Carthage, N.C. huntress kills big 9-point buck in Moore County

It was her first deer in four years

When Karley Davidson of Carthage, N.C. was 16-years-old, she killed a big 10-point buck in Randolph County that landed her in the pages of Carolina Sportsman Magazine. Then she went on a four-year drought without killing another deer at all. But she ended the drought on Nov. 13 with an even bigger buck — this time from Moore County.

The 20-year-old huntress killed a 9-point buck that had a thick-massed set of antlers which has been estimated at around 150 inches. The buck, which was 5 1/2-years-old, showed up on her trail cameras shortly after she got them set up on Oct. 13.

“I was running behind and getting a late start, and didn’t get it all set up until the day gun season opened up in Moore County. But within a few days, I had several nice bucks show up on camera. Then the ‘big 9’ showed up, and he automatically became my hit list,” she said.

And she did more than just put out a few trail cameras. From scouting property to clearing shooting lanes, she spent a lot of time and effort in getting things just right. And it all paid off.

She’d heard about the big buck from neighboring hunters, and once it showed up on her land, it became a more consistent visitor, from showing only once a week to being a nightly visitor to her hunting area.

“I had tons of rubs, scrapes, and nice videos of him. And on Nov. 12, he finally showed up during daylight hours for the first time, and my trail cam got a picture of him about 30 minutes after I had gotten down from my stand. I was literally sick. I just knew he would never show again,” she said.

But he did show back up, the very next day.

“A week of rain was coming, but there was going to be a break in the rain from 6 a.m. to 8 a.m. on the 13th. I knew that was going to be my only opportunity, so I got to the stand around 6:30 a.m., a little bit late, and I jumped three does walking in. I was skeptical of seeing anything at this point, but I put out some fresh scent and started doing some buck grunts with my call,” she said.

Around 7:34, she looked down from her stand and saw the big 9 about 100 yards away. She put him on the ground right then.

“I looked down and there he stood, about 100 yards from me. I never heard him or saw him come in. It’s just like he appeared out of nowhere. I took the shot with my Remington 770 .243, and he ran maybe 15 yards,” she said.

Click here to see Davidson’s buck from 2014.