HighTower Hammer

HighTower Hammer green-scored 142 4/8 inches

Austin Willie Dial killed a Richland County 9-point buck that’s been green-scored at 142 4/8 inches on Aug. 17, 2023. He had a single trail camera photo of the deer, which Dial said did not give him a full look at the trophy status of the buck. He was hunting out of a two-man stand about 10 feet off the ground when he shot the buck at approximately 7:25 p.m.

“The was the first time in 20 years I’ve had a chance to hunt on opening day, but I decided instead to install a gooseneck hitch in my truck, which will allow me to tow my tractor and implements to plant food plots. Sure enough, I got one picture at 8:25 that evening of what looked to be a decent, maybe a little bigger than a basket rack, buck,” said Dial.

It would be another 2 days before Dial was able to get back into the woods.

“The next day was my wife’s birthday, so hunting was not an option. So I had to wait until Thursday evening after work to hit the woods. At that time, I had only seen that one pic of the buck on my trail camera. Come Thursday evening, the wind was supposed to be out of the southeast, which would be blowing straight toward the river where the massive buck came from. But fortunately, the wind was coming from the west,” he said.

With the temperature at 93 degrees at 6 p.m., Dial settled into his stand overlooking a 1-acre food plot located less than 50 yards from the Broad River.

“I typically see deer from the time I get in the stand until I leave. But after sitting for an hour, I had not seen the first deer. At 7:15, I texted my wife and said the wind is picking up, and that I had not seen anything,” he said.

Then, the hunt suddenly turned exciting.

“Within 2 minutes of sending that text, I caught a glimpse to my left. As I turned, I watched this massive buck trot from maybe 15 yards from me, to the middle of the food plot to about 80 yards. I immediately grabbed my rifle, but once I got the rifle up, my beans and sunflowers were so tall that I could barely spot the buck. After a few seconds, I zeroed in on the buck and made the best shot to my ability. He immediately went down. I was so fired up, still not realizing the caliber of this buck, I jumped completely out of the stand. Once I got to the buck, I about lost my breath when I saw how tall his G2s were (12 7/8 inches and 12 3/8 inches).

“‘Wow! What a buck!’ is all I could say,” said Dial.

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Bag A Buck Contest

Congratulations to Dial, 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, and other prizes, 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.