Minnesota Bowhunter shoots a 12-point, 175-inch buck

It was late afternoon on October 14 and Randy Baker was sharing a raised blind with his good friend Jerid Mills, who had traveled there from Iowa. They looked out over the rolling hills of Baker’s 500-acre ranch in southeastern Minnesota. For the past decade, Baker, a financial advisor from Rochester, has managed the property specifically for white-tailed deer.

“The most fun part is preparing the land with food plots and travel corridors, clearing areas and making a place for the big bucks,” says Baker. Outdoor living.

He says there were two bucks in particular living on the patch he and Mills were targeting. They also brought a video camera to film the hunt for an episode of Driven Hunter.

“We had been checking the cameras regularly and we had two giant bucks that we wanted,” Baker explains. “We had pictures of the bucks for years and our blind was in a hot spot at the bottom of a ridge near a food plot with a corn field and a pond nearby.”

Mills’ goal cup is the one they thought was most likely to be displayed that afternoon. So Jerid held his bow while Baker sat ready with the camera.

Early in their hunt, a doe came close behind their blind, coming from downwind. She caught their scent and blew, and for a while Baker thought their hunt was over.

Read next: Iowa farmer takes a break from combining to tag a 30-point Behemoth Buck

“But a few hours later, another doe appeared at the top of a hill, and she came straight to the food plot. As she got closer, she started moving her head and staring at something,” Baker explained. “I knew from her body language that she was looking at something behind us. A few seconds later my target buck stepped into the food plot.

Baker quickly handed the camera to Mills, who was already putting down his bow. Baker then grabbed his own bow while Mills quietly opened a window so Baker could take a shot at the giant 12-pointer wide below them.

“I don’t know how Jerid did it, but he operated the camera with one hand while I lined up the deer at 27 yards, drew my bow and took the photo.” Bakker recalls. ‘Jerid caught the whole thing on camera. A slow-motion video of the arrow in flight to the buck is now on YouTube.

Baker’s arrow hit the buck perfectly behind the shoulder. The deer ran away, but only traveled 70 yards before falling. He had used a Mathews V3X compound bow set to 70 pounds and an expandable NAP “Kill Zone” broadhead. They picked up the buck with an ATV and went to work working him in the field and measuring the antlers. Although they didn’t weigh the deer, Baker says he’s confident it weighed more than 200 pounds.

They gave the typical 12-point a green gross score of 175 inches. Baker says he doesn’t plan on putting the buck in any record books, but he will have it mounted while he waits for next season.

“It’s like you’ve been excitedly looking forward to Christmas for weeks. And when Christmas comes and goes, there is a kind of emptiness inside you,” he says. “But there’s always next year’s hunting season, which keeps us all charged up.”