Pilot hunter kills massive-racked 6-point buck

He killed a 140-class buck from the same stand exactly one year earlier

Six-point bucks are a dime a dozen in the Carolinas, but every now and then, a hunter will see one that can really make them raise their eyebrows. Jordan Denton of Pilot, N.C. saw one on Oct. 30 that made him raise his eyebrows, and his Browning A-Bolt .270. Denton killed the buck with a 150-yard lung shot that he took free-handed from his modified climbing stand in Franklin County.

Denton had seen the buck on trail camera photos just a couple of times before, and he began hunting it pretty hard, thanks to the tall, wide, and thick-massed rack the deer sported on its head.

While sitting in his stand overlooking a swamp on private land that evening, Denton caught a glimpse of a flicker, and realized it was a deer’s tail. He noticed a deer was bedded down, but couldn’t tell if it was his target buck or not, so he let out a series of grunts, prompting the deer to stand. A few more grunts, and Denton had the deer coming out of the swamp. It was the big 6.

“Once he came out, I shot at him and missed. I shot again, and the deer ran off. I was pretty sure I made a clean hit, but I knew it wasn’t going to be easy to find him, so I had a couple of buddies — Kelton Pearce and Joe Carpenter — hunting nearby and I got them to come help me,” he said.

They began tracking the deer into the swamp. Denton was wearing waders, and he brought his kayak from his truck and walked his friends across the swampy area in the kayak one at a time. From there, the search began.

“It took about an hour and a half, but we finally found it. Then we put the deer in the kayak and I walked it across the swamp. Then I went back for Kelton and Joe, one at a time. It took a long time. It was a long night, but it was definitely worth it.

“My stand isn’t much to look at. The trees in there are all curved and crooked, so a climbing stand isn’t much good. But I permanently mounted mine on a good part of a tree, and I use pegs to get in it. It’s been a good stand. I killed a 140-class deer from that same stand exactly one year earlier. I feel blessed to have killed this 6-pointer there too, and to have had my friends help me recover it,” he said.

The buck had an inside spread of over 19 inches, and while it may not score as high as the buck he killed a year earlier, it’s definitely one Denton won’t forget.