206" Buck Killed During Kentucky's Opening Weekend
Kentucky had a strong start to their archery season!
A Kentucky Giant Killed on Opening Weekend
Sometimes a deer of a lifetime just takes a little patience.
For Jacob Deaton, it took just a few years to get it done.
After Deaton and his friend, Tate Farmer, got permission to hunt a farm in Northern Kentucky, the two began taking inventory of what kind of deer the farm actually held.
It wasn’t long before they discovered a couple of nice bucks that ran in the 140-inch class. While that would satisfy most hunters, Deaton and Farmer decided to take it easy on the farm the first year.
In year two, Deaton saw the deer that made an immediate jump to the top of his hit list.
He named the deer A.D., after Kentucky Wildcat great, Anthony Davis, who was known for his infamous unibrow while leading Kentucky to the 2012 National Championship. So, because of this deer’s massive brow tines, he became known as the A.D. buck.
“In year two on the property we were expecting a couple of deer to make a good jump,” said Deaton. “So we go up around the beginning of August (2023) and throw up some cameras. Sure enough, A.D. was the second deer to show up. Mine and Tate’s jaws dropped. He was around 160-inches and had two 10-inch plus brow tines.”
The duo spent the fall of 2023 targeting the buck, who they estimated to be around 4.5 years old. But, Deaton got impatient and, during his second sit on the property, he decided to take another shooter buck.
Deaton said after killing the buck last fall, his attention turned to making sure A.D. was still around a year later.
“My whole mission was to keep A.D. on this property because I knew he had the genetics to blow up into a mega giant,” said Deaton. “I kept him fed all throughout the rest of last season. He made it through rifle season and through late muzzleloader, and I was so jacked because I knew he had made it.”
Fast forward to July 2024. Deaton and his other hunting buddy, Jakob Begley, drove up to the farm in hopes of getting a glance at A.D. Sure enough, there he was.
“One night in July we finally laid eyes on him,’” Deaton said. “He had turned into the deer that I killed on opening day.”
In the third year of hunting the farm, Deaton set out on opening day to see if he could close the chapter on the biggest buck of his life.
With the cold front moving through Kentucky on the morning of September 7, Deaton got to his stand around 1:30 PM because he thought the deer may be moving a little earlier, toward the middle of the day.
But it wasn’t until daylight was winding down that the buck he was after finally made his way in.
“I didn’t see the first deer until 7:30. They left, and the next group came in at 8:05,” said Deaton. “A half-rack buck and a doe came in at 8:17, picking and eating around. Then they looked up with their ears pinned forward, and I knew he was coming.”
In what was about to be the biggest moment of his life as a deer hunter, Deaton turned to his faith to help get him through.
“I looked over my shoulder and there he was, coming straight at me,” said Deaton. “I closed my eyes and said a quick prayer. Then I pulled back on him and shot. The shot was bad, so I had to back out over night. I came back the next morning, and he hadn’t ran more than 150 yards.”
The buck was still in full velvet at the time Deaton harvested it. It measured in at an impressive 206-inches. Deaton took the buck to Maggard Taxidermy in Manchester, KY to have it mounted.
Scent Control and Deer Hunting
The whitetail deer’s nose is one of the most elite defense mechanisms in the woods. Scent control is a crucial part of preparing for every deer hunt.
Scent control is a hot topic in conversations among deer hunters. Some hunters don’t believe scent control is important. Some believe scent control hype is created by companies that sell products. In one conversation or another, we’ve heard a fellow hunter say “I don’t use any scent control and I still harvest deer.”
Making Sense of Scent
The largest portion and most developed section of a deer’s is dedicated to smelling and deciphering scent. A whitetail deer’s brain contains more than 300 million scent receptors. Comparatively, a bloodhound is said to have around 220 million scent receptors in its brain.
Millions of nerve cells line the interior of a deer’s nose. They work together to trigger areas of a deer’s brain. Specific cells in the deer’s nose are dedicated to detecting food sources, other deer, humans and other predators. According to researchers from the Mississippi State University Deer Lab, deer can pick up on six different smells at once.
When a deer smells clover, the nerve cells in the nose send the signals to the brain, which then triggers the deer’s behavior to go eat in the clover patch. When human odor hits those specific nerve cells, the cells signal the brain and the brain triggers the deer’s response to blow and run the other way.
Another classic topic of discussion in the hunting community, smoking cigarettes from the tree stand. Maybe you’ve harvested a deer while smoking and swear it makes no difference. More than likely it didn’t make a difference in case by case scenarios due to wind being in your favor. Deer can smell up to a half-mile away, the smell of a cigarette could spook deer long before you’d ever know they were in the area.
Practicing Scent Control
Scent control is not a gimmick. You should practice good scent control and create habits in your preparation for every deer hunt.
Before going to the woods, you should be showering to decrease potential body odors you take to the woods. You don’t want to use any soaps or shampoos that smell like perfumes or cologne. You want to use non-scented soaps and shampoos, or look for soaps that have skin detoxing benefits like Covert Ops Outdoors activated charcoal soap. The activated charcoal targets the human odor, limiting your human smell is a must. Covert Ops Outdoors earth scented deodorant is a great alternative to other deodorants you might by at the store. You don’t want to shower and then apply Speedstick deodorant.
It’s also important to not overlook your towels and wash clothes. Make sure you are washing those in non-scented detergent. Don’t use dryer sheets with your deer hunting shower towel. You took the time to shower and put on your earth scent deodorant, don’t dry off with something that smells like Febreeze.
Legendary hunter Eddie Salter knows deer hunting and he knows scent control. He does everything he can to be scent free and it has helped him in the field more than anything else.
“I like to get into a system where I feel like I’m as scent free as I possibly can,” Salter said. I’m going to wash my clothes, after I get through washing my clothes, I’m going to have deodorant I’m going to put on.”
When you get your camouflage on and you’re about ready to head to the stand, treat your clothes with Camo Dust. Camo Dust is a dry powder that helps naturally prevent odors from forming on your clothes.
“When you start sweating bacteria is going to start forming, but if you’ve got something to help control that then I think you’re going to be way ahead of the ball game,” Salter said.
Put Camo Dust in a sock applicator and pat your clothes, hat and boots down. The unscented powder naturally halts the formation of odors by isolating the elements that produce offensive scents that spook game. Apply it before getting to your stand, when you get in your stand and when you leave the stand.
Pay attention to wind and thermals, choose to hunt stands where this is in your favor. Hunters will never be able to fool a deer’s nose, but practicing good scent control and playing wind each time you hunt will give you a chance to fill some tags.