Matthew King's double beam buck - Carolina Sportsman

Surry County buck had a double beam

A couple weeks before muzzeloading season in Surry County I started getting some pictures of this unique monster. I recognized him from the previous year although he had put on several inches since then. In 2021 he was a solid 9pt that I had watched several times during muzzeloading and rifle seasons. I was pretty disheartened around the first of December when he showed up with his right horn missing. I saw him a few more times before the season ended last year and was curious to see what he would become in 2022.

Through the first few weeks of bow season this year I had a number of 2 and 3 year olds on camera but nothing special until this guy showed up. When I got the first trail camera photos all I could say was “WOW!”

I hunted the area diligently for the first week of muzzeloading. Sitting 3 full days(Saturday, Monday, & Tuesday) and catching the evenings the rest of the week but hadn’t seen him. Despite getting no more pictures of him I stayed optimistic and headed back out on the second Saturday of the season for another full day in the stand. The morning was pretty uneventful with only a few deer passing through the area. At around 11 a.m. I saw a doe run across the top of the hill about 150 yds from me. She turned down the hill and ducked back into the thicket at about 100 yds.

I immediately got ready, suspecting a buck would be following. Sure enough, this bruiser was in hot pursuit. I tried everything I could to get him to stop but he never broke stride or presented a reasonable shot. I sat the rest of the day expecting him to pass back by at some point but he never did.

I didn’t hunt on Sunday but was anxious to get back in the woods Monday morning. As day started to break there were 5 does feeding in a small open area about 100 yds from me. I watched them for a while as they fed off towards the woods with the exception of one that remained near the edge of a thicket. Eventually she was the only one left when suddenly I noticed she was focused on something coming from thicket.

After 30 seconds or so of staring she bolted in the opposite direction. At first I suspected it was a coyote or maybe she just realized the others were gone. A few seconds later I saw some movement in the area where she had been watching and noticed that unmistakable rack coming through the trees. When he cleared the trees I was ready and I squeezed the trigger. When the smoke cleared the buck was running straight at me.

As I watched and listened he made a right turn into a patch of pines and I lost sight of him. I never saw him come out the other side. After I reloaded I sat back down got my binoculars and started scanning the trees. It only took a minute for me to spot his back half on the ground through the cover about 50 yards away. He was down but I watched him intently through my scope for a few minuets ready for a follow-up shot if needed.

I couldn’t wait to get down and see him up close. Once I got to him I was shocked at the mass of his nontypical horn. The trail camera had not done him justice. To say the least I was ecstatic. No ground shrinkage on this one and the deer itself was massive. Definitely the biggest bodied deer I have ever taken. He tipped the scales at 232 lbs and I rough scored his horns at around 157″ gross nontypical. I was truly blessed to take this animal and look forward to the pursuits of the future.

–Matthew King; Yadkinville, NC

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