Buck’s rack gross green-scored at 136 3/4-inches
Chesterfield’s Kristy Zearfoss had a dream over the weekend about a big buck appearing at her favorite hunting stand. On Nov. 9, Monday afternoon, that dream became reality, and Zearfoss shot the deer with her late mother-in-law’s Remington 700 7mm rifle. The deer’s rack has been gross green-scored at 136 3/4-inches, and is the biggest deer she’s ever killed. She isn’t the first person to shoot it, she later learned.
“It was rainy Monday afternoon, and I had just taken a 2-hour nap after working a 12-hour night shift. I decided to get in the stand. Thinking of the dream I had of a big buck coming to my favorite stand, I knew which one I would be getting in that day. I remember saying a prayer the whole way to the stand,” said Zearfoss.
Zearfoss and her husband have trail-cams throughout the property they hunt, and they had photos of two deer in particular that she was hoping to get a look at in person. “I was determined I was going to get one of them,” she said.
The rainy weather began to improve during her hunt, and Zearfoss was observing the sky, which she said had turned a beautiful pink color. “While sitting and looking at this amazing sky, I glanced toward the corn pile, and there he was, 30-minutes before dark, and standing broadside,” said Zearfoss, who wasted no time putting her sights on the buck and pulling the trigger.
The deer staggered a short distance before toppling over. “I was so happy with excitement that I started to cry! I know this is a once-in-a-lifetime buck, and I thank God he blessed me with this opportunity. God and my mother-in-law were definitely with me!” said Zearfoss.
While processing the deer, the folks at Big Oak Processing in Ruby discovered this deer has been hunted hard for some time by multiple people. “They found some old buckshot and the broadhead of an arrow in his body,” said Zearfoss, adding that several other hunters on surrounding properties have also sent her photos of the deer from their own trail-cams.
Along with the deer’s impressive rack, which had an 18.5-inch spread, the buck weighed 180-pounds. It had a 23 1/8-inch main beam on the right side, and 21 5/8-inch main beam on the left.
Click here to read about other big South Carolina bucks.
Be the first to comment