MADISON, W.Va. — Boone County resident Bill Browning had high hopes for the 2026 season. Browning hunts in an area of Boone County which holds big bucks and there was one in particular which had held his interest more than most.
“Last year, he eluded me twice. The year before that I had him on camera with a couple of other big bucks. So really this is the third year. It’s the second year I’ve been after him, but the third year since I noticed him and watched him,” explained Browning.
Bill was finally able to bag the buck which had caused him a lot of anxious moments over the past 24 months on October 3rd. He joked the previous encounters were now sort of embarrassing to talk about.
During last year’s season the big buck came in during shooting light, but refused to present a shot.
“It was mid bow season before rifle season. He came in behind me and stood there until dark, just out of reach. There wasn’t anything I could do,” he explained.
Bill stood still and after dark the buck slowly walked in, right under his feet, well past shooting light. He kept on going until he was over the hill and out of ear shot before Bill left the stand. The second encounter came a week before the 2025 rifle season and this time Bill was able to get a shot.
“It was about a 40-yard shot. I’m in a real pretty, wooded area and not a lot of underbrush,” he explained. “But there was one stick.”
The one stick was enough to deflect Browning’s arrow and give the buck a new lease on life.
When this year’s bow season opened up, Bill had the buck patterned again with plenty of pictures. Unfortunately on opening day, his side-by-side broke down. As he worked to make repairs on the machine his phone alerted and at 5:30 in the evening, the buck was standing under Bill’s stand. Since he had the week off, Browning hunted him hard. However, he was just missing him each day, sometimes by no more than 10 or 15 minutes.
Therefore, when he heard rustling leaves down the hill from him on October 3rd, his nerves took over.
“I could feel my heart beating in my throat and I lost my audible senses and my ears started ringing,” he laughed.
Bill wasn’t sure what was coming since he has a lot of different bucks and bears on camera, he just wanted it to hurry up. The buck finally showed himself at a large beech tree about 35 yards out.
“When he turned the corner around that beech tree, that’s when the nerves hit,” he laughed.
There was a fear the deer might still walk away. There was nothing between them, meaning there would be no chance to pull back the bow when the deer ducked its head behind a tree. Finally, the buck dropped his head to feed and Bill took advantage of the opportunity.
“He put his head down and I pulled back. The woods went completely quiet, the wind had quit and he heard me pull it back. He looked up and was thinking, ‘Oh no.’ I was hoping for a quartering away or broadside shot, but that wasn’t happening. I practice a lot so I hugged that inside shoulder pretty tight and put a really good double-lung shot on him. He ran about 80 yards and expired pretty quick,” said Bill.
The buck is a typical 10-pointer, but has one sticker antler hanging low. The other unique feature is scraps of velvet hanging from his antlers. He hadn’t completely cleaned all of it off when he was killed.
With his buck buck down, Bill he will keep hunting, but the pressure is now off.
“I’ve still got another tag and I’ve got a bear tag and wild hogs I can hunt, but I’m not going to lie, I’m pretty satisfied,” he laughed.
His goal now is to help his kids and maybe his wife get a buck as the season progresses.
“He’s a nice deer and I was blessed to get him,” he said.