Crossbow hunter marks legendary Kentucky Buck in Daniel Boone National Forest

It was the first time Jamie Coldiron had attempted to acquire a legendary Kentucky buck that many of his friends and hunting buddies had seen far and wide for more than six years. The buck had such a wide and unusual rack that they called it ‘D9’, similar in appearance to the front of a Caterpillar D9 bulldozer.

Using information from other hunters, plus camera photos and his knowledge from 35 years of archery in Kentucky, he chose a prime spot in the hill country to ambush ‘D9’.

It was the evening of October 16 and Coldiron was perched 15 feet up in a sling-style maple tree on public property. He was looking at a gap in a hardwood ridge far from a road in the steep rolling hills of the 700,000-acre Daniel Boone National Forest in southeastern Kentucky.

“I found a hole in the steep hills that I thought the D9 could use that afternoon, coming from a roost,” says Coldiron. Outdoor living. “The site was just a natural funnel, littered with well-used deer trails.”

cold iron buck
The buck had a huge spread, earning it the nickname D9.

Photo courtesy of Jamie Coldiron.

Coldiron says around 6 p.m., a doe showed up on a ridge above his stand and started acting creepy.

“She was eating and saw me and her head started moving,” said Coldiron, 48, of Morehead. “Around that time I heard something behind the hole and saw D9 coming towards me 80 meters away. The doe saw the buck too, and that calmed her down.”

As the buck came closer, he saw the doe and walked toward her.

“As D9 got closer, she moved away, but he kept coming,” said Coldiron, corrections officer for Rowan County. “He stepped out from behind a tree at 75 feet and I shot him behind the shoulder with my crossbow.”

The arrow was so fast that Coldiron never saw it in flight. But he believed his 100-grain B3 Exoskeletal Broadhead had achieved its goal. He used a 150-pound Raven crossbow equipped with a scope. It was the first time he had ever used a crossbow to take a deer, although he had previously shot many whitetails with compound bows.

“I only saw him running away and was able to follow him fifty meters before D9 disappeared,” says Coldiron. “I could see he was hurt. But I didn’t want to pressure him. So I climbed down from the tree and messaged some friends who knew about the trestle. I told them I have it.”

Coldiron waited for his friends Tyler Crawford and Nathan Conley to show up at his parked truck. When they arrived, the three men went back to where Coldiron had been hunting. They immediately found the blood trail and quickly located the downed buck just 100 yards from where he was shot.

Then the hard work began, as the three hunters dragged the estimated 200-pound dollar about a half mile to Coldiron’s truck. They loaded the deer and then cleaned it.

Kentucky Buck
A trail camera photo of the D9 along with a close-up of its droptine.

Photo courtesy of Jamie Coldiron.

Coldiron had the atypical rack mount mounted by a taxidermist, who scored a D9 green at 186 inches. The buck has an inside spread of 22.5 inches and 13 points that can be scored.

“My taxidermist says he’s 8.5 years old, and we have photos of the buck going back six years,” Coldiron says. “We think his rack went downhill because of his age. Two years ago we thought it was a 200-incher.

The left side of the D9’s rack is quite funky, with some unusual and large drop teeth. One has a 4-inch base and is nine inches long. Another long trap tooth goes back right behind his head.

“His rack never looked like this until this year, and we think he had an injury that caused it to grow like that,” Coldiron said. “The right side of the D9 always looked the same, so we know it was the same deer.”

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Coldiron has remained modest about its mega whitetail on public lands.

“The end of an era has come,” Coldiron wrote on his Facebook page. “Many good hunters have pursued this deer for a long time with a lot of blood, sweat and tears. I spent a lot of time this year locating his house. My first day after him, and he came over right away. Pure luck, but for me this is the deer of my life.”

Bob McNally