Huntress arrows big buck, wins October Bag-a-Buck contest

She laid claim to buck when it appeared on trail-camera in October

When Kristin Montgomery of Greensboro, N.C., spied a buck she’d never before seen in a round of trail-camera photos in late October, she laid claim to it.

“My husband and a hunting buddy and I hunt on this piece of property, and when this buck showed up on our spy cam, I told them, it was off limits. I was going to kill it,” Montgomery said.

Late on the evening of Oct. 30, Montgomery followed through on her intentions. She arrowed the big 11-pointer when it showed up in front of her ground blind, entered it in Carolina Sportsman’s Bag-A-Buck contest later that night, and the next morning, her entry was drawn as the winner of the October contest.

All subscribers to Carolina Sportsman are eligible to enter Bag-A-Buck, which is divided into four monthly contests (August-September, October, November and December) with prizes that include a $25 gift certificate to the online Sportsman’s Store and a free, one-year subscription to the Sportsman.

The grand prize winner, to be announced in March from all entries, will receive a prize-package including a two-day deer/hog combination hunt for two people at Cherokee Run Hunting Lodge in Chesterfield County, S.C., a $50 gift certificate to the online Sportsman’s Store and a free, three-year subscription to Carolina Sportsman.

Montgomery was hunting out of a ground blind on property near Staley, N.C. There was a gravity feeder dropping corn in front of her stand, and a smaller, scrub buck was feeding there around 6:30 on Oct. 30. A few minutes later, the big buck showed up.

“He came walking in, and he walked around the perimeter two or three times. I was afraid he wasn’t going to stop,” she said.

Finally, the buck stopped in range, broadside at 20 yards, and Montgomery stuck him right through the boiler room with an arrow from her purple and pink Lady Ranger bow. The buck took off, but she heard him crash to the ground.

“I heard him fall, and I got out to go look for him, but he was making so much noise, I was a little scared,” she said. “But about that time, my husband, Jeff, showed up on his 4-wheeler, and we went over and put the lights on him and found him. He had gone about 40 yards.”

The buck was Montgomery’s first ever, and he was her first deer with a bow. She has killed several does with a rifle.