The Kynan Egan Buck

Chautauqua County NY 10-point

As Told By Kynan Egan

Having seen the “Big 10” numerous times in the area, we knew the right moment could be at any time. Deciding on what stand to sit in that night was difficult. The wind was shifting and there was a scrape that he hit the night before, so I chanced it. He’s been showing up earlier and earlier and that night was no different.

There’s a mowed trail in front of me that leads to an intersection of many trails. He showed his himself about 30 minutes early with the wind in my favor. Watching him come straight to me was real cool. He had to turn his head sideways to fit through two trees. Then it was on!

He gingerly walked towards me constantly licking his nose, he knew something was different. He stopped at 23 yards and looked right up at me quartering towards me. It’s not the shot I wanted, but it was clean. I had been drawn for about 20 seconds at this point and I was sitting down still. I couldn’t risk standing up because he wanted an excuse to leave. I think I’m a pretty accurate shooter, so I took the shot. He moved slightly and I got him in the lower neck (I didn’t know that until we found him). I saw him go down about 30 yards from me in some thick bushes. I waited about an hour for my dad, brothers, sister, friend and father-in-law to come help if needed.

We found blood early, but he wasn’t where I thought. It was real good blood and had bubbles in it (assuming trachea after we saw where I hit him). We tracked for about 30 minutes at a sharp pace since he was pouring blood. At one point we got within 30 yards of him, but couldn’t get another shot off. We turned the lights off and waited about 20 minutes to track some more. We thought it was best to continue to push him knowing he’s hurt bad and not giving him a chance to clot.

He circled back and was heading towards the expressway, so we got worried. He started to stumble a bit and stopping often leaving piles of blood. He jumped the fence and laid down about 30 yards from the road. I put another arrow in him and he expired. It was a moment with my family that we will never forget. The chase of the “Big Ten” was over and he’s going on the wall with our other stories. Green score 153 6/8.

Video of Kynan’s buck the night before the kill.