Sometimes a small, ordinary gesture carries a moment that no one planned, and so it was for country singer Parker McCollum in northern Oklahoma, where on the second day of archery season he sat in his tree stand closing a can of nicotine pouches. The lid snapped shut just as a heavy-horned buck stepped into view beneath him, a sound that should have sent the animal bolting but instead froze it in place. It is a reminder, familiar to every hunter, that the woods reward patience and a steady hand as much as preparation, and that a long-awaited success can arrive in the middle of an unrelated tas
Parker McCollum's ZYN Can Nearly Spooked the Biggest Buck of His Life in Oklahoma
The plastic lid snapped shut just as he spotted the deer.
Mark
So the whole story hinges on a snapping can?
Mimi
Mostly on the timing. He was closing a ZYN can right as a mature buck walked under his stand, and the buck stopped at the sound.
Luke
Worth noting that the account comes from McCollum himself. We don't have the size of the buck or any score in what's reported.
Mark
Right, it's described as massive and heavy-horned, but no numbers.
Mimi
And it wasn't even his top target. The trail cameras had him more interested in a couple of other deer.
Luke
Which is a nice detail, but again it's his recollection of what he thought of the camera photos.
Mark
Did the can ruin the hunt?
Mimi
It nearly could have. The buck didn't bolt, but then he had to get in position, and he hit his elbow on the tree while drawing.
Luke
We also don't know how long the buck stood there beyond "several minutes," or the distance of the shot. Those details aren't given.
Mark
What's confirmed about the outcome?
Mimi
By his telling, a clean shot and a recovered buck, on Oct. 2, the second day of archery season in northern Oklahoma.
Le Pouls
- A can lid snapped shut in a tree stand, and a massive whitetail buck that should have fled instead stopped dead beneath the hunter.
- Minutes of tense stillness followed, as McCollum had to work toward a shot without spooking an animal standing directly under him.
- His elbow clipped the tree while drawing his bow and his heart pounded, yet he steadied himself and made a clean shot.
- The buck proved far larger than the trail camera photos suggested, and McCollum called it phenomenal, already counting down to his next time in the stand.
Sometimes a small, ordinary gesture carries a moment that no one planned, and so it was for country singer Parker McCollum in northern Oklahoma, where on the second day of archery season he sat in his tree stand closing a can of nicotine pouches. The lid snapped shut just as a heavy-horned buck stepped into view beneath him, a sound that should have sent the animal bolting but instead froze it in place. It is a reminder, familiar to every hunter, that the woods reward patience and a steady hand as much as preparation, and that a long-awaited success can arrive in the middle of an unrelated task. McCollum now carries that story onward, first to the stages of the UK and Ireland, and then back toward the stand.
On October 2, Parker McCollum was perched in his tree stand in northern Oklahoma when a mature, heavy-horned whitetail stepped out directly beneath him. At that exact moment he was closing a can of ZYN nicotine pouches, and the plastic lid snapped shut just as he spotted the deer.
The country singer, a longtime bowhunter, later described the encounter to OutKick OutDoors. He called it his "finally" moment. The buck was not the one he had been most excited about; he had seen it on trail cameras, but other deer in the area had drawn more of his attention. The photos, he admitted, had not done the animal justice.
The sound of the lid made the buck pause, and it did not run. That gave McCollum a delicate task, as he worked through several tense minutes trying to get into shooting position without alarming the animal. The moment was not without mishap: while drawing his bow he knocked his elbow against the tree, and his heart was racing.
He made a clean shot and recovered the deer, which turned out to be even more impressive than he had expected. He said he had never underestimated a buck so badly, and called it phenomenal. Now he heads overseas with Cody Johnson for a UK and Ireland tour, but he is already counting the days until he can return to the stand.
On Oct. 2, Parker McCollum was sitting in his tree stand in northern Oklahoma when a mature, heavy-horned whitetail buck stepped out directly beneath him. McCollum happened to be mid-motion at that moment, closing a can of ZYN nicotine pouches. The plastic lid snapped shut just as he spotted the deer.
The country singer described the episode this week in an interview with OutKick OutDoors. It was the second day of archery season, and McCollum has been bowhunting for years. He called the encounter his "finally" moment, and said it was rare for an encounter with a deer of that caliber to go the way it did.
By his own account, the buck was not the one he had been most excited about. He had seen it on his trail cameras, but a couple of other deer in the area had caught his attention more. The camera photos, it turned out, did not do this animal justice.
The buck heard the can close and stopped. McCollum's first thought, he recalled, was that the deer was about to run. It did not. That left him with a different problem: several tense minutes spent trying to get into position for a shot without alarming an animal standing right under him.
The moment was not clean. While drawing his bow, McCollum knocked his elbow against the tree. His heart was racing, he said, and he told himself this was the encounter he had been waiting for.
He made a clean shot and recovered the buck. It proved to be more impressive than he had expected. McCollum said he had never shot a deer he underestimated that much, or one that surprised him so much, and he called it phenomenal.
The hunt now sits between two stretches of work. This weekend McCollum heads overseas with Cody Johnson for his first tour of the UK and Ireland. He says he is already counting down the days until he can be back in the stand.
Citations marquantes
I've never shot a deer that I underestimated that much and was surprised by that much. It was phenomenal.— Parker McCollum, to OutKick OutDoors
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