It’s been 4 long years waiting for the opportunity to seal the deal on a nice buck. Hunting in NC and traveling out of state to Ohio searching, scouting, and hunting hard. Going into the Thanksgiving weekend I was fearing more of the same. Friday I linked up with a great friend who had already tagged out. He told me about a nice deer that had been seen crossing the highway. The hope was that he was still in the area. The spot we were supposed to hunt was already taken by other hunters. An audible was called last minute and the hunt was awesome! The buck I killed was not really what I was hoping for though. Saturday I hunted a different area with no luck. Sunday after Church I called him and said “Brother I just don’t know where to go, but if you had to pick a spot where would you go?” He said, “Go where we were supposed to go Friday,” and I said “Ok brother that’s what I’ll do!”
I walked in and found a tree I thought would be good and climbed about 25ft. As the evening went on I hadn’t seen a thing. About 5:10 I thanked the Lord for a beautiful evening in his creation, and told him it would sure be nice if he could send a big buck my way. A couple minutes later I caught some movement, seen it was a deer, and lifted my rifle. Looking through the thick canopy cover I could tell it was a buck, but not how big he was. He was just walking taking his time with a crosswind. I just tried to be patient and hoped he would come out in a opening. He covered about 150 yards and never stopped until he reached the opening and I was ready. As he stopped I settled myself and put the crosshair where I wanted it. As he put his head down I could tell it was a nice deer and at 5:18 I squeezed the trigger, He never took a step, just collapsed when the 7mm Mag hit him.
The buck fever had me shook up, I thanked Jesus for giving me the opportunity and making a good shot. Then I called Skip and told him I just killed a good deer. He asked me could I tell how good he was? I said “Brother it looked like a good 8 pointer.” He said well get climbed down and go check him out and send me a picture.
I took my time, packed my stuff up, lowered my backpack and gun, and climbed down the tree. I grabbed my gun and left my stand and bag right there and started walking to the deer which was a little over a hundred yards from me. When I got close I shook my phone to turn on the flashlight and I couldn’t believe what I saw! A NC Giant of a buck! I let out a loud Thank You Jesus or three lol! I sat down beside the deer in awe!
The biggest buck of my life! On public land! We’ve Green Scored him at 161 7/8
Hunter’s name: Josh Whitford
Linden NC
United States
12/01/2024
14-point buck
