For two years, Maine bowhunter CJ McMahon played cat-and-mouse with an unusually elusive buck he nicknamed “Wide Load.” Unlike most mature deer that rotate between two or three bedding areas, this one drifted unpredictably among six, outsmarting 20 cameras and countless hours of scouting.
The breakthrough came three days ago when a trail camera tipped McMahon off that the deer was close. Knowing the buck was already in the area, he avoided his treestand, slipped into a ghillie suit and crawled into a thick bush to wait.
For nearly an hour, McMahon sat still, listening and watching. As daylight faded, he finally saw the buck stand up in the thicket just 20 yards away. He watched it feed and creep closer, every step angling toward the bush he had hidden in.
“At 4 feet, he froze and locked eyes with me — like he suddenly realized the bush he fed from every day now had eyes staring back,” McMahon recalled. After a tense five-minute standoff, he released an arrow from his Mathews Lift 33-inch bow at three yards, dropping the 190-pound velvet buck with a 25-inch inside spread.
McMahon also hunts with a Hoyt RX8 Ultra, and he has developed a unique tradition: naming each buck he pursues and writing that name on the arrow used to harvest it.
In the past 10 months, he has taken three bucks of this caliber with his bow. Two of them — the one shot three days ago and one taken in November 2024 — will score with the Maine Antler & Skull Trophy Club. He calls it one of the best hunting seasons he’s seen in Maine.
McMahon, who has been bowhunting for 10 years, said this hunt carried a deeper meaning. After battling Lyme disease for much of the past year, his life has been hell, he said. “But in that moment, kneeling over Wide Load, I felt stronger, more grateful and more alive than I have in a long time.”
The hunt wasn’t just about a deer — it was the culmination of perseverance, patience, sleepless nights and a deep appreciation for the outdoors, making the victory truly unforgettable.
