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The story of “Ghost 10” and the bow!! 2018 opening morning buck.

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    The story of “Ghost 10” and the bow!! 2018 opening morning buck.

    The video link is at the end of this post. Thanks for reading and watching....

    I’m going to try and keep this short as possible but there is a whole lot of back story with everything leading up to this hunt. I can’t thank God enough for this low fence lease. I am very appreciative!!!

    My spot that I call Pump Jack is a very special place to me.
    The set up....



    First noticed a buck in the summer of 2015 around August. I called him “New 10”. He was a good looking buck but I couldn’t figure out his age so I didn’t give him much thought, some pics he looked young. I didn’t have any brain power left after focusing on the Lopsided 9 that year. The “New 10” stayed for the month of October and then left. I never got to lay eyes on him that season/year.
    2015 pics...

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    2016 came and I was looking for the “New 10” but never could for sure say he showed up that year on camera. There were a few possible bucks that might have been him but really didn’t resemble this guy.

    2017 I kinda forgot about him and thought another “New 10” showed up in velvet. This one pushed up about a 5” mule fork on his left G2.
    He had a great look but I was guessing him at 4.5 so I never payed any attention to him past that. He stayed till November and disappeared. I never got to see him in person either. Just on the camera. He was in the 145”-150” range.
    2017 pics...

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    2018 rolls in and Iooking for the other “New 10” to show up. Mean while this buck shows up on my trail camera that was skin and bones. As his velvet grew out I could tell he was going to be a nice buck. But I was looking for a buck with one or two mule forks. Soon, a light switch went off and I recognized his rack. I went back to the pics in 2015 and there it was. He resembled that rack.

    I immediately started looking for body markings trying to match him along with the similar rack.
    That’s when I noticed the white dot on his left side face and a scar on the bottom of his left ear.
    It was the “New 10” for sure. Then it all clicked!!

    I pulled up the 2017 pics of that other new 10 and there it was ... the same face markings and now I can see it in that rack. It was the same buck all along. He just went down a bit and lost the mule fork on the G2.

    Right then it all made since. That buck can’t be 4.5 every year. He was old back in 2015 and was reverting back to the young look.

    I made my mind up that I was going to chase this buck and him alone. My mission was to finally get to see this buck in person vs just on trail camera.

    No one on the lease has ever had pics or seen him in person either. He was Ghost.

    This buck took my mind off things and kept me busy over the summer. This buck officially got a name now. I called him the “Ghost”.

    One of my best friends of 26 years and long time hunting buddy past away on 01/07/18....Randall didn’t post much on here but he browsed regularly. His TBH name was “thearrower”.

    Before he went to meet our Lord, he gave me his bow and arrows. It was hard on me but I was extremely honored to have that from him.

    It was through archery that we met and that bow means the world to me now. Just a side note....
    He’s a die hard Mathews guy and I’ve been shooting Hoyt since 2006. Seemed he would rib me weekly about my choice in bows. The funnest thing is he would send me and Jeremy, Mathews archery newsletters via email. He started doing that that as soon as he figured out how to run the internet and stuff. Lol

    I knew it was going to be hard going into this hunting season with out him on the lease and to share with.

    My plan was to honor him by using his bow this year on a buck and the “Ghost 10” was the perfect deer for that.

    Ghost tricked me for years and always seemed to be one step a head of me. I got attached to this old buck quick.

    Sorry for the long read but I there’s just so much involved in this whole thing that I really wanted to express it the best I could.


    It was a very good weekend at camp. I got to share it with two new members that I call my good friends now. Terry shot his biggest buck to date that evening.

    Thanks again, Jack for the help. LDP credits go out to KactusKiller. And thanks, Jeremy for coming out to see my buck.

    The hunt....

    I'll make this short since I typed so much. Sorry again for being long winded.

    I slipped in my bow blind at 5:50am on opening morning with high hopes of finally getting to see the “Ghost” in person.

    It didn’t take long for that reality to happen as it became light enough to see. My feeder went off at 7:10. There he was. It was a special experience to finally see him. Most of the deer were keeping him at a distance. It wasn’t easy getting shot opportunities on him. I was trying not to get too emotional as I would look towards the bow hanging on the hook next to me off and on.
    I pulled back 3-4 different times on him and then just had to wait for the right shot angle and distance.

    The Bow...


    At 7:58am on 9/29/18....I released a Black Hornet ser razor broadhead in the heart of the Ghost. He was standing at 22 yards with the Mathews NoCam. I’m really glad it all worked out and I captured it all on video. Self filming ain’t easy at times.

    The Magnus Black Hornet went through the leg and cut the bottom of his heart. He managed to make it 70-75 yards before crashing with a very impressive blood trail. The shot was a few inches lower than I would have liked.



    I immediately kneeled down next to Ghost and paid my respects and thanked God once again. It was one of the most emotional hunts I’ve ever been on. I was emotionally drained from that moment on.

    I know Randall is in Heaven spending time with the King of Kings but I hope he was able to look down and smile on me.

    Ghost - 140 2/8”.

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    Click on the video link below...A tribute to Randall.

    Ghost 10 and the Bow - 2018 - YouTube
    Last edited by Bone Thug; 10-02-2018, 12:03 AM.

    #2
    Wow what a story! Congrats and thanks for sharing. Your buddy is smiling in heaven!

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      #3
      Yes Sir! Beautiful buck and great write up as always...Congrats Man

      Comment


        #4
        Congrats
        Thanks for sharing the story.

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          #5
          Great Buck and story!Congrats

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            #6
            Heck yea. Congrats bud

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              #7
              Well done as usual Brandon. Congrats again on a fine buck. Great video too brother.

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                #8
                Congratulations man great story and buck ! Your buddy and God’s angel was smiling down on you that morning!

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                  #9
                  well done on a trophy buck!

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                    #10
                    What an amazing tribute to your dear friend! Great buck and even better story!

                    Comment


                      #11
                      Great buck, video and awesome tribute to your friend.

                      Well done.


                      Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

                      Comment


                        #12
                        Great buck, Brandon. I know Randall would be overjoyed and proud that you were successful with his beloved Mathews. He sure loved that bow in particular. Told me about it more than once. Been missing that guy a lot lately as well.

                        Congrats buddy!

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                          #13
                          Beautiful Buck!!!

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                            #14
                            Sorry for your loss Bone. Good story and good buck. Thanks for sharing!

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                              #15
                              Great deer and awesome tribute.

                              Congrats Brandon.

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