DAGGER BOY

I don’t know how your deer season has gone so far, but Joe Sinski’s has been as rewarding as they come.

Sinski is a 46-year-old Conroe archer who plays the game quite often on the 188-acre tract of low fence property he purchased in Trinity County in 2021. He manages the land for quality deer with help of his two sons and a like-minded neighbor, Chris Barrilleaux of Splendora.

Sinski has arrowed a handful of exceptional bucks over the years, but none to compare with the magnificent non-typical he brought down on the afternoon of Oct. 12.

The big buck sports 18 scorable points, 36-4/8 inches in mass measurements, a 16 6/8 inch inside spread and thick main beams of 22 6/8 and 23 2/8 inches.

There is plenty more to love about the remarkable Pineywoods bruiser. Perhaps the most unique traits are its nasty-looking brow tines you could gig a flounder with.

Sinski said the split brows alone accounted for nearly 27 inches of the buck’s unofficial gross score of 191 5/8 Boone and Crockett inches. Fittingly, the 6 1/2-year buck was known as “Dagger Boy.”

The rack won’t be eligible for official scoring for the Pope and Young book until 60 days drying. It’s a safe bet it will be among the top free-ranging bucks taken statewide by bow and arrow this season.

A Special Buck

Sinski called the native buck’s existence a rock-solid testament to support the positive results that can sometimes happen when good genetics meet with proper nutrition and bucks are allowed reach full maturity.

“Deer like Dagger Boy don’t come along that often, but it just shows what can happen when you have one that has the chance to reach its potential,” Sinski said. “Get on the same page with all your neighbors and you might be surprised at what you can grow. The genetics are there in East Texas. The key is to keep the junk culled out and give your best bucks the opportunity to get old enough to be all they can be.”

Sinski’s history with the Trinity County whitetail dates back roughly four years, when he recorded the first game camera pictures of the deer. The veteran hunter believes the buck was 2 1/2 years old at the time.

“I always knew he was special from the first time I saw him on camera,” he said. “I’ve got four different sets of game pics from 2021 until this year. Even as a younger deer he was a main frame 10 pointer with really tall brow tines. Last year he was a main frame 10 with a split brow on one side with one that came forward. That’s when he got his nickname — those brow tines looked like daggers.”

Age = Mega Antler

Sinski believes the buck was pushing 160 B&C last season and the hunter was on the fence about whether or not to take him if given the opportunity. In hindsight, he’s glad the deer made it another year.

Dagger Boy did extremely well on the protein feed Sinski and Barrilleaux provided free choice throughout the antler growing season. They believe the deer stacked on close to another 30 inches of antler before shedding his velvet in late summer.

“He really went off this year,” Sinski said. “Both of his brow tines split and he grew lots of other trash. We had game cameras out over the the summer and it was really fun watching him grow.”

Barrilleaux was equally familiar with the handsome buck. He said the deer was a frequent visitor to the 200acre tract he owns adjacent to Sinski.

“I had pictures of him just about every day this summer,” he said. “He was one heck of a deer last year, but he was really something this year. I would have loved to have had the chance to get him, but I’m glad for Joe. We had both been watching that deer for several years. You’d me shocked if your saw the bill for the amount of protein I fed this year.”

As much as Dagger Boy liked the camera, he was extremely shy about showing himself once hunting season rolled around. Both hunters saw the buck on the hoof for the first time last year, but the sightings were only brief. Sinski said the deer chose to move under the cover of darkness most often.

“It seemed like he was always a step ahead,” he said. “He was pretty slippery — very smart.”

Cat and Mouse Game

Sinski’s second encounter with the big buck happened shortly after daylight on the morning of September 28, the second day of the 2025 Archery Only season. The deer showed up at his tree stand in the company of another solid buck known as “Patch,” but slipped away before offering the hunter a clear shot.

“I hunted him 8-10 different times from the same stand after that and never saw him again,” he said. ‘It was obvious he was winning the chess game and knew I needed to change things up. He was still showing up on camera, but always at night. He had me pegged.”

On the afternoon of Oct. 11, Sinski’s next play steered him to a different stand near a pin oak motte where he’d got pictures of the deer the previous year. After discovering a wealth of fresh sign, he dumped two bags of corn in a pile and left.

His cell phone was pinging with game camera photos the following morning. The buck visited the spot three times between 7 a.m. and 9 a.m.

The hunter had a hunch the buck may have bedded down nearby, so he slipped quietly into the area later than afternoon and got set in a loc-on stand. Things got interesting as daylight began to fade.

A spike passed beneath his is tree, but didn’t stick around long. Moments later, Sinski heard something approaching through the yaupon thicket to his right.

His target buck was probably 18-20 yards away. The brush was way too thick to take a shot, but there was no mistaking those antlers, he said.

Then something odd happened. Sinski said the big buck eyeballed the corn pile a few seconds, but didn’t commit. Instead, he lowered his head, walked away and melted into the dense under brush.

Thinking the deer had given him the slip again, Sinski’s confidence began to wane until two does and a four point showed up at the corn pile. That’s when he heard pigs squealing nearby.

“It wasn’t long after I heard the pigs that I heard something behind me,” he said. “I just knew it was those dadgum hogs coming in on me, but then I saw Dagger Boy to my left. He walked right under my tree and went straight to the corn pile.”

With daylight waning, Sinski didn’t waste time tending to business. The 100 grain Magnus Stinger broadhead found its mark behind the buck’s right shoulder, but Sinski could tell from the lighted nock the arrow didn’t pass through. He said the arrow fell out about 25 yards after impact. The carbon shaft fractured and the broadhead was broken off.

“I knew I hit him good,” he said. “There was good blood on the shaft, but hardly any on the ground. Once I watched the shot on video, I knew that deer had to be dead.”

Sinski was right. He and is his son, Ryan, recovered the lifetime buck in short order. The deer only traveled about 80 yards, bringing an end to a years-long saga for a veteran trophy hunter who was bitten the deer hunting bug as a child.

“I’ve been addicted to it ever since my dad took me that first time” he said. “I’m passionate about it and I love going after low fence native deer. “I’ve hunted quite a bit in Kansas, where the big boys are. It seems ironic that I wound up killing my biggest buck to date right here in my back yard. I was on cloud nine for 4-5 days.”

Matt Williams is a freelance writer based in Nacogdoches. He can be reached by email, mattwillwrite4u@yahoo. com.