Matt Potter of Vanceboro, NC killed a Craven County 10-point buck on Oct. 30, 2024.
Potter shot the buck with a Savage .308 from 280 yards away while hunting from an elevated box stand. The buck dropped immediately. He had a history with the buck through trail cam photos and in-person encounters.
He shares the story of his hunt with us here:
“The last couple years I’ve had numerous trail camera pictures of this buck (last year he was a narrow 8 pointer). I also saw him twice while hunting last season and decided to pass him up. Once I started getting pictures before this season he was instantly my target buck. Until a few weeks ago, I got a picture of him with one of his main beams broken off at the G2, I marked him off the list. The crazy part of the story is when I was helping my dad track a buck he shot last week, my dad some how stumbled upon his broken of main beam in a grown up cut over about 1500 yards from my stand.
With the main beam in hand the hunt was back on. After working night shift I got off and headed to my stand for a couple hour hunt. After sitting about 20 minutes I saw a doe at around 300 yards run across my shooting lane with a nice buck on her tail. Looking through my scope with the safety off I locked in on the end of the lane. Sure enough the doe quickly ran back across the lane at around 280 yards and he was right on her tail. He paused just long enough for me to get a good look and place a high shoulder shot that dropped him in his tracks. After a quick trip to my house to get the broke off main beam and meet up with my dad with his four wheeler we heading in to get him out. The main beam slid in and almost locked into place and I had my hands on the biggest buck I had ever killed in NC.” — Matt Potter
Bag A Buck Contest
Congratulations to Potter, who is now in the running for our monthly prize of a free 1-year subscription to Carolina Sportsman Magazine, a Sportsman hat, a two-pack of Lowcountry Seasonings, as well as our Grand Prize, which includes a 1-year-subscription to Carolina Sportsman Magazine, a Sportsman hat, and a 2-day, two-person hunt at Cherokee Run Hunting Lodge in Chesterfield, SC.
See all the bucks entered so far, and upload yours at www.carolinasportsman.com/bag-a-buck-2024
