Chris Sykes just got out of the U.S. Army at Fort Riley, Kansas. But for three years he’d been hunting a giant buck there, and he wasn’t going to quit trying for the once-in-a-lifetime deer now.
It was peak rut and, early on Thursday, the 27-year-old left home in Chapman to hunt. The Fort sprawls across 100,000-plus acres west of Topeka and has limited hunting access. Only authorized personnel with proper security clearance can access the property.
“But I forgot my Fort ID while driving to it, and I had to go back home to get it so I could get on Riley,” Sykes tells Outdoor Life. “I got to my spot late and it was well after daylight before I [got settled] in my saddle.”
At 8:30 a.m. Sykes started rattling.
“Two bucks came in soon [after] and one was a good one, about 150 inches. But I hunt that spot a lot and knew there were much bigger bucks around, so I passed.”
Skyes rattled occasionally until, at about 9:45 a.m., he spotted a massive buck he’d had multiple encounters with over the last few years.
“I knew it was the buck I was after, and I rattled [again] hoping to draw him close,” Sykes says. “But he completely ignored me because he was trailing two does.”
The deer were moving through cedar thickets and CRP about 80 yards away. Sykes knew the terrain well, so he decided to slip out of the tree and try stalking in for a shot.
“I had the wind in my favor, and every few steps I’d stop and grunt,” he says. “I hoped the deer would think I was another buck coming close if they heard me.”
Sykes eventually spotted the buck within bow range. But with all the thick cover, he couldn’t get a clear rangefinder reading. He decided to stalk closer. At last Sykes was at 17 yards, with just a small hole in the brush to thread an arrow through. The buck started walking and turned, quartering to the bowhunter. Sykes grunted.
“He stopped, I released my arrow and heard it hit.”
The buck spun around and dashed into tall grass. Then he stopped in his tracks and just stood there.
“I could see his rack above the grass as he looked around,” Sykes says. “He stood there for about 30 seconds, then his rack went down and disappeared.”
Figuring the buck had bedded there, Sykes backed out. He called a friend with a tracking dog, and they returned to get the deer that evening, allowing plenty of time before looking for the buck.
At dark, Sykes started on the buck’s trail with tracker Michael Pulido and his dog, Bo, plus buddies Brad Forbus and Nick Koroluck. They found the deer just 60 yards from where it had been arrowed. The arrow had hit a bit back, passing through the liver.
“We did the right thing to wait,” Sykes says.
The hunters dragged the buck about 150 yards out of the thickets and CRP and loaded it into a truck. The buck had 19 points and Forbus, an official Buckmasters scorer, measured it at 197 4/8 inches under that system.
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Sykes estimates the buck added 15 to 20 inches from last year. (Sykes didn’t have any 2024 trail camera photos of the buck, as Fort Riley outlawed them for use this year).
“I was so blessed to shoot the biggest deer of my life,” Sykes says. “And he is a giant.”
