The Hunt for G2: Four Years of Patience Pays Off

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The chase for the buck we nicknamed G2 started in the fall of 2021. I had just killed my biggest buck to date; a deer we called Hollywood that grossed an amazing 201 inches.

That was the first year my brothers, Brock and Blaine, and I really focused on land management and habitat improvement on the properties we had access to hunt, and it paid off right away. All three of us harvested really big bucks in 2021, and we also had plenty of young “up-and- comers” we had our eyes on for the future. One of the bucks we started keeping tabs on was a young 10-pointer with split G2s on both sides. That is where we came up with the nickname “G2.”

Biding Our Time

Fast-forward to the summer of 2022, and G2 was all over the trail cameras. At this point, we knew he was a 3.5-year-old, and his rack probably scored close to 155 inches. Impressive, to be sure, but we knew we needed to give him another year or two. So, I shifted my focus to another farm, where I was fortunate to take what remains my biggest buck to date, a 203-inch deer we named Locus.

I was on top of the world after taking another “deer of a lifetime” with my bow, but my mind instantly shifted to another goal — helping my Mom, Gina, get an opportunity at her first deer. We had a 7.-5-year-old 8-pointer we’d nicknamed “Talon” that she was targeting. During one of our sits for Talon, we captured some cool video of G2, and we knew he had the potential to turn into something very special if he was able to reach maturity. He was impressive enough that Mom was trying to open the blind window as he came through the bean field, but I persuaded her to wait for the older buck we were after. That also paid off, as she was able to make a perfect shot with her crossbow on Talon.

After Mom tagged out, we continued to run cameras on the farm. The last photo we got of G2 was in early December, and we worried he may have been killed during rifle season. The season closed, and we still had no sign of G2 on the farm. So, we couldn’t wait until shed season to see if we could find proof of life for G2.

We spent all shed season in early 2023 looking for G2’s sheds, but we never found them. We figured he either had been harvested by another hunter or had shifted his winter/spring range away from our farm. We were deflated but still excited to get our trail cameras up that summer and start taking inventory on what bucks we had to chase. Well, camera activity was surprisingly slow throughout the summer of 2023, and honestly, that continued right into mid-October. Not knowing whether G2 was alive, wewdecided to focus on a different buck on another property. I spent the latter part of October hunting that buck, but held out hope we’d get a picture of G2. Needless to say, I was ecstatic when G2 finally showed up on one of my cameras Oct. 25. He had grown significantly since the year before, and now, as a 4.5-year-old, we guessed he would probably score in the high 160s. Normally, this would be a deer and an age that we would not second guess hunting, but after chatting with my brothers, we decided that we would bet on G2 and hope that he lived to see 5.5 years old in 2024.

I chased another buck on the same farm as G2 — a very mature 8-pointer — and during my sit on the morning of Nov. 23, I had my second in-person encounter with G2. He came into a rattling sequence, and I had him on video, quartering away at 15 yards. It was an unbelievable encounter, and all my buddies called me crazy for not shooting him.

I knew that there was a more mature deer on the farm, and I wanted to keep the promise I’d made and let G2 make it one more year, just to see what he could turn into.

Putting In The Work

I ended up eating tag soup for the first time in at least five seasons in 2023, as I never caught up with the mature 8-pointer I was targeting. But it was still a great season, with multiple great encounters. I was also looking forward to the 2024 season, as this year, we continued to get trail-cam photos of G2 throughout December and January. Knowing he made it through the season, we put all of our focus on G2 for the fall of 2024, and that started with our summer preparation.

We planted multiple food plots, along with a couple acres of standing beans on the farm where G2 lived to increase our odds of catching up with him. We hoped we would start getting trail-camera photos of G2 in the summer of 2024, but like the previous year, he was nowhere to be seen. We did not get too discouraged, however, because we knew that in 2023 he did not show up until Oct. 25. I spent most of October scouting and getting other farms set up for my brothers and I to hunt. As the month slid past, I got discouraged because we still didn’t have any new pictures or sightings of G2. We had seven cameras running on the farm, and we were getting upwards of 1,000 pictures per day, but there was still no sign of G2.

I decided it was not going to be beneficial for my season just to sit and hope G2 would show up. So, I started hunting other properties. I hunted the last weekend of October, and then the first weekend of November, with some great pre-rut action but never encountered a buck I wanted to wrap my tag around. I was enjoying my time in the tree, was capturing some incredible video footage, but in the back of my mind, I couldn’t stop thinking about G2 and wondering whether he was even still alive.

As I drove to the farm for the second weekend of November, the 8th-10th, I had pretty much accepted the fact G2 wasn’t going to show up. Instead, I was going to focus on other properties where I knew I had a chance at some very nice bucks. Even though I was not going to be spending time in the tree on the farm G2 had frequented in the past, there is a cabin there, and it is only 15 minutes from the other farm I’d planned to hunt.

Well, when my alarm clock went off the morning of Nov. 9, I got up and checked the camera apps like I do every day, but G2 was still MIA. I did not let it get me down; I got dressed to go sit the other farm. During my hunt there on Nov. 9, I started to really see some rut action ramping up, and I rattled in my first mature deer of the season. This was a new property where we had recently gotten permission to hunt, and I had no history with this extremely wide 8-pointer. As he came to the sound of the rattling sequence, he was all bristled up and actually snort-wheezed in my direction. I was filming the whole time and did my best to gauge his age on the hoof. I elected to pass him, thinking he was a big 4-year-old. It was an unbelievable encounter, and the rest of the hunt was extremely action-packed, as I ended up seeing nine other rack bucks, including one of my other target bucks. I was excited to get back to camp, as my brother and parents were there as well.

Lucky Strike

As we checked the weather forecast back at camp that evening, we realized we would not have a favorable wind to hunt the permission piece on the 10th. So, we decided we would wake up, have breakfast and do some scouting before heading back home for the work week. The next morning, as we were eating and packing our things for the trip home, I received a notification from one of the trail cameras right there at the farm we were on. I could not believe it; it was G2, at 9:09 a.m., in broad daylight, with a doe in our standing bean field! This bean field is only 800 yards from the cabin. After calming down, my youngest brother Brock and I immediately called off our trip home and planned how to sneak into a tower blind we’d set up overlooking that plot. We got dressed as fast as possible, grabbed the camera gear and my bow and started sneaking toward the blind at 9:45 a.m.

We successfully reached the blind without being detected, and we knew G2 had to have bedded with that doe somewhere close, since it had been later in the morning when they walked by that spot. We had a perfect wind, and we settled in for an all-day sit. Within an hour, we saw two young bucks cruising the edge of the CRP, and they looked like they were on the trail of a hot doe. We figured there was a good chance they were after the doe with G2, as they had their noses to the ground and were on a mission. As the day progressed, deer activity started to really pick up, and by 3:45 p.m., there were 10 deer in the field — mostly does and younger bucks pushing them around. Then, a 3.5-year-old 8-pointer came to within 25 yards and started scent-checking the thicket that is about 40 yards from the blind. Then, he went into the thicket and total chaos ensued. There was grunting, chasing, fighting and all kinds of noises coming out of that thicket, and we could barely see into it. We were catching glimpses of antlers moving very quickly back and forth, and we knew G2 had to be in there with that doe, trying his best to push all the other bucks away.

The racket continued all evening, but G2 still hadn’t stepped out of the thicket. By 5 p.m., the field was filling up with deer, including several other nice bucks. We waited for what felt like an eternity for G2 to step out, and we didn’t expect him to be in bow range very long if at all. Finally, at 5:30, we heard some loud chasing and crashing on the backside of that thicket, and out of nowhere three does came busting out of the cedars on a full sprint, with G2 right behind! His tongue was hanging out of his mouth, and the only thing on his mind was corraling those does. The does angled back into the thicket at 60 yards, and we worried G2 would follow them. But to our delight, he continued to work straight to us on the edge of the thicket. That’s when I knew he was coming to check the scrape at 25 yards.

As he got to the scrape, I came to full draw and waited for the perfect opportunity. I had to calm my nerves and settle the pin exactly where it needed to be, as this was the culmination of a four-year wait. As I settled the pin, I asked Brock whether he had G2 in the camera frame, and once he said yes, I squeezed off the shot, sending the most perfect arrow I have ever shot right behind G2’s shoulder. He busted about 15 yards into the thicket and collapsed in sight. It was one of the craziest hunting experiences Brock and I have ever had!

As we started to settle down, we called family and friends and waited for our other brother, Blaine, to make it to the farm before we started the recovery. Having both my brothers there was very important to me, and it truly was the best way to end an unbelievable hunt.

G2 ended up grossing 173 inches, but the entire experience was so much more than the score. The journey G2 took us on was long and wild, but we wouldn’t trade it for anything. Experiences like that are what push us to get outdoors year after year, and I hope that never changes.

Kansas resident Bailey Pattin works for Garmin and enjoys spending each autumn hunting and filming with his brothers. You can watch the hunt for G2 on their YouTube channel, Pattin Outdoors.

AUTHOR’S NOTES: On this hunt, I shot a Hoyt Carbon RX-7 bow outfitted with a Garmin Xero A1i PRO bowsight, Easton Axis arrows with Ramcat Diamondback Hybrid broadheads and Nockturnal lighted nocks. I also wore Badlands apparel and LaCrosse boots.

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