The Schoenthal Buck
Erie County Youth Hunt

By Jeff Schoenthal

On Saturday evening, 10/12/2019, of the 2019 NYS Youth Hunt Jax Schoenthal shot this nice 8-point with 17" spread in the town of Holland, NY... Erie county. 

We had been in the woods all day and hadn't seen much other than a decent doe, which jax decided to pass on because he wanted "antlers". I'd been seeing two twin 4-points hitting the bottom of the field that borders our woods. So, at 5:00 PM we moved from the woods to the edge of the field hoping to have one of them come in to range. 

Two minutes later a nice 8-point decided to walk out from a gully 25 yards away from us. We had just sat down and Jax wasn't ready as he was still getting situated. I was glassing the field and watching four doe at the far side when I caught movement to our immediate left. I was shocked as to what I saw, a nice wide rack, just past his ears.,The wind was perfect for our set up, blowing directly at us. The nice 8-point proceeded to walk broadside right in front of us. I'm not sure who was more excited, him or me, but its a memory we will cherish for the rest of our lives! 

The buck walked broad side 20 yards out, Jax was aiming for what seemed like an eternity to me. I waited on Jax to "meah" to stop him... I finally let one out. "Meah", the buck stopped dead in his tracks. Boom! Jax shot. Once we settled down we radioed my father, his grandfather, he was in the woods, heard the shot and was already on his way. Five minutes later he appeared from the trail , proud as can be. Jax lifted his bucks head to show his grandfather. This was, by far, one of my favorite hunts and definitely one of the coolest things I've ever been a part of. Three generations of hunters, all looking at Jax's first buck! What a terrific first buck and awesome memory made!

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