Clinton hunter downs 10-point trophy after long quest

10-point buck

The 10-point buck has been green-scored at 149 4/8 inches

Dillon O’Dell of Clinton, S.C. killed a big 10-point buck that’s been green-scored at 149 4/8 gross inches on Nov. 12. It’s a deer he’s been hunting for three years, ever since his trail camera first photographed the buck shortly after O’Dell killed a different big 10-pointer.

The photos came sparingly, but often enough to keep O’Dell excited about the buck’s presence.

“I have been hunting this deer for three years. Three years ago, I shot the biggest 10-pointer I had ever killed. And I knew this deer was bigger than that one. I only had two photo of this deer that year. And I hunted him like crazy. But I never saw him, and didn’t get another trail cam photo of him.

The next season, a similar thing happened with the elusive buck.

“The same thing happened. One or two photos, and then he disappeared. Then this season, he showed up early in the year. We got a lot more photos of him, but they were all at night. So I decided to stick with him and hunt this hardwood ridge where I’d gotten the most photos of him,” said O’Dell.

Some crazy weather invaded the Clinton area for a few days, and on Nov. 12, the weather was overcast and windy. O’Dell got into his stand about 3:30 p.m.. He was overlooking a hardwood ridge that had been a frequent spot of the big buck. The ridge has a natural funnel at the bottom, surrounded on three sides by cutovers.

Boring sit gets exciting when 10-point buck sneaks in

“It was a long, boring sit. There was nothing around. No squirrels, no birds. It was just the wind and me and my thoughts. About 5 p.m., I was reminiscing on past hunts I’d taken with my granddad before he died,” he said.

But then something else caught his attention — footsteps.

“I heard footsteps in front of me. They were heavy and spaced out. I knew it was a deer for sure. I could see through a hole in the trees and thick brush, and I caught a glimpse of a deer’s body. So I shouldered my 6.5 Bergara. I looked through the scope and couldn’t really tell much about the deer at first. But when it put its head down, all I could see was horns,” he said.

O’Dell recognized it as the big 10 he’d been hunting for the past three years. He clicked the safety off on his rifle, and waited for a clear shot.

“The buck took an unexpected turn from the bottom of the ridge in the funnel to straight up the hill. But it’s fairly thick there. So I didn’t have much of a shot. My only chance was a small hole that the deer was headed to. But I couldn’t brace off of the rail of the stand because of a small tree directly in front of the stand. So I had to freehand the shot at 50 yards,” he said.

Luckily, the deer appeared in that hole. Shaking like a leaf, and lips numb from adrenaline, O’Dell composed himself enough to place his scope’s crosshairs on the buck’s shoulder. He squeezed the trigger.

The buck ran toward O’Dell’s stand after being hit

“He bucked up in the air and ran straight for the stand. I could tell he was hit hard,” he said.

As the deer ran by the stand, O’Dell could hear blood splattering onto the forest floor. Then the deer stopped behind some trees.

“I shucked another round in just in case. It’s getting close to dark by now. You don’t want to take any chances on a buck like that. So when he walked out past the tree, I shot him one more time right behind the shoulder. He dropped like a sack of potatoes,” he said.

Overjoyed with finally harvesting the buck he’d chased for so long, O’Dell thought once again of his granddad and the role he played in his life.

As happy as he was for the hunt to be over, the hunter said it’s bittersweet.

“When I went to him, there was no ground shrinkage. There was the buck I’d been chasing for three years. And putting my hands on him was bittersweet.

O’Dell is unsure of what to hunt now

“An old deer like that has been running these woods for a long time. He was king in these hollers. And I don’t know what to do now. A stud like that — I may never kill another as big as he is. And I have no other bucks on camera to even try to compare him to,” he said.

O’Dell called his friend Mike Johnson, who runs the Clinton House Plantation, which borders the property O’Dell was hunting.

“Mike and I have a good relationship. They had the same deer on their trail camera, and we keep each other informed of the deer we see and kill. For that buck, it was kind of like, who is going to get him first? So I was stoked to give him a call and let him know the game was over for that buck we’d been chasing all these years,” he said.

O’Dell is having a mount prepared at American Outdoorsman Taxidermy of Laurens. They scored the 10-point buck, which had a 16-inch inside spread, at 149 4/8-gross inches, with a 145 4/8-inch net score.

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Bag-A-Buck

Congratulations to O’Dell, who is now entered in our Bag-A-Buck contest, making him eligible for a number of great prizes. That includes the grand prize, a two-day, two-man hunt at Cherokee Run Hunting Lodge. Click here to view the Bag-A-Buck gallery or to enter the contest yourself.

About Brian Carroll 20 Articles
Brian Carroll is an award-winning writer, photographer, and videographer. He is an avid outdoorsman. He owns and operates Marine Marketing Group and The Outdoor Image. Brian is a member of the Southeastern Outdoor Press Assn. and a past president of the South Carolina Outdoor Press Assn.

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