An invite to hunt some prime family land. Insider knowledge of a legendary buck’s core area. When HuntStand helps tie the two together in early January, another Success Story is written.
Craig Weeks is the smiling hunter you see crouched above posing with an impressively tall-tined Alabama 8-point, and he hails from Tuscumbia, Alabama. Veteran hunters know that many factors come into play during a successful hunt, but early this past January, two stood out for Craig Weeks. One is his good buddy Mike, and you just might have guessed the other: the HuntStand app.
Here is Weeks’ exciting success story in his own words:
“The first week in January, a close friend of mine, Mike, invited me to hunt with him on some family land he had access to in northeast Alabama. Earlier, Mike had sent me a trail cam photo of a buck that had been frequenting the property for several years. Adding to the intrigue, on two or three previous occasions, spanning the past few seasons, my friend and his son-in-law had seen and taken a few shots at the buck, with nothing to show for the effort. This year we were sure the buck was over five years old, and so he became our primary target that early Saturday morning of January 5th, 2019.
“The previous Friday, after checking the HuntStand app and discussing our many options, Mike and I decided where we would hunt the following morning to have our best shot at encountering the giant Alabama buck. My buddy chose the corner of a field, and had me hunting a ridge in the hardwoods, overlooking a bottom with several ditches/creek runs. There was plenty of water due to lots of rainfall during the weeks leading up to our hunt.
“After double-checking with HuntStand shortly after climbing into my stand, I knew the wind wasn’t exactly perfect, but thankfully, blowing nicely away from where we believed the buck would approach. Sure enough, shortly after 8:30 a.m. Saturday morning our target buck appeared in front of Mike, moving through the field he was watching, about 250 yards away. Just after 8:40 a.m. I heard Mike shoot; immediately I was excited because I knew he would shoot only if it was the big one we were after.
“Long story short, Mike’s shot had missed, and he watched as the fleeing buck headed in my direction. I first saw him at 8:46 a.m.; the buck was headed directly at me. When the big deer turned to follow a trail he normally used just 75 yards away, I squeezed the trigger of my .270, and could see instantly that my 150-grain Federal Fusion bullet had connected. The buck sprinted about 50 yards before crashing in a cane patch in the bottom.
“Needless to say, there was no ground shrinkage on this one. He is my biggest buck EVER by far, and I owe it all to my good friend Mike, and HuntStand. We are pretty sure he will score well over 130 and maybe even 140. HuntStand was the first app I checked before we picked our spots, and the first thing I checked when I climbed into my stand. Thanks HuntStand !”
Do you have an exciting HuntStand Hunting app Success Story to share? Contact Executive Editor Mark Melotik at [email protected], and we’ll help spread the good news to the extensive HuntStand community.
