Chase Metz harvested this suburban monster with his crossbow in East Baton Rouge Parish on Tuesday, November 3. The backyard bayou buck sported 12 points and green-scored 161 2/8″ B&C gross, with an estimated 4 inches of deductions. Once the 60 day drying period is complete, this bruiser should net above 155″ B&C. It’s the highest scoring typical buck taken by bow/crossbow methods in East Baton Rouge Parish, and if accepted into Louisiana’s Big Game archery records book, will hold a place within the top ten typical bucks of all-time in the Bayou State. If that’s not enough to elicit heavy emotions, perhaps the incredible story behind this buck will—heard first here at BayouBucks.com.

Chase Metz of Pride, LA got over 180 photos of this buck during the 10 days leading up to his harvest.

At 6:00 AM on the morning of November 3, 18-year-old Metz was eating breakfast in his Pride, Louisiana home when through the window he noticed a group of deer feeding along the treeline of his backyard. Beyond the glass panes in the early morning twilight, a familiar crown of bone caught the his attention. “I couldn’t believe it was him,” the eager hunter explained. “I’d gotten over 180 trail-cam pics of this buck for the last 10 days, but all of ‘em were at night.”

Knowing this might be his only opportunity to harvest the deer, Metz hurriedly ran to his room, threw on his camo, and rushed out the door with his crossbow. “When I peeked around the side of the carport, all the deer were still there. There were five bucks corralling a doe, and the big boy was one of ‘em,” Metz recalled. As the hunter stood silently contemplating a game plan to harvest the buck, the entire group of deer worked their way into the woods of his family’s 7 acre property—heading straight towards his deer stand! “There was no question what I had to do,” Metz laughed, “so I took off in a full-sprint around the backside of our property to my climber.”

Chase Metz with his 161 2/8" East Baton Rouge Parish buck.

Metz had just barely finished hoisting his crossbow up into his climber when, as if by divine intervention, he heard the hot doe approaching his tree. As she passed beneath him dragging five testosterone-laden bucks on an estrous string, it was upon the last buck which Metz had his attention focused. “He was in the back of the line, and was coming right to the base my tree,” Metz noted. “At 10 yards I bleated to stop him, and sent the Rage® 2-Blade on its way.” As the mortally wounded 12-pointer fled the scene, the hunter gained enough composure to call his dad. ”I got him! I got the big one! He’s down! He’s down!” Metz recalled saying. The buck had run a mere 70 yards before piling up.

Word traveled fast that day, and by dark over 30 people had been to the Metz’s home to see Chase’s buck-of-a-lifetime. “No one could believe it,” he explained. “We have a 1300 acre club across the road that’s been on DMAP for years, and no one has ever heard of a buck this big coming from our area. It’s unbelievable. I’m still in shock!” Incredibly, only 10 minutes had passed from the time Chase saw this buck through his dining room window to when he was standing over it—dead on the ground. Although he’s hunted since age seven and taken several deer, this was Chase’s first buck killed by bow/crossbow, and one hell of a start.