're just so hard to come by, I find. Yeah. At least in this area of the province. And I'm not sure, I'm not too sure what New Brunswick's like as far as that goes, but we we do get some older ones, yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

They they seem to be, I mean, it's quite spread out in spots. And um, yeah, that we do get some older ones here and there. Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, same. Like there there is some, and you can kind of just tell by the you know, the color of the hide and that, but yeah, it it is I I've never had a crack at one that big, and yeah. That's all, just just lucky. That's that's all I can say.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, well, I mean, lucky and and you put some work in. Um yeah, what what an incredible deer. Uh, you know, Drew, I can't thank you enough for coming on the podcast. And like I said, when I as soon as I saw that deer, I was like, I've got to reach out to him and and find out the story on that because that's that's pretty neat. So I'm really glad you're able to come on and share your story.

SPEAKER_00:

Listen, thanks a lot for having me. I really appreciate it.

SPEAKER_01:

Anytime, and uh I got a feeling I'll be talking to you again about uh some more deer because from the stands of it you've learned and and uh where you're at. So I I don't think this is your last big buck by any means.

SPEAKER_00:

Hopefully, I got a I got one on camera back in that same spot, but uh I decided he was gonna get the pass this year. And uh hopefully next year he'll come back with something bigger. So we'll see then.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

All right, I'll be talking to you. Yes, sir. Take care. Thanks again.