Kyler Manning 7-years-old, killed this Edgecombe County buck on Oct. 15, 2023 with his dad. This was his opening day, because his dad had to work on the actual season opener. So he was a little upset for missing opening day.
We sat in a box stand that morning watching a been field and saw a few does and a couple of smaller bucks. We decided not to shoot that morning, so he was still kinda upset. He kept saying “well dad, I guess since we missed opening day, we aren’t going to see any big bucks.”
That afternoon I let him pick a spot to sit. He picked the same stand we sat in that morning. It was starting to get later in the afternoon when he said “dad, I think I see a deer.” He had the binoculars in his hands looking. He said “it’s a buck.”
I thought he was playing around like we usually do, so I looked and confirmed it was a deer and a buck. And that he could shoot it. He got so excited. We let the deer get about 100 yards from us. We got his gun set up and ready to go.
The deer turned broadside and he was ready to take the shot. He took the shot and the deer jumped and ran into the woods.
He said “dad, I think I missed him because he ran away.”
But I knew he hit him. We got down from the stand and started to look for the deer. We found blood, and he started to follow it just a few steps in front of me, getting more and more excited because he knew he had shot a deer.
He was so excited when we found the deer he looked at me and said “dad, it’s ok that we missed opening day.”
I don’t know who was more excited; me or him.
–James Manning
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Bag A Buck Contest
Congratulations to Manning, who is now in the running for our monthly prize of a free 1-year subscription to Carolina Sportsman Magazine, a Mini Maglite, an 18-ounce Yeti Rambler, a two-pack of Lowcountry Seasonings, as well as our Grand Prize, which includes a 3-year-subscription to Carolina Sportsman Magazine, a 2-day two-person hunt at Cherokee Run Hunting Lodge in Chesterfield, SC, and other prizes to be determined.
See all the bucks entered so far, and upload yours at carolinasportsman.com/bag-a-buck-2023, or email photo and detailed info to images@carolinasportsman.com.
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