On 10-30-2021 I woke up at 4:00am to drive from my house in Shelby, NC to hunt opening day of muzzleloader in Randolph County, NC.
I rushed to my stand after driving for two hours, and was eager to see some deer movement. It was a cool morning and the wind was blowing aggressively.
As I was in my stand at I heard a vicious grunt to my left. When I turned I saw the body of a deer standing near my corn pile about 40-50 yards away. I couldn’t tell if it was a buck or doe because of some tree branches that were in the way. I draw up my grandpa’s Optima .50 cal muzzleloader that he let me borrow for this hunt and I see a massive rack in my scope. I begin shaking frantically because this is by far the biggest buck I’ve ever encountered. I cock back the hammer on the muzzleloader and place the crosshairs just behind the shoulder. I pulled the trigger and let the muzzleloader eat. With all the smoke it was hard to see if a made a good shot. I barely saw the deer run off to my right with all the smoke.
After shooting I waited a good 15 minutes before I got down to track. I see good blood in my corn pile and start following the trail. I find my buck laying on the ground approximately 70 yards from where he was in my corn pile.
This buck is a main frame 8 with a kicker on his right G2 that I named “Big Chungus”. He first came on camera at the beginning of October. He never showed up during daylight on any of the pictures I got of him.
Big Chungus measured 141 6/8. With 23 and 24” main beams.
There were also 3 other points on the backside of his bases.
-Austin Hildebrand
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