I was sitting in a treestand Saturday morning when I saw a live video pop up on my phone with BHOD team members, Tommy Alford and Justin Zarr. In front of those two guys was a dead buck that really got my attention. Tommy’s streak of good luck had continued for the 2016 season. He had killed an Illinois giant.
I had the chance to jump on the phone with Tommy last night and hear the story of his buck. Here’s what he had to say…
“After 23 years of deer hunting, it’s the biggest buck I’ve ever seen,” said Alford.
Alford kept track of the buck for two years using his trail cameras. Last Friday was the first time he ever saw him on the hoof while hunting.
“We’ve been hunting him for 2 years on a small 20 acre tract. I saw him a few times in velvet in 2015 and hunted him hard, but never saw him. Then in early 2016 I found his shed and knew he was a really good buck. I’ve got just one stand on the property set up to catch him coming from his bed to feed. And that’s where it all went down. When I snuck into the stand at 1:00, I found the buck locked down with a doe in the standing cornfield. He probably didn’t move 50 yards in 4 hours. I rattled and called to the deer, but he wouldn’t leave that doe. But as the evening wore on the doe slowly began to make her way back past my stand, and the buck patiently followed behind her. The buck presented me with shots 5 or 6 different times at about 30 yards, but I just didn’t want to blow it. I wanted to make sure it was perfect, so I waited as he kept coming. He eventually worked his way right up under my stand giving me a shot at 15 yards. Everything was just perfect. I just got lucky.”
After more than two decades of hunting, Tom Alford has finally harvested “the buck of a lifetime”.
Tommy set the bar high on this self-filmed hunt. It’s one of the coolest hunts I’ve ever seen. You do not want to miss seeing this one. Be watching for it on an upcoming episode of Bowhunt or Die! A big congrats to Tommy on an awesome buck.
Watch the Facebook live video below.
