Hunting often comes down to families, and you won't find any better family stories than those being retold by the Williamses of Cedar and the Tobins of the Grand Rapids area.

Tristan Williams 11-point buck that he
bagged Saturday is one for the record books.

Tristan Williams was able to share his experience and his blind with his mother; Gene Tobin shared with his son.
Tristan and his mother, Cindy, spooked two does off their feed pile on the way to their hunting shack in the Cedar area Saturday about 5:30 p.m. Both had sniffling noses, which led them to believe the leaf rustling they heard soon after must be coming from one of the less experienced does.

Nope. It was a buck — a 3 1/2-year-old, 11-point buck, one for the trophy book. That's one point for every year of Tristan's young life.

The buck sniffed his way to the food, put his head down, and was greeted by a perfectly placed arrow from Tristan's 32-pound bow. The deer ran about 60 yards before expiring.

Tristan was so excited that he came down with an affliction that he later gave to his dad, who that night was hunting in another area. "After I shot, I couldn't even talk. Well, I could talk, but it was way too fast."

With dad still out hunting, family and friends were called to help get the buck out of the woods. It was waiting in the bed of a pickup parked in the Williams' darkened garage when Dean Williams, owner of Artistic Wildlife Taxidermy, returned home.

Someone hit the light switch, and Dean Williams was hit with the knowledge that his son had downed a trophy buck. "He couldn't even talk," remembered Tristan.

Conservation officer Mike Borkovich, who had taught Tristan during hunter safety class, was especially impressed.

"That was the largest bow-shot buck I've seen shot by a kid. To be done by a bow, that is just amazing," said Borkovich. The buck green-scored 138 inches on the Boone and Crockett scale — easily enough to be enrolled in the Commemorative Bucks of Michigan record book.

Tristan, a sixth grader at Glen Lake schools, said he had only seen does while hunting four or five times earlier this season. "Last year they saw a big 10-point with a rifle, but no one got it," he said.

Father-son bowhunters Gene (left) and
Jeremy Tobin each shot big bucks near Little
Traverse Lake.

Tobin, 61, downed a very respectable 8-point  last Thursday from a stand on private property near Little Traverse Lake, where he and his son, Jeremy, were renting a cabin. The buck was visiting a line of scrapes, hoping to leave a sign to a receptive doe that he was in the area.

The Tobins know a hot spot when they find one. Move ahead three days, and 29-year-old Jeremy Tobin took another trophy from the same stand.

Both bucks will easily score over 100 inches, making them eligible for the  Michigan record book.

"These are by far the biggest bucks we have ever killed with our bows," said Gene Tobin, whose family hails from Leelanau County. He's been archery hunting here for 31 years.

The Tobins are big proponents of quality deer management, which is in the midst of its fifth season in Leelanau County.

"This hunt with my son has capped a lifelong dream for me. I hope my grandkids are blessed with this opportunity some day," said Gene Tobin.

Added Jeremy Tobin: "Since the start of (QDM) in Leelanau County a few years ago, the hunting has improved a lot. This is the most exciting hunt my Dad and I have ever had … I would like to see other families share hunts like we just had. It was great."

Borkovich reported that bucks are being seen throughout Leelanau County as the deer mating season kicks into gear.

Following a slow start to archery season in October when temperatures rose into the 80s, does started coming into heat about Oct. 31 — a few days ahead of schedule.

"The rut is early. It's a very intensive, active rut. A lot of people are getting quick chances at bucks," Borkovich said.