Union County buck weighed 205 pounds
I shot this nice buck at 4:10 p.m. on Nov. 27, 2023. My friend and I share the property and we bowhunt it through archery and gun season. We have had a few resident deer that we deemed shooters that we’ve been watching most of the season, hoping to connect with one of them. But on Thanksgiving day, this new deer showed up on camera in some heavy fog, and we weren’t sure what we were looking at. He looked like a ghost deer. Couldn’t tell if he we were looking at a big rack through the fog, or if we were making it up in our imagination!
Over the next two days, we got more photos of him from different cameras, and we realized we had a new fella on property. We figured this deer was only passing though and would spend just a few days before moving on. The first chance we had to hunt after family left town from Thanksgiving, my buddy went out for him on Sunday night to our best stand location. He had good action during the sit, but he didn’t see the new buck.
The next night (Monday) I went out and sat the same lock on stand, and sure enough the buck stood up out of his bed about 80 yards from me, after I had been sitting for an hour and a half. He immediately crossed the wide creek that separated us, took the next 10 minutes to graze on acorns and work a scrape before cruising in my direction. He finally took the right turn he needed to make, and walked right in front of me, broadside at at 28 yards. I stopped him with a mouth noise and let the arrow fly. He took three big leaps after the arrow passed through, and stopped in his tracks, where he stood trying to keep his balance for about 7 more minutes until he fell over and expired right in front of me. Kind of wild to watch that whole sequence play out.
Great experience overall, and very thankful to have had the opportunity to hunt this deer and take him with a bow!
He measured 139 inches and 205 pounds.
–Ben LaValley; Weddington, NC
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Bag A Buck Contest
Congratulations to LaValley, 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.
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