OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A Nebraska woman bagged a marriage proposal earlier this month along with a big buck during a recent deer hunting trip.
Samantha Camenzind’s boyfriend not only gave her the first shot at the deer they had spotted on a trail camera south of Lincoln, but then surprised her by popping the question in the middle of a photo shoot with the prized trophy — a giant buck with 11 tines on one side of its antlers and nine on the other.
“Everybody has been saying they would marry him, too, if he let them shoot this big of a deer,” Camenzind, 28, who lives in Omaha, told the Omaha World-Herald.
In three years of dating one of the things the couple bonded over is their shared love of hunting. They process and eat the meat of what they kill.
Cole Bures said he didn’t have any problem letting Camenzind take the first shot at the buck.
“I was just as excited as she was when she got it,” the 32-year-old from Filley, Nebraska said.
Cole Bures and Samantha Camenzind pose with the deer she shot near Filley, Neb., before he proposed to her on Nov. 12, 2023. Bures asked Camenzind to marry him during a photo shoot to commemorate the moment. (Brenton Lammers/Lammers Media via AP) 
Samantha Camenzind poses with the deer she shot near Filley, Neb., before Cole Bures proposed to her on Nov. 12, 2023. Bures asked Camenzind to marry him during a photo shoot to commemorate the moment. (Brenton Lammers/Lammers Media via AP) 
Cole Bures proposes to Samantha Camenzind during a photo shoot after she shot and killed a giant buck during a deer hunt on Nov. 12 , 2023 near Filley, Neb.. Bures surprised his future bride by popping the question after she bagged the deer. (Brenton Lammers/Lammers Media via AP)
Then Bures told Camenzind that he wanted a professional photographer to take some pictures to commemorate the big moment.
Partway through the pictures, he got down on one knee and asked her to marry him, allowing the photographer to capture exactly when she said yes.
Bures said he got the idea after a friend made a similar proposal during a hunting trip to Alaska.
Their friends were amazed when they saw the photos.
“I don’t know if they were more shocked we got engaged or the size of the deer,” Camenzind said.
The two are aiming at a possible wedding date next fall, but she said it definitely won’t be during hunting season.
