Anthony Merlino

First time seeing this deer was October of the 2024 season when he started showing up frequently on our trail cameras. In August of 2025 we spotted this deer eating in a bean field and knew he was now a shooter. That was the last time we saw him until early November when he started showing up on camera but never in daylight. On November 19th during the morning hunt, I spotted this buck about 300 yards out and watched him make his way into a small strip of thick woods. Luckily, I had a stand setup in that general area and that’s where I sat that afternoon. After about an hour of sitting, I watched a group of Doe make their way into a Radish field about 100 yards from my stand. I watched them eat for about 20 minutes when I started noticing them all constantly staring into the direction of a bordering CRP field. Out of nowhere, all the doe started moving quickly down a run that leads to an opening about 40 yards in front of my tree stand. I looked back in the direction they came from and that’s when I saw him stepping out of the CRP and starting to chase them. I moved my gun into the direction of the opening 40 yards away right where the group of Doe passed me. I saw him getting closer and was able to stop him right in the clearing and the rest is history.