12-Year-Old Bowhunter Tags Stud 12-Point Buck

Scott Branden bought a 61-acre property five years ago in Hocking County, Ohio as a family hunting property. Scott’s son Avery has hunted the farm since age 6, collecting squirrels, turkeys, and deer over the years. He’s tagged three bucks, including a 138-inch, 8-pointer with a muzzleloader. But none compare to the giant 12-pointer he tagged this season.

“When we got the place a lot had been clear-cut, but much has grown to 15-foot-high cover that deer love for bedding and browse,” says Scott, 45, a Branch Manager for “Fifth Third Bank” in Chillicothe, Ohio. “We’ve put in five food plots this year with turnips, ‘Buck Forage Oats,’ and clover, and the deer hit them hard.”

Even though Ohio allows crossbow hunting during the archery season, Avery has developed a passion for archery and spent the summer getting ready. He helped plant food plots and worked the family’s 61-acre property. He also participated in 3D target archery, placing third in an IBO tournament.

The father-son team placed three cellular phone trail cameras around the property this summer and watched plenty of game. They monitored bucks, observing their antlers develop through the velvet season.

New to the farm this summer was a stud buck that Avery wanted to hunt as his first bow buck.

“We never saw him until this year, he just showed up,” said Avery, a seventh-grader.

The Brandens hunted every weekend once the Ohio bow season opened Sept. 25. Most hunts were in the afternoons, depending on weather, schoolwork, and business.

“The first evening we sat in a stand, I passed a nice 8-pointer, and just at dark another big buck came out, but I wasn’t confident of the shot angle, and it was getting dark, so I didn’t try it,” said Avery.

The next day, Oct. 23, they moved to the stand where photos of the big buck were made the previous day, getting into the elevated enclosed blind at 4 p.m. Right away they started seeing deer. Plenty of does, a pair of 6-pointers, and five different bucks cruised around their blind.

Finally, at 6:40 p.m., the big buck made the scene. The buck arrived within minutes of appearing on their remote cellular camera the previous day. The buck stepped out of a tangled bedding area jungle at 20 yards, worked a scrape, and Avery readied his Matthews 46-pound bow for a shot.

“He came to 18 yards, broadside, then turned to look away at some does in a field, so I drew my bow,” Avery says. “But he turned toward them just as I got drawn, so I had to let down from full draw and wait for a better shot at his shoulder.”

Doing that quietly isn’t easy, but Avery did it silently. The deer turned broadside again, offering a second perfect shot. Avery drew, released, and watched his 24-inch arrow bury deeply behind the buck’s shoulder.

“The buck jetted out of there and dashed into a thicket 50 yards away, then we lost sight of him,” Scott recalls.

They knew it was a perfect shot and started celebrating in the blind. But a short rain shower hit, and they were nervous the blood trail to the buck would wash away. They waited 30 minutes, then slipped out of the blind and headed back to their cabin. They had dinner and waited three hours for some friends to arrive and aid in tracking the buck.

They went to the hit spot, but there was no blood. They walked in the darkness to where they last saw the deer and found Avery’s arrow. From there the blood trail was easily followed to where they found the buck laying dead off a field edge. The buck had dropped within seconds of being struck.

“Everything worked great, and that buck is everything I wanted,” Avery said.

The heavy non-typical rack has 12 scorable points. While it’s not yet been green scored, Scott hesitates to make a prediction, but he thinks it’ll measure about 148 inches.”

“I’m hoping for 150 inches,” adds Avery with a laugh.

“I’m hoping for 150 inches,” adds Avery with a laugh.