Preston Roy would have preferred to be in the woods on Saturday morning for Maine’s Youth Deer Hunting Day.
Instead, the 15-year-old from Albion fulfilled a commitment to participate in a fundraising bottle drive.
That meant he and his brother Mike Roy weren’t able to get to the preferred hunting location until midafternoon. First, they checked the memory cards on the trail camera.
“We see one big 8-pointer and one huge 10-pointer,” Preston said of some photos, which had been taken the previous day.
At about 3:30 p.m., they got up into the treestand that overlooked a food plot with turnips that they had planted during the offseason. Two hours later, they see the 8-pointer, but it refuses to present a good shot.
“I wanted to wait for it to turn broadside to shoot, then I heard another deer walking in and I whispered to Mike, ‘oh boy, here we go.’”
The buck came out, broadside.
“I was shocked. It was the humongous 10-point,” said Preston, who was able to make a good shot.
He knew from seeing the deer on the camera that it was big, but he didn’t appreciate how big until he had it on the ground.
“When I saw it I said something like, ‘Holy crap did I really just kill that beast?’” Preston said.
He previously had shot four does in his young hunting career, but he knew this one, his first buck, was special.
Preston and Mike headed to Dow’s General Store in Albion to register the deer and have it weighed. Preston said several members of his family were on hand for the event.
“Everyone was there watching the deer get weighed. I was nervous, not going to lie,” Preston said. The buck weighed 232 pounds.
“I got so excited knowing I’ll be a part of the Biggest Bucks in Maine Club,” Roy said of the honor bestowed by The Maine Sportsman magazine each year on hunters who shoot a deer weighing 200 pounds or more.
Preston’s deer likely will rank among the top 10 percent of bucks harvested in Maine this year at its dressed weight.
“Everyone was wanting a photo of me with it,” he said. “Everyone was congratulating me and saying this is a once-in-a-lifetime buck.”
Preston expressed appreciation to his “Papa,” Roy Fuller, who has served as his deer hunting mentor.
“He’s been taking me hunting for my whole life. He’s been a big help,” Preston said.
Preston, a sophomore at Lawrence High School in Fairfield, is happy that he can join the big bucks fraternity alongside his older brother Jon, who has shot two deer weighing more than 200 pounds each.
In the meantime, Preston’s first buck will eventually be going on the wall.