Ethan Baxley’s 8-point buck

Ethan Baxley of Raeford, N.C. was hunting in Hoke County on Dec. 18 when he killed an 8-point buck at 9 a.m. He shot the deer with a Stoeger 12-gauge shotgun. He was hunting with three Walker hound pups that he’d spend several months training.

Baxley had never seen the deer before the day he shot it, and he had no trail-cam photos of the deer. The pups jumped the buck, which broke into a field. That’s when the 17-year-old pulled the trigger and dropped it.