Mt. Airy huntress kills huge Surry County 8-pointer

8-pointer

The 8-pointer was her first ever buck

Tedisue Johnson of Mt. Airy, N.C. killed her first buck, a trophy mainframe 8-pointer in Surry County on Nov. 14, 2020. It’s a buck her husband Brandon Johnson had been watching for the past two years on trail cameras. And he almost shot it last season when the buck’s antler rack looked abnormal.

“The deer was blind in his left eye, and that helped me recognize him on trail cameras throughout the years. His rack was really messed up on one side last season, and I had decided to shoot it, thinking its rack would never amount to anything,” he said. “With him being blind in one eye and his rack like that, I had decided to take him out of the herd.”

But he never got a clean shot at the buck during 2019. Johnson didn’t think much of it going into this season. He killed a massive buck in full velvet last season that won Best by Crossbow for Typical Male at the Dixie Deer Classic. So this year, he had one thing on his mind — to get his wife her first buck.

Looking through trail camera photos leading into the season, he found one for her. And it looked awfully familiar. It was the half-blind buck. But this year, its rack was impressive.

8-pointer was a regular trail cam visitor

“Looking through my trail cam photos, that deer caught my attention because of his eye. I could easily tell it was the same buck. But this year, he had a great set of antlers. That surprised me based on what he looked like last year. It blew me out of the water,” he said. “He turned out to be a really solid, healthy buck.”

The deer was showing up regularly in daylight hours at one of his stands. His wife joined him in the stand during bow season several times, but the buck didn’t make a showing.

But on the 14th, they returned to the stand around 4 p.m. with a muzzleloader, hoping the 8-pointer would come around. Some deer were already in the clearing when they arrived, and they trotted off.

Brandon Johnson killed a massive buck in 2019, and helped his wife kill this trophy, her first ever buck, on Nov. 14, 2020.

All they saw after that for quite a while was a red fox. And about 30 minutes before dark, they heard a buck grunt. Tedisue got ready. The deer moved to within about 25 yards, and with his wife trying to find the buck in her CVA Accura muzzleloader’s scope, he realized the scope was zoomed in all the way.

“I realized the scope was zoomed all they way and could tell she couldn’t find him in the scope. I reached up and zoomed it out, and by that time, the deer had eased his way behind some trees to our right. She didn’t have a clean shot,” he said.

45-yard broadside shot spells the end of 8-pointer

The deer stayed behind the trees for about 20 seconds. Johnson thought it would head on out in search of a doe. But then it turned to their corn pile and walked right toward it.

“He came in perfect, offering her a broadside shot at 45 yards,” he said.

This time, Tedisue found the deer in the scope, took aim, and pulled the trigger. Her shot was on target. The big buck ran about 30 yards before crashing.

“She couldn’t have made a more perfect shot. She didn’t ruin any meat, and when I was gutting it, I pulled the heart out. It was split in two,” he said. “She really made a great shot. The whole hunt was an awesome experience.”

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Bag-A-Buck

Congratulations to Johnson, who is now entered in our Bag-A-Buck contest. This makes her 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 Cope 2726 Articles
Brian Cope is the editor of Carolina Sportsman. He has won numerous awards for his writing, photography, and videography. He is a retired Air Force combat communications technician, and has a B.A. in English Literature from the University of South Carolina. You can reach him at brianc@sportsmannetwork.com.

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