The quest for crooked brow
As I begin to put the details of this story together, I can’t help but go back to that cold, calm late October morning in my mind. I can hear the frozen ground crunching beneath me as I sneak to my tree stand in the dark. I can envision nocking my arrow with numb fingers before putting my gloves on in efforts to warm my hands before shooting light. This was the type of morning we as bowhunters live for. Little did I know it was going to end up being a morning I will remember for the rest of my life.
In 2022, during the dog days of summer, I was getting anxious to start putting out trail cameras to see what deer were around. After deploying cameras on the property for a few weeks, I went and checked them only to find one “decent” buck that was showing up often. He still had a lot of growing to do but did have one distinct characteristic about him, his left brow tine was crooked. Fast forward a few more weeks, this same deer was starting to take shape and finish his antler growth. He looked pretty darn good! Good enough to where I started sending velvet pictures of this buck to close buddies asking how old they thought he was. While in conversation with my best good buddy Cody, he referred to this deer as Ole Crooked Brow. The name instantly stuck and from that point forward this deer was called Crooked Brow. The general consensus was he was 4.5 years old. This meant he was getting another year to grow.
Crooked Brow from September of 2022.
On this specific property I had no other mature deer to hunt so I focused my efforts elsewhere. I had pictures of Crooked Brow in early velvet, into September, and all through October. He was sporadic throughout November but for the most part stuck close as I continued to get pictures of him. I was able to determine where he was bedding and what he liked to do in the morning vs. the evening and how he interacted with other deer based on pictures. He was able to make it through both gun seasons and into the late season. I was excited to see he made it through. Once the season was over, I knew it was time to start thinking about the next season. During the months of February and March I put numerous bales of alfalfa and multiple bags of corn out to give the deer a little extra food and keep them healthy and satisfied as possible during the extremely cold months. The cool thing about this was that Crooked Brow was taking full advantage! He was hitting this food 2-3 times a day, every day until the beginning of March. He was holding both sides of his rack up to that point and I was getting tons of pictures of him. I assume he dropped both sides almost simultaneously because in the blink of an eye I stopped getting pictures of him. Needless to say, I was pumped to get out and look for his sheds. I thought they would be a guarantee find, but I was wrong. I searched the entire farm multiple times and specifically the side of the farm he was feeding on and came up with nothing. At the end of the day, I was just happy he made it through the winter.
Springtime came and went and next thing I knew it was summer. As if I wasn’t anxious enough the year before to get trail cameras out, the summer of 2023 was on another level! I wanted to see what bucks were around but most importantly if Crooked Brow made it and if he would show back up. I frost seeded my clover plots during shed season and just maintained and manicured them through the spring and summer to ensure they were in tip top shape for the upcoming season. I was able to put out a few non-cellular cameras to start monitoring the area and see what velvet bucks were around.
I pulled my first cards in early August. Like it always does, it felt like Christmas! I couldn’t get home fast enough to look at the photos. With hundreds of pictures to flip through, I start flippin’. Holy crap, a monster. And at first glance I knew, IT WAS CROOKED BROW. He still had a lot of growth left to happen but for what he was at that time it was clear he was going to be special. As long as he could stay alive that is. I checked cameras from there on out every couple of weeks. Each time only caring about one thing, getting pictures of Crooked Brow. The good thing was each time I checked the cameras he was there. It was cool I got to see him grow as the weeks went by and the season got closer. I knew he was going to be special, and it was Crooked Brow or nothing for the 2023 season.
Crooked Brow in velvet hitting a mock scrape, still on his summer pattern.
Anticipation was high through the month of September. I was getting Crooked Brow in daylight 4-5 nights a week. He was traveling a certain route on the property like clockwork. I knew his pattern was soon to change but for the time being I was pretty excited! The last nine days of September I went to Colorado elk hunting and had limited to no cell service most the time. This meant I was unable to check my Command Pro App and check my trail camera pictures. Finally, at the end of the trip I was able to gain cell service and had a ton of pictures to go through. I flipped through them all to find zero pictures of Crooked Brow. This was very discouraging. Was he dead? Did he move to another property? These questions along with so many others filled my head and nearly drove me crazy.
After many days of wondering, finally, I got what I wanted. On October 8th, Crooked Brow showed up in daylight in the evening hours. That evening he hit three of my cameras. Talk about a new shot of excitement! He showed up in daylight the next day as well on October 9th. On the 10th the wind was right, and I was not working, so I decided it was time to go after him. I hunted the next few evenings with no sightings of him. I also did not have any pictures of him during those few days. At this point I told myself to take a break and keep monitoring cameras and weather and wait for my next move. After my most recent picture of him on October 9th, a new buck showed up on the farm and was blowing up my cameras. This buck was daylighting in the morning and in evening multiple days in a row. I know it’s hard to fully a judge a buck by a picture, but these pictures made this buck appear to be super aggressive. He just looked mean. More days go by with no pictures of Crooked Brow but more of this new buck. This new buck was actually a stud but, in my opinion, I had no real interest in hunting him. My heart was set on one deer, Crooked Brow.
The new buck that showed up and appeared to take over the farm for a week or so.
The middle of October came and went and after 10 days of no pictures, boom. October 19th, Crooked Brow in daylight. He gave me a handful of really good pictures at 1:00 pm which I thought was super random, but I did not care, he was back! A couple hours later I got even better pictures of him hitting a scrape on the edge of thick bedding. Perfect. I start looking ahead at the weather and trying to put together my next game plan to hunt him. Of course, October 19th was my first night back to work for a five day stretch so I had to impatiently wait for the next chance to get in the stand. October 21st and 22nd, he daylighted in a clover plot of mine in the morning. On the evening of the 22nd, more pictures. This set of pictures will likely be some of the best trail camera pictures I may ever receive.
First picture of Crooked Brow after disappearing for 10 days.
His favorite scrape.
More from favorite scrape.
So, October 25th, I went in for an evening hang and hunt near the scrape that he frequented often. For the most part it was a pretty slow hunt. Saw some does early and that was it. Around 5:30 pm, I hear a loud crashing behind me. I quickly get turned around and see a buck chasing a doe from one thicket into another. I caught a short glimpse of the buck’s right side before he disappeared into the thicket. After looking at so many pictures of this deer I knew it was him. I turn my attention to the thicket hoping he would step out. A couple of minutes pass and a doe pops out into the open coming from the area where I saw this other doe and Crooked Brow run into. I’m hoping it is the same doe, and he will eventually make his way into the opening. AND HE DID. There he stood, big as ever. I have finally laid eyes on this deer. He proceeded to make two scrapes and absolutely destroy a cedar tree. While thrashing, I thought I would make a move. I snort wheezed loud enough for him to hear and he began thrashing even harder! I wait a little longer and snort wheeze again. He stops rubbing the tree and steps back out into the open looking in my direction. There he stood, barrel chested ready to take on anything that stepped in front of him. After a couple of minutes, he lost interest in both my snort wheeze and the doe he was chasing. He starts making his way back to the thick bedding where he came from and after studying pictures, I knew it was his bedroom. I start to range points in front of me anticipating him to walk into the open. I figured he would work back toward bedding and hit his favorite scrape on his way by. And that’s exactly what he did. He walked across the opening but stopped on the backside of a willow tree and had to show off one more time by rubbing and breaking branches. I ranged him at 60 yards. He cleared the willow tree, and I drew back. I thought if he stops on his own, I’ll send it but if I have to stop him at 60 yards and shoot I won’t. He did not stop walking, and I was not comfortable enough to stop and alert him and attempt to send an arrow from that distance. I let down my bow and watched him do exactly what I thought he would do. I watched him work the scrape and then disappear into the darkness of the cedars.
October 26th, back to work for a few days. On October 30th, hunting vacation begins. If you are a die-hard bow hunter, then you can understand how hard it is to go to work at the end of October and early November. Especially when you are closing in on your number one target buck.
Over the next few days my cameras are absolutely BLOWING up. Crooked Brow is daylighting and also moving all through the night. He was on the east plots, travel routes in between bedding, hitting multiple scrapes and multiple cameras. I knew that if I was going to kill him, now was the time. He even hit a scrape on my west plot which in two years he had never stepped foot in. He was marking the farm as his and looking for that first hot doe.
October 29th, while in bed, I’m deciding where I want to sit the next morning. He has been all over the farm the last few days, so I am trying to make the best educated decision on where to go. I started looking back at pictures from the year before to get an idea of where he was hanging out at the end of October and wouldn’t you know it, on October 30th, 2022, Crooked Brow made his way through my east clover plot around 9:00 AM. I checked the wind for the morning, northwest wind. It was decided. I was going to hunt my east clover plot with a northwest wind which is the most ideal wind for that stand. I figured if he was there on October 30th, 2022, what are the odds he would be there exactly one year later? Time would tell.
October 30th, 2022. This picture was in my opinion what sealed the deal.
Monday, October 30th, 2023, I am up early. My coffee is brewing as I am eating a small breakfast. I grab my coffee and my gear and am off to the stand for a highly anticipated sit! As I am on my way, I receive a set of pictures from the east plot around 5:30 AM. I open them, it’s him. Crooked Brow walked through the east plot as I was driving to hunt there. At first, this was a little disappointing. But after all the pictures I had of this deer and time I had spent looking at maps and terrain and weather and trying to figure out where he was and why he was there I thought to myself, if I know this deer as well as I think I do he will make a loop and come right back through in daylight. So, I continued.
Crooked Brow walking through the clover plot before daylight.
I get to the farm and start my walk in. There is a light breeze, just enough to help cover my noise of walking in. The temperature was right around 28 degrees. I get to the base of my stand, climb up and clip into my safety harness. I pull my bow up, hang my bag and then hang my bow. I nock my arrow and sit down. My hands are absolutely frozen already. I break out my hot hands and start getting them warmed up and put my hands into my pockets. I needed to get feeling back into my hands and fingers by daylight because if Crooked Brow walks by at daylight and I can’t get an accurate shot off because of numb fingers, it would haunt me forever.
Time is ticking and minute by minute it is getting closer to shooting light. The sky to my east is starting to gray and eventually lighten up with the sun rising. I can just see the plot and I start ranging the front edge, middle and back edge and set my pin for the middle at 25 yards. Game time. I put my range finder away and immediately heard movement southwest of me. I listen as it gets closer and closer. Pretty soon I hear some branches smacking together but not super aggressively. Then I hear the sound of a deer scaping the ground. I can hear the shhh shhh shhh sound of crunching leaves as the deer is scraping. Ok, I thought. I know it’s a buck, but I don’t know what buck it is. If this is Crooked Brow, I better be ready. I grab my bow and stand, anxiously waiting for this deer to work north into the wind and show himself. The scraping stops. I can hear the deer slowly walking and it is getting closer. I look to my left and can see movement and confirm that it is a buck. Just a few more yards until the buck hits the opening and I can clearly see him. He clears the brush, and I see the deer’s right side, ITS HIM. He’s slowly working his way through the plot occasionally dropping his nose to the ground. This is it. I watched this deer through the lens of my trail cameras for two years. I had an encounter with him just five days prior. Tons of pictures and time trying to figure this buck out and it all came down to this moment. I draw my bow and hit him with a very soft “meh”. He stops at 25 yards, slightly quartered away and is not even looking in my direction. Perfect. I release the arrow, and it hits home. Clean pass through. He kicks and takes off running hard. I knew I hit him good. He runs north through the cedars as I quietly listen. A minute or so goes by and I don’t hear anything. No big loud crash, nothing. But I was confident I made a good shot.
The scrape I heard him hit before showing himself and the last scrape he ever made.
Holy cow. I just sent an arrow through what may be the biggest buck of my life and definitely the biggest with my bow! I am excited, emotional, nervous, all the things. So, what do you think I did next? I called EVERYONE of course! I called my wife, my dad and three of my best buddies. All these people played a part in this journey and I’m thankful for them. There is just something special about calling your friends and family after sending an arrow through a big buck.
After approximately 30-40 minutes, I climbed down and checked the impact sight for any blood. There were only a few drops of blood on impact. I also could not find my arrow. I tracked the blood trail in the direction he ran and out of the food plot for about 40 yards. At this point, the blood trail got heavier which was good. I stopped and observed the blood up close. The blood had bubbles in it which told me it was a good shot. I stopped at that point and marked the location and then headed for the truck.
As I was walking out of the field, I couldn’t help but smile. It was such a fun ride and amazing feeling, but there was still one thing left to do and that was to recover Crooked Brow. I got to the truck and drove to Jono’s where two other buddies, Nate and Kaleb met us, and we discussed the hunt and the shot, and they shared what their thoughts were. Everyone was in agreeance that he was dead and would be stiff just past where I stopped following the blood trail. After three long hours, which was probably more than enough time, we loaded up and were off for the recovery.
We made our way back to the food plot and went straight to the marker I left. The blood trail continued, and we tracked for another 20 yards. Then the words we love to hear, “There he is!” I looked through the timber bottom and right on the other side of a small dried-up creek, indeed there he was! As we walked towards him his left G2 just kept getting bigger and bigger the closer we got. We all crossed the dried-up creek, and I got to finally put my hands on him. I was as impressed with the size of his body as I was with his antlers. He was by far the biggest bodied buck I have ever harvested. He just so happened to be the biggest antlered buck I have ever harvested with my bow, by far! I took some time to admire him and tag him. We took some photos, and I tried to soak up as much of the moment as I could. These types of moments only come around so often, and they go all too fast. The best word I could think of at that time was thankful. I was thankful God chose me to go on this journey. I was thankful he chose me to be the one to harvest this deer. And thankfully I got to share it with some of my best friends and family. If you could bottle up that feeling in that moment and sell it, it wouldn’t last a day on the shelf. I just want to remind people though, it’s not about the size of the deer or how many big bucks you kill. It’s about the journey. It’s about spending quality time with family and friends and enjoying all the outdoors has to offer and creating lifelong memories. That’s what it’s about.
Mission accomplished and what a ride it was. Great photos thanks to good buddy, Matt.
I will always be thankful for this journey and will always be proud to be a hunter.
Written by: DJ SUTFIN