OPINION | This article contains the author's opinion.
On the opening day of North Carolina’s 2023 archery season, Chesney Luck from Seagrove, NC, had a big day.
She successfully harvested a 9-point buck from Moore County, which has been scored at 135 2/8 inches.
This particular deer had been her target, and she didn’t have to endure a lengthy wait for its appearance.
“I hadn’t seen this deer in person before, but he first appeared on the trail camera on Aug. 19. He disappeared for a few weeks, then started coming in to the corn pile every morning during the week leading up to opening day,” she said.
“I knew the chances were pretty high of seeing him that morning, especially since there was supposed to be a storm coming in mid day. I knew he would be wanting to continue his pattern and get food before the storm hit,” she said
At 6:45 a.m., just 15 minutes after shooting light, Chesney Luck took her shot at the buck using a Mathews Stoke compound bow.
During this hunt, Luck was positioned in her tree stand, which offered a vantage point overlooking a wooded creek bottom.
Her husband was also hunting nearby.
“My husband Tyler wanted to be close by, so he could be ready to come help me track and get the buck out if I did get an opportunity,” she said.
As daylight approached she was ready.
“I got in the stand about 45 minutes before shooting light. My heart was already pounding just from thinking about how bad buck fever was gonna hit me when he walks out, because I just knew he would show up,” she said.
“I prayed that I would either get a good, ethical shot, or no chance at all,” she said.
“I heard something walking beside me, and it ended up getting less than 10 yards under my tree. But I couldn’t see what it was because too many branches were blocking my view,” she said.
Once she saw it she knew it was the one she had been after.
“I caught a glimpse of his rack and knew it was him. So I quickly began ranging the open area where he was headed. He stepped out in view a little more than 15 yards, almost broadside. So I drew my bow back and shot him,” she said.
“It looked like a perfect shot. So I was excited at first. But I feared that it could have hit his shoulder bone, because I thought I saw a lot of my arrow sticking out as he ran off, which is any bowhunter’s nightmare, especially shooting a low poundage like I am,” she said.
She went to get her husband so he could help her locate the deer.
“After my description of the shot, we both knew the odds were 50/50 of the deer being down.
“We found where my arrow had broken off and fell out. Then we looked up about 60 or 70 yards from where I shot him and saw that white belly. We realized I’d actually made a perfect shot, hitting the lungs and the heart. My arrow only stopped because it hit and broke the shoulder on the opposite side of the deer,” she said.
“It had been a goal of mine for a while to get a good one with my compound bow. And to have that happen opening day on a buck that I believe will make Pope and Young is a dream come true,” she said.