Thick-beamed rack grossed 140-inches
Sevin Carter of Durham County hasn’t killed many bucks in his hunting career, but it’s not because he hasn’t had plenty of options. He simply chooses to let them walk if they aren’t what he considers a trophy. This strategy paid off Nov. 29 when Carter killed a 140-class buck. It wasn’t his first encounter with this deer.
“I’d been hunting that buck for about three years. The first time I saw him was the first day of bow hunting season three years ago. I even took a shot at him earlier this season, but missed. We’ve had three good bucks on our property, and other than shooting some does, I’ve focused on just these three bucks,” said Carter.
Carter went back to the same spot he missed the deer one week later, but the buck didn’t show that day. Persistence paid off for him though when he went back the week after that.
“It all happened really fast. I took my climbing stand in, and I set off a Buck Bomb in the Doe and Estrus Heat scent. I climbed up about 25-feet, and it wasn’t long before I heard movement. My heart sank though when I saw a bunch of turkeys walking through,” he said.
The turkeys moved through quickly, and just a few minutes later, the buck he’s been after for so long showed up.
“He had his nose to the ground, sniffing the whole way, and before I realized it, I had my gun raised and was looking through the scope at the deer,” said Carter, who was hunting with an H&R Slug Hunter in 12-gauge with a 3-inch sabot.
“I aimed at the shoulder, pulled the trigger, and the deer ran off. He ran about 15-yards, ran in a circle, and fell over. I’ve hunted this deer hard, and had seen him a few times when I didn’t have a clean shot, missed that one time, let tons of other deer walk, and it’s been really gratifying finally getting my chance to kill him after putting in so much work,” said Carter.
The buck had 9-points, a thick set of beams, and gross green-scored 140-inches.
Carter said he has a number of reasons for letting smaller bucks walk throughout each season, and that the strategy will pay off for other hunters too.
“If you shoot a small buck, how do you know a bigger buck wasn’t 100-yards behind that buck, and headed your way? You’ll never know unless you let those smaller ones walk. I also think you can spook big deer off your property for a good while if you’re shooting smaller bucks. It’s just not worth the risk to me,” he said.
Click here to read about other big North Carolina bucks.
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