Sometimes, the hunt finds you. That’s exactly how I felt when I first saw the trail cam photo of a Kentucky giant we came to call “Freak Show.” It was a deer unlike any I’d ever seen, with antlers twisting in every direction. A true freak of nature. Bucks like this don’t come around often, and when they do, you drop everything. The hunt for Freak Show was one for the books.
I’ve hunted Kentucky for 10 straight years. Back in 2020, travel restrictions from COVID-19 shut down my usual plans. I decided to create my own hunting spot and bought my first farm, naming it Bootleggers Ridge. I wanted a place where I could hunt and film locally since traveling wasn’t an option. In 2023, I acquired another piece of ground with more history. We called it Stonewall Plantation, complete with a pre-Civil War house that we remodeled. Now, we run limited hunts there through Worldwide Trophy Adventures (WTA).
My friend and guide, Joey, manages all my properties in Kentucky. He runs Salt River Outfitters, which we also own, and is a master big deer hunter. I don’t hunt Salt River because I don’t want to take anything away from our guests. Joey’s wealth of knowledge has been instrumental, and it’s a true team effort to keep things running smoothly.
By the summer of 2024, with both Bootleggers Ridge and Stonewall Plantation fully booked for the season, I was eager to find a new lease. Joey told me about a 175-acre property an hour away from our usual spots. It had a reputation for big bucks. That was all I needed to hear. We locked it in, and that’s where the story of Freak Show, a true buck of a lifetime, begins.
The First Sight of Freak Show
In early August, Joey sent me the first photos of a massive buck on one of our Cabela’s trail cams. Freak Show, as we soon called him, had antlers going in every direction. I had never seen a free-range deer like this, especially on a property I was hunting.
There was just one problem. I had drawn a Barren Ground caribou tag through the WTA TAGS program. It was a limited entry tag I’d been applying for over 12 years. Seeing Freak Show on our camera changed everything. Sometimes, the hunt you’ve been waiting for finds you. I knew I couldn’t miss this opportunity.
Early Season Setbacks
Kentucky’s early whitetail season opened on September 7, but with the wind not in our favor, I stayed home. Pushing into the stand with the wrong wind could spook Freak Show for good. It was a tough call, especially when he still showed up on the trail cam that evening, unable to resist his nightly hit of Buck Bourbon 110 Proof attractant.
Patience was key. I knew I had one shot to get it right. Freak Show was a once-in-a-lifetime deer, and I wasn’t going to blow my chance by making a rushed decision. This was just the beginning of an unforgettable hunt.,write 100 word only
