First live deer me and Otis ever finished off…….Got the call late one evening about a big buck an older gentlemen shot near Banks. We decided to meet up the next morning and go after him. Turned Otis loose and he took the track without any issues. He was tracking it so fast that he ran off and left me and the hunter. We got down into this creek bottom and Otis had already crossed and went on. I picked my way to the other side and was standing there waiting on the hunter to cross. I looked down at my GPS while the hunter was making his way across the creek and Otis was 150-200 yards ahead of us.

It took the hunter a minute or two but he finally got across the creek and when he did I looked back down at my GPS again to see what Otis was doing. I remember telling the hunter……”Well dang….now he’s headed back to us.”…….No sooner than I said that I looked up and here comes this giant bodied buck at about 50 yards running right at us with Otis right on his heels. One of us must have flinched or something or he would run right over us…..As it was, he went by us close enough that you could have slapped him on the rear end as he went by. Otis just turned his head and looked at us as he went by and looked like he had a grin from ear to ear.

The buck ended up stopping about 50-60 yards out and after calling Otis back I told the hunter to shoot him. He was so shook up from what had just happened he missed him three or four times…Heck, I was shaking just as bad I believe…Finally the buck bolted again. We got back on the track and after about 100 yards Otis has his hair standing on end like the buck was close. I look around and see him laying flat down on his belly at 20 yards in some cypress knees watching us walk right by him. I pointed him out to the hunter and this time he connected. One heck of a Pike Co buck………..