Eden man is October Bag-a-Buck winner

James Farris popped this nice 8-point two days after accepting a two-month furlough from his job, and he went on to win the October edition of the North Carolina Sportsman Bag-a-Buck Contest.

James Farris of Eden took a voluntary two-month furlough from his job in Reidsville on Friday, Oct. 22. If he was down in the dumps, it certainly didn’t last long because two days later, Farris arrowed a fine 8-point buck in Rockingham County.

And 10 days later, his entry was drawn as the winner of North Carolina Sportsman’s October Bag-A-Buck contest presented by Rivers West.

Farris’ monthly prize package includes a $25 gift certificate from Overton’s, boot gaiters from Rivers West, a CVA muzzleloader from Nichols Store in Rock Hill, S.C., a North Carolina Sportsman T-shirt and window decal, a Tink’s scent kit, Realtree hats and Monster Buck DVDs, a Plano storage box, a truck-bed liner from Line-X, and a copy of “Cooking on the Wild Side” by Ty Conti, the magazine’s publisher.

In addition, Farris will remain eligible, along with every other hunter who enters the contest through Dec. 31, for the grand prize: a 2-day deer hunt from Fourth Generation Outfitters, a Weatherby rifle and $25 gift certificate from Overton’s, a Leopold scope, a fiberglass deer blind from Four Sons Marine, a Line-X truck-bed liner and a full set of hunting clothes from Rivers West.

Click here to view the full Bag-a-Buck gallery and enter your own photo. However, keep in mind that you must be a North Carolina Sportsman subscriber to be eligible for the monthly and grand prizes.

Farris, 45, had his stand set up on the edge of a pasture, and he had trail camera photos of the big 8-pointer he killed.

“I even had daytime pictures of him,” said Farris, who had hunted his stand several times in the evening during the first six weeks of bow season but had only hunted it once or twice in the morning.

It was barely daylight when Farris heard deer running through a thicket just off the pasture, and shortly thereafter, two does stepped out and started feeding. A moment or two later, Farris looked back at the wood line, and there stood the 8-pointer.

“He slipped in. I just looked over to where the does came from, and he was standing there,” said Farris, who watched the buck browse on honeysuckle, among other things, for about 15 minutes.

He had the deer at 20 yards once, but he didn’t have a good shot. Finally, the buck turned to head back in the woods and at 30 yards Farris took a quartering-away shot with his new Matthews Z7 bow.

“I was a nervous wreck by the time I made the shot,” Farris said. “I think he was heading back to some oaks to feed when he started to leave. He ran about 100 yards or a little more before he fell.”

Farris’ Carbon Express Mayhem arrow, tipped with a 100-grain Muzzy MX-3 broadhead, was dead on.

“I got the right lung on the way out. That’s what got him,” he said.

The buck has a fairly wide inside spread of almost 18 inches, and Farris measured it himself, estimating that it will score a little more than 110 points. The rack grosses around 120 points, but the tips of the two tallest tines on the left antler have been broken off, and the brow tine on its right antler is shorter than the matching point on the left side.

About Dan Kibler 887 Articles
Dan Kibler is the former managing editor of Carolina Sportsman Magazine. If every fish were a redfish and every big-game animal a wild turkey, he wouldn’t ever complain. His writing and photography skills have earned him numerous awards throughout his career.

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