Hard work and planning really do pay off.
After spotting a potentially record-breaking buck in 2019, a New York resident spent countless hours tracking the animal and learning its habits. After seemingly losing the animal, the hunter came across it one day and took it down.
Now, after getting his measurements certified, this hunter holds a new state record.
Dieter Herbert, who works as a carpenter in New York City, first spotted a deer he nicknamed "Split G4" in November 2019, Outdoor Life reports. Since then, he tracked the deer and attempted to learn its habits. After months of work, however, the animal seemingly disappeared.
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Then, on Halloween day of last year, it suddenly made an appearance on a trail camera. According to Herbert, he had just taken down another deer with an arrow when he heard something approaching him.
"I just had a gut feeling it was Split G4," he told Outdoor Life. "I heard his antlers on a branch and knew he was working a ground scrape about 50 yards away."
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He continued to explain waiting for the deer to make an appearance, saying, "It seemed like 30 minutes because the buck was approaching very cautiously but it was more like five minutes. He was in that tall grass and I knew he was close, but I just couldn’t see him."
When the deer finally appeared, Herbert took his shot and hit the deer with his arrow.
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After getting all of his measurements certified, Herbert’s harvest has officially been declared as the largest bow kill for the state of New York (and the largest kill of any kind since 1939). The buck had a gross score of 197 4/8-inches and a net score of 191 3/8-inches.