April 25, 2024

Giant NC chocolate-rack buck

Field Reporter Bag a Buck, Deer of the Year, Newsletters

Trevor Summers killed the chocolate-rack buck in Caswell County

On Nov. 20, 2022, I harvested my biggest buck to date in Caswell County, North Carolina. After years of pursuing a deer of this caliber, countless hours in the tree stand, scouting, hanging tree stands and lots of preparation it finally all came together on a very cold November morning.

It was 29 degrees that morning. I saw this date being so cold on the weather about a week in advance and knew I couldn’t miss a morning hunt for this dark-horned buck. I’ve had countless trail camera pictures of this deer and hours of planning to try to put together a pattern and plan on this giant.

One reason this buck really stood out to me was his chocolate rack. I couldn’t believe a North Carolina buck had such a dark rack. I’ve never seen one around here before like that. Typically darker-racked bucks are more in the Midwest, but it seems rare to find one in North Carolina, so I had set the stage.

My tree stand was hung in a great location between food and bedding, and with a major cold front coming in the weather forecast, I knew it would be time to strike. So early this morning I made my way to the stand early before sunrise. I snuck in and got set up. The morning was actually slow. The sun came up and I hadn’t seen a single deer but little did I know that was all quickly about to change.

I heard some rustling and chasing in the bedding area behind me and as soon as I heard it my heart starting beating because I knew it was a buck. As soon as I turned around this monster made his way out of the thicket. Then I stood up to turn very slowly and as soon as I did he saw movement and looked. I held very still while he calmed back down. And as soon as he looked back down to feed I was able to get settled in and take the shot with my .308 rifle.

I shot and he dropped right in his tracks and didn’t take a single step. I immediately was overwhelmed with excitement and joy because I knew he was a great deer! And I couldn’t have done it without great family and friends helping and supporting me along the way. I’m so blessed and thankful to have this opportunity.

–Trevor Summers; Gibsonville, NC

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Bag A Buck

Congratulations to Summers for his chocolate-rack buck. He is now entered in our Bag-A-Buck Contest and in the running for these monthly prizes and the Grand Prize package:

Monthly winners will receive:

The Grand Prize winner will receive: