College senior Micah Belt spent an extra day visiting his family in the town of McAlester, Oklahoma. That’s because his dad, Lloyd, had convinced him to try for a massive whitetail buck he’d recently seen on the family’s 40-acre hayfield.
“I had no plans to hunt the first weekend of October, I was just visiting my family,” says Belt, a business major at Southeastern Oklahoma State University. “The only bow I had there was a 10-year-old crossbow I had stored in my grandmother’s house. I’d shot some deer with it, but I hadn’t used it for years. But my dad said there was a giant of a buck around. So, I went to my grandmother’s and found my old crossbow.”
The old Mathews Mission 360 looked fine, but Belt learned he only had one arrow, and it was in rough shape.
“It had just one fletching on it, and its broadhead was damaged from the last doe I’d shot with it. I drove to Walmart and got a pack of mechanicals.”
On Oct. 5 Belt and Lloyd got to the hayfield about 5 p.m. They both went to stands in the timber along the field edge, but on opposite sides of the field.
“I was in a 10-foot-high tripod stand that was a little awkward for shooting a crossbow,” Belt says. “But I settled in and just 15 minutes later I started seeing deer. About a dozen does with some small bucks were coming in and out of the field. We had out bait piles with corn, apples, and pears, and they worked them over pretty good.”
A bit after 6 p.m., with scattered does in the hay field in front, Belt heard footsteps behind him. He thought it might be his dad ready to head home. But when Belt turned to see what made the sounds, he spotted an 8-point just 10 yards.
“It was a pretty nice deer with a rack of about 120 inches. I was watching him when suddenly there was another bigger buck coming from behind him headed to the hay field.
“When I saw him, I said, ‘Oh my gosh.’”
It was the biggest buck he’d ever seen — and it walked into the field straight away from Belt. Other deer were in the field, too. When the massive buck turned broadside, he was just four yards away.
“I never saw the arrow, but the buck mule kicked high. I thought for sure it was a good shot then. I phoned my dad right away and told him I’d shot a giant buck.”
Lloyd soon arrived at Belt’s stand, and they started trailing the buck. At first the blood trail was faint. But when they reached last spot Belt had seen the buck, near a pond dam at 40 yards, they found his arrow soaked in blood.
“It was dark, and our flashlights showed a steady blood trail near the pond,” Belt said. “Just a short distance from the pond the buck was lying dead. The deer probably only ran 50 yards from where I shot him.”
The father-and-son were overwhelmed with joy as they dragged the buck to where they could load it into a truck. They drove to Belt’s grandmother’s house and showed her, and she joined in the celebration.
They haven’t rough scored the buck, but it has 21 points and the Belts estimate it’ll score at least 170 after the drying period. A local meat processor who packaged the deer’s venison said its dressed weight was about 150 pounds.
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“Anything over 170 inches and I’ll be thrilled,” says Belt, who plans on a shoulder mount. “I’m going to hang the buck next to the one my late grandfather, Floyd, shot in Missouri. They’ll be side by side in my bedroom, and I can’t think of a better place to display my buck.”
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