Loris hunter scores on 150-inch buck on friend’s property in Dillon County

Big buck left swamp, gave hunter quick, open shot

Roger Cox of Loris said it all happened so fast, he “didn’t even have time to get nervous” – and that was probably a good thing. Cox killed a 150-inch, 208-pound, 10-point buck near Dillon last Friday, in part because when the deer suddenly appeared out of a swamp, he was in range and presented a killing shot as soon as Cox saw him.

“My friend, Frankie Ford, had has been trying to get me and Lucas Board to come over and hunt on a piece of property he bought,” Cox said. “We finally went over Friday. I guess it was worth taking the day off.”

Cox, 60, said that Ford had three months’ worth of trail-camera photos of the big buck, and that he put him up in a buddy-style ladder close to a swamp, close enough, Cox said, that he “could see water from the stand.”

Cox hadn’t been in the stand long when his cell phone began to vibrate. He checked it, found that it was an attorney he was working with on a real-estate deal, so he took the call, talking over business for about 10 minutes. An hour later, around 5 p.m., the big buck stepped out of the swamp, as Cox put it, “right on top of me.”

The buck was actually about 100 yards out from Cox, who wasted no time dropping it with one shot from his Remington .308.

“When I shot, Frankie texted me, ‘Did you shoot?’ and I got down and took a picture of the buck and sent it back to him, and he flipped,” Cox said.

And with good reason. Cox’s buck had a heavy, symmetrical rack with an inside spread of 18 ¾ inches, tines that measured 13 inches and bases that were 5 ¼ inches in circumference.

“I was lucky to have Lucas Board with me to help take care of the deer and get some good pictures,” said Cox, who admitted he hadn’t had a good season up until the moment the big buck stepped out. “This year, I’ve been letting the kids shoot, but luck hasn’t been as good as it’s been for me in the past.”