You can’t shoot a buck with a slingshot, but you can shoot a buck named Slingshot!
Ohio resident Riley Emery was hunting the early 2019 season with 7 Bar Outfitters in Morehead, Kentucky, hoping for a chance at a mature Kentucky bruiser hunters are talking about more and more. Emery had tried other Kentucky outfitters with disappointing results, but Luke Carswell, owner of 7 Bar, assured Emery he takes only four hunters per week to minimize the pressure on the deer he hunts. Deer hunting has no guarantees, but Emery felt that this hunt was going to be different.
While surveying the photos Carswell posted on Facebook, Emery noticed a one-of-a-kind buck Carswell named “Slingshot.” He had a mature body, but what was most impressive was that the buck had only four points. “Last year, he was a 6-point,” said Carswell. “But this year, he grew two tall y’s that look like a matching pair of giant slingshots. Based on our trail camera photos, we know he’s at least 5 years old. He’s something special. If you get a chance at him, and you want him, take him.”
When Emery arrived on Friday, the temperature was in the mid-90s. That kind of heat, combined with the heavy drop of acorns, meant deer wouldn’t want to move, and they wouldn’t have to. Deer sightings would likely be few and far between, but Emery was committed. To expect any deer to move during daylight, he’d need the temperature to drop. By Saturday evening, the thermometer had dropped into the 70s, and deer began to move. Six does fed in front of him, plus a young 8-point, but no shooters showed up.
On Sunday, Sept. 15, the temperature was rising again, and Emery set up on the inside corner of a bean field. A pond and a finger of woods extending into the field put any deer at ease as it approached the bait. A doe came in, and as Emery watched her feed, she snapped her head up at another deer’s approach. The crackle of dry leaves also gave the deer away. Emery got a glimpse of it coming through the woods and thought, “This has to be Slingshot!” The buck stopped to work a scrape on the edge of the woods, then stepped out into the open. Smaller bucks followed through a gap in the fence.
“I was worried that I’d have lots of eyes on me,” Emery said. “But Slingshot was acting aggressively toward the other bucks, which gave me an opportunity to get my camera going and set up for the shot. I knew that if I could control myself, I could kill him. At 30 yards, my Mathews Halon 6 sent a Rage Trypan broadhead through his heart. He ran under my stand, covered 50 yards, and I heard him crash in the woods. Before getting down out of the tree, I called my guide, Zach. Blood was everywhere, and we recovered him about 20 minutes later.”
7 Bar Outfitters posted Emery’s buck on social media and the pictures went viral, proving that a 4-point can get lots of attention.
Emery and his grandmother co-own The Farm Restaurant and Pub in Adena, Ohio. He works hard there, and feels blessed to have the time and flexibility to make hunting a priority. “I’ve taken 150- and 160-class deer, plus a 132-inch 6-point in Kansas. I’m pretty particular about the deer I choose to shoot, and I let them grow up, whether I’m hunting 5 acres behind the restaurant, or 30 acres, or a larger piece of property. I’m 24 years old, and I have plenty of time left in my hunting career, so one of my goals is to take a 200-inch buck.” With his attitude and work ethic, he might just do that.
People say every whitetail rack is unique. That’s true; your English teacher will remind you one thing can’t be more unique than another. But don’t tell Riley Emery that, because Slingshot definitely stands apart from the rest, and that tall, double “V for Victory” sign rising above his head makes him the No. 1 4-point in Emery’s book for sure.
Kentucky Velvet
