Pender County hunter downs 200-pound trophy buck

This deer popped up a couple of years ago when I wasn’t planning on hunting much due to building a new house from the flood of Hurricane Florence. I wasn’t prepared and he made a fool of me!

Last year I hunted him real hard but never saw him. I took him during the 2023 season on Oct. 18, at 7:42 a.m.

It was a very slow morning with only one doe out feeding. About twenty minutes after she wandered off, another doe came out, but was acting very spooky. I knew it wasn’t me because I was hunting the wind and had not moved. Five minutes after she came out to feed, he stepped out! I knew it was him without even looking through the binoculars.

He came straight in towards me to close in on that doe, but ended up behind a large oak tree. I was calm until that point, but then I could only see his butt and head/antlers. He stayed there for a few minutes smelling that doe with me getting more worked up. When he finally gave me a shot, I killed him using a Browning 1885 .300 Win Mag at 70 yards with my heart beating out of my chest!

After I shot, I called my wife Crystal to bring my daughters out. They helped me retrieve him and shared this amazing experience with me! This is the biggest deer that I have ever taken and that has ever been seen on my ranch! Selective management is certainly paying off! This has sparked a huge interest in growing big deer and I cannot wait to watch my daughters take a big one for their first bucks!

I took this buck on Big Cypress Ranch in Burgaw, NC. It weighed 200 pounds and was green-scored by my taxidermist Fred Gorsky in Currie, NC at 157 3/8 inches. I hope to show him at the Dixie Deer Classic this upcoming year!

–Michael Cooper___________

Bag A Buck Contest

Congratulations to Cooper, 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, a two-pack of Lowcountry Seasonings, 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.