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This was the first year that Jacob Combs of Port St. Joe, Florida, hunted for his new 400-acre lease on a pine farm in Calhoun County. He knew there were deer on the property, but it wasn't until September that he started taking trailcam photos of a buck that immediately caught his attention.
“I knew he was on the property for two months,” Combs said Outdoor living. “I got camera pictures of him almost every night.”
Combs, 32, said he has been hunting the buck almost every day since Halloween, which was the buck's first time seeing daylight.
“I wasn't there on Halloween because I was with my family,” said Combs, who co-owns Cape San Blas Pontoon Rental with his wife, Jessi. “I was at a party when I got pictures from a phone camera of the buck just 100 feet from my stand in daylight. I was quite upset because I wasn't there when he showed up.
The buck usually traveled between its roost in young pines to adjacent peanut fields to feed in the late afternoon and evening.
On November 16, the buck made the mistake of walking the same path while Combs was hunting. It was Combs' 23rd time to hunt that buck, and it was the biggest Florida whitetail he had ever seen on that hoof.
“That late afternoon was the first time I saw a doe with fawns and a spike,” Combs said. “I had a deer feeder. But the buck would never get close, while the other deer would. They stopped for a while, took a bite from the food bowl, and then continued.
At 5 p.m., the big buck finally appeared near Combs' ladder stand.
“It was still pretty early, so I was watching the Gators game on my phone,” Combs said. “I looked up and there he was, 50 yards away. It took him two minutes to reach the arc distance. I never looked at his rack again because I thought I was going to get the shakes.
Finally the buck got close enough, but now he faced Combs head-on, without giving a shot.
“The buck was there, and the big buck turned around to chase the nail away,” Combs recalled. “Then he turned broadside at 31 yards, and I raised my crossbow and fired.”
The buck turned and ran out the same path he came in.
“I felt good about the shot and thought I heard it fall. But there were other deer around, so I wasn't sure if he would crash.”
He called his wife Jessi as he climbed down from his stand. He found his bloody arrow, which also had grease on it. After calling some friends and relatives for advice, he decided to withdraw.
Combs returned to camp and waited for three hours. Then his grandfather, Warren Yeager, and his father, Robert Combs, went with him to look for the dollar.
“It was completely dark, but we went out with flashlights,” Combs said. “The blood got better and better as we followed it. His path turned into a forest and we found him about 100 feet deep in the forest. He had been dead for a long time because he was very stiff. I don't think he lived long.”
They loaded the buck and headed back to camp, where friends and family were waiting to see him.
“It was like a tailgate party,” Combs says.
The 16-point buck weighed almost 216 pounds before field dressing. Combs contacted Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission officials, and one of them later green-scored the buck's rack at 187 2/8 inches gross, with a net score of 180 5/8s inches.
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“I'm having a pedestal made and we'll display it in our deer park when it comes back from the taxidermist,” Combs says. “The state official said it was Calhoun County's record deer less than an inch away.
“I am beyond blessed to have received this money and for the help and support of my friends and family.”
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