Jim Stockham of Cherry Township recently bagged this 14-point buck with a crossbow from the Ladder Stand, one of his favorite stands on his 300-acre property.

Hunters and anglers have a knack for personalizing their outdoors experiences. They pin a name on their boats, trucks, camps and even the big fish or buck that eludes them season after season.

Hunters also have a code they use to describe a special place that they call their spot. Over the years, my cronies and I have hunted many areas and they all have had special names.

Many new hunters are at a disadvantage when they join an old crew that has hunted together for years. If I told some of the fellows that I'd join them at the Whiskey Shack, the Light Tower or the Swivel Seat, they'd know right away where to head for a rendezvous.

That said, I guess I can get on with story of how one of my contemporaries had an exceptional start to the archery deer season.

Jim Stockham lives in Cherry Township, and you can generally find him on his property getting hunting stands ready for the season or in them hunting.

What I like about Jim is that he has a passion for his family and all of their interests. Four daughters and 13 grandchildren can keep him and his wife, Sandy, pretty busy most of the time. But Jim has worked his passion for hunting into the family activities, which take place on their 300 acres of property.

Over the years, Jim has named many of the steady hunting stands they use. Some of his favorites include the Ladder Stand, the Rock, the Fencerow, the Corona Stand, the Broken Wrist Stand and the Hotel Happiness Camp.

In July, Jim and his clan had been sighting a nice racked buck that Jim knew could be a trophy deer. In his 54 years of hunting, he had taken many bucks but never a buck that he could get that excited about. This one was different.

Before the first week of archery season, Jim had done some scouting and knew there was deer activity around some oaks that had dropped plenty of acorns. Although the area had five or six bucks that were decent, he was going to hold out for that one big buck.

He was sitting in one of his favorite stands, the Ladder Stand, late one afternoon last week. Changes in the weather caused the deer to feed much heavier. Jim was keeping a careful eye on the trails beneath him when he saw several deer moving his way.

There was small scrape along the trail and Jim noticed that a buck was paying some attention to the area. He soon recognized the deer as his trophy buck, which his earlier scouting had put in the 10-point-plus category.

This year, he was hunting with a Parker Crossbow and 125-gram Muzzy four-blade broadheads, and he was proficient in making his shots after many hours of practice.

The buck kept working its way toward him and finally offered him a shot at 30 yards. Jim took a steady aim and his bolt was true as he made a solid hit.

The deer darted down the trail and Jim thought he heard him crash through the brush. After calming himself and climbing down out of the stand, Jim started tracking the deer.

He marked the spot where he found his crossbow bolt and started side-to-side sweeps up ahead of his position. The second sweep proved to be successful, as a fine 14-point buck was located 55 yards from his favorite stand.

This buck was the best that's ever been brought into the Hotel Happiness Camp, and it was Jim's personal best as well.

The buck appears to score around 130 total points and is one that Jim sure is proud to claim.

Jay E. Hewitt is an outdoors columnist for the Butler Eagle.