The Story Behind Ray Lewis

The story behind Ray Lewis is a very unique one. I got this buck on camera in early October when I moved my Wild Game Innovations camera to a new location. I mounted the camera on the edge of a wood line that bordered a clear cut. I figured a good buck was in the area, but I first saw pictures of this buck I was extremely surprised. The body mass of this deer was something I have never seen on any deer around the areas we hunt. I was eager to move in and hunt this buck in hopes to harvest him. As a few weeks went by the rut was about to get started and I moved in on the area Ray Lewis was hanging out in. It was early November and I set up to kill Ray Lewis on the edge of a pine thicket that was a known bedding area. The pine thicket bordered the hardwoods and the clear cut and I chose to set up shop in the intersection where the different trees met. I did this in hopes of catching Ray Lewis coming in and out of the bedding area checking does and making sure no other bucks were in the area. I hunted this area a few times and one of the hunts I think I got a glimpse of the big boy running through the clear cut. To this day I am still unsure if that was Ray Lewis on that cold November morning. I hunted this spot a few more days and I did not see much action, I knew this area had to be good so I started to get frustrated because the clock was ticking and the rut was getting cranked up. Jumping out of my comfort zone, I gave up a Saturday morning hunt to scout. It was extremely windy so I took advantage of the weather that mother nature gave me. I had hopes to keep the pressure down on the area so the wind helped me out a lot to cut out some of the noise.

The patch of woods I was hunting had a field in the middle of it and the hardwoods pretty much wrapped around the field. The front side of the hardwoods and field bordered the clear cut. On this day I scouted looking for fresh scrapes and rubs. I walked for about a hour and finally came upon a ton of scrapes and rubs in a concentrated area. I knew then I was in big Ray Lewis's living room. I had a family function to attend the next day so I could not hunt the following morning but I hung my climber anyway. I knew I had one shot at killing him and I knew he would show up. The morning after my family function I woke up ready to go kill him, I just knew I would get a shot at this beast. I got in early, the weather was good and the wind was in my favor. As I walked down the edge of the field I had two cans of BuckBomb and I sprayed it on the wood line all the way down until I entered the hardwoods where my climber was located. I had only been in this particular area one other time and that was when I hung my climber. With that being said I got lost on my entry as I tried to find my climber in the dark. When I found my stand I went and hung two drag rags one at 12'oclock and the other at 5'oclock. The drag rags were saturated in doe estrus called Triple Heat. After I got up the tree and got situated I started to worry about the amount of noise I made on my entry because I got lost. I quickly put that behind me and thought to myself how blessed I was to be able to enjoy the outdoors. As soon as day break hit I heard steps coming in behind me quickly, it was definitely a trot and I just knew it was big Ray Lewis. In this situation I didn't know what to do so I chose to stand up quick and turn around just incase it was him and I would have a shot at him.

As soon as I turned around I recognized it to be a big coyote and he saw me as well. When he saw me he took off running in the direction he came from. My heart was racing because I thought it was big Ray Lewis. I settled back down and I again worried that the coyote may have the woods stirred up now. I continued to hunt and I was prepared to sit all day. On this property the deer are known to move around noon so I was prepared for the long sit. I watched fox squirrels for about a hour as they played in the pines and then I dozed off but my ears were still awake. I could hear everything while I took a nap and that is something only hunters can relate to. Thirty minutes into my nap I heard some stomping behind me. I could hear it loud and clear but it did not register in my mind until about forty seconds. Finally I opened my eyes and the stomping continued, I didn't move a muscle and I knew it was a deer. As I sat there motionless the stomping continued and I thought to myself, that has got to be Ray Lewis. I decided to stand up slowly, making sure I did not make a sound. I was able to turn around and peek around the tree. The deer was behind a shrub oak thicket that was in a hammock shape. All I could see with the naked eye was the deers feet. I picked my rifle up and rested against the pine tree, as I looked through the scope trying to pick the deer up I saw that it was a buck. I was happy that It was a buck, but then I prayed that it was Ray Lewis. The oak thicket was so hard to see through that all I was able to recognize was the thickness of one side of antler. I was still not able to say if it was Ray Lewis or not but I knew the deer was mature and I knew I was about to shoot.

I was able to find a hole in the thicket the size of a tennis ball so I settled in and took the shot before the deer saw me. He was definitely trying to figure it out; I'm sure he winded me but I think the doe estrus had him a bit confused. When I shot the deer I still didn't know which deer it was but he took off running and in about 4 seconds I saw a the top of a big pine tree shake as I heard him crash into it. I was shaking like a leaf not knowing if I just killed Ray Lewis or not. I sat there until 11'oclock because it was only 7:30 and I was unsure if the buck I came to kill was dead or not. I ended up seeing a 4pointer before I got down and looked for the deer. My uncle came to help me look for him, we only had a little blood to work with. After about a hour of looking for him I got worried and sure enough my uncle found him right next to the big pine I saw shake. To my surprise it was big Ray Lewis we rejoiced and shared that moment together. It was November 14, 2016 a year and a day after my first big deer I killed. I learned four priceless things from this hunt. #1 don't be scared to move around. #2 don't be scared to scout during the rut. #3 new areas are prime for killing mature bucks #4 look for the freshest scrapes.