Fabulous First: A New Pennsylvania Property Yields Massive Buck

The morning of Oct. 19, 2024, was the kind that makes you stop for a second before pulling your bow up into the stand. It was cool, with the kind of quiet you only get on the edge of fall. The sun had just started breaking through the trees behind me, casting golden light across the heavy dew in the field below. I had no idea that less than an hour later, I’d arrow the biggest buck of my life — a 15-point Pennsylvania giant that had haunted my trail cameras for months.

This story isn’t just about a great buck. It’s about a first hunt in my first season on a new piece of ground — land I now own as part of my business, JoltBike. It’s about watching a deer come back from the dead — not once, but multiple times — through months of sporadic trail-cam pics. It’s about trust in your gear, trust in your gut and the work you put in when nobody’s watching. And it’s about finally seeing it all come together from a stand we call Big Tree.

Building the Ground

This all started earlier in 2024. We’d just begun managing a new piece of private property my business had acquired — a sprawling mix of wooded ridges, thick bottoms and open fields near Uniontown, Pa. The terrain looked promising, and after years of experience bowhunting both locally and out West, I knew the habitat was right for growing mature bucks.

My 14-year-old son Wesley and I immediately got to work. Wesley took charge of the Stealth Cams, scouting pinch points and bedding edges, checking cards and managing the setup throughout the spring and summer. What we quickly learned is that this property held deer — good deer — and one in particular stood out.

We didn’t give this buck a name; it felt premature. But with a heavy frame, high tines and kickers sprouting like antlers off antlers, we figured he had to be the dominant buck in the area. The problem was, his home range was massive. He’d show up one week, disappear for two, then appear a half-mile away on a different camera, always moving, always elusive.

We were intrigued — and invested.

The Setup

October rolled in with crisp air and high hopes, but life, as always, was busy. Between work and family, I hadn’t gotten out yet that season. But I’d been watching weather patterns and deer movement and felt good about the 19th. A cold front had moved through the day before, and the wind was right for a stand we’d hung off a massive, old tree. As a show of our creativity, we dubbed the stand Big Tree. It overlooks an 800-yard-long field with thick cover on all sides — the kind of spot that lets you see deer long before they see you.

I grabbed my gear that morning, including a new, prototype electric bike I’d been helping Velotric develop — a model that became the Nomad 2X, tailored specifically for hunters and outdoorsmen. It’s quiet, rugged and has features that simply haven’t existed before in the ebike space. Not thinking much of it, I parked it in the weeds, just off the trail near my stand, and climbed up into Big Tree before first light.

The Encounter

I remember how still it was that morning; not dead, just quiet. There was a slight breeze in the leaves and the kind of slow-building light that makes every shape in the distance look like it could be a deer.

At 8:58 a.m., I turned to glass the far end of the field — nearly 800 yards away — and something caught my eye. Not movement, not antlers. Just breath. A puff of vapor in the cool air, hanging above a patch of brush. I locked in.

As the form stepped forward, my pulse spiked. I could already see it was a good buck. Another step, and then another, and I knew. It was him. That same, 15-point bruiser that had ghosted our cameras all summer long.

He was closing the distance, slow and steady. But then, just past the halfway point — maybe 200 yards out — he froze. He’d picked up on something. I followed his gaze and realized it: he’d spotted the ebike I’d left in the weeds. Not out in the open, but just enough off the trail that it caught his eye. I hadn’t expected him from that angle — based on his travel patterns, he was supposed to enter from the opposite hedgerow.

He tucked behind some brush, cut hard to the left and vanished from sight. For a moment, I thought the hunt was over.

But this deer didn’t become the dominant buck in the area by following a script. Minutes later, I caught movement along the edge — low, methodical steps. He was circling back. He had looped around the entire edge of the field and was now moving along the downwind side.

I shifted my feet, got ready and waited.

He stepped broadside at 37 yards — calm, alert, but committed. I drew my Hoyt Carbon RX-7, centered my top pin and let the arrow fly.

The Shot

The Rage-tipped arrow hit exactly where it should — double lung. I watched him mule kick, run 40 yards, stagger and drop inside 60. No guesswork. No long track. Just a clean, ethical kill — the kind I’ve aimed for my entire bowhunting life.

I’ve been shooting a bow since I was 12. That’s 36 years in the woods, and every year the same principle holds: I take shots I know I can make, and I aim for the double lung. Recovery is faster. The deer doesn’t suffer. And the results speak for themselves.

As I stood there watching that buck lie still in the morning light, I took a moment. Not just for the size of the deer — although he was incredible — but for the culmination of everything it took to get there.

A new property. A new stand. Months of scouting. Family. Quiet mornings. Missed chances. Innovation. Trust.

The Gear

People always ask what bow I shoot. I run a Hoyt Carbon RX-7 — smooth draw, stable and deadly accurate. My sight is a Black Gold 3-pin slider, which gives me the precision I want for longer shots but keeps things simple in close. I use a QAD UltraRest, and my arrows are Victory RIP TKOs with custom inserts and wraps for added weight and FOC.

The broadhead? I shoot Rage — and they’ve never let me down. Some guys get caught up in mechanical vs. fixed, but for me, it’s about placement and confidence. That arrow zipped through both lungs like butter.

As for the ebike, I was running a prototype built with Velotric — a project I’ve been fortunate enough to help design from the ground up. We’re talking stealth performance, terrain versatility and features designed with the real-world needs of hunters in mind. That bike got me to the stand faster, quieter and without breaking a sweat. And while the buck might’ve caught a glimpse of it, that misstep was mine — not the bike’s. Had I tucked it deeper off the trail, the encounter would’ve played out the same — just without the pause.

Looking Ahead

Every hunter has that one moment — the one that sticks. Sometimes, it’s your first deer. Sometimes, it’s your biggest. Sometimes, it’s the one that almost got away and didn’t.

For me, this hunt represents something more. It’s the payoff after months of preparation. It’s a memory I’ll share with my son for years, not just because of the deer, but because he was part of the process. Running cameras, studying movement, managing a property from the ground up — that’s bowhunting at its finest.

It also speaks to the evolution of how we hunt. Tools such as ebikes, trail cameras and cutting-edge bows don’t take the hunt out of the hunt. They add to it — when used right. They let us go deeper, stay longer and hunt smarter. But at the end of the day, it still comes down to reading sign, knowing your land and making the shot count.

Oct. 19, 2024, will be a date I never forget. Not just for the antlers on the wall, but for the hunt itself. The slow build. The quiet intensity. The moment when time froze at 37 yards.

That’s what keeps me coming back every fall — not for the trophies, but for mornings like that one in Big Tree.

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