It’s Laura Tucker’s first full velvet buck
Laura Tucker was hunting in Warren County, NC on opening day of The Old North State’s archery season when she killed a big 8-point buck in full velvet.
Tucker shot the buck with a Killer Instinct crossbow and an arrow tipped with a Rage broadhead. While she’s killed her share of bucks, this one was different for one reason.
“It’s the first full velvet buck I’ve ever killed,” she said.
She’d never seen the deer in the flesh before that hunt, but she knew it was in the area.
“We’ve had trail camera photos of it going back a couple of years. And we had many photos of it this year leading up to opening day,” she said.
Tucker was hunting from a stand overlooking a wooded area when the buck showed up and offered her a clean shot from 25 yards away. When her arrow made contact, the buck ran about 20 yards to her right, then circled back to the left.
“All together, he went about 60 yards. I watched him stagger, then fall over,” she said.
A doe tried to spoil the hunt
The weather kept her out of the woods that morning, but luckily the storms passed in time for her to get into her stand for the afternoon hunt. She saw activity, even before the velvet buck showed up.
“A doe and a fawn came out, and the doe got spooked. They both ran and she started blowing. I figured that was it, but about 5 minutes later, two bucks came out,” she said.
She waited for the velvet buck.
“The first buck got to the bait pile before the one I harvested. But I could see the second one was larger. As soon as he gave me a shot, I took it, and a few seconds later, he was down,” she said.
Tucker sent a text to her husband, but he thought she was pulling a prank on him.
“He thought I was joking that I harvested this full velvet buck,” she said.
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Bag A Buck Contest
Congratulations to Tucker, 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.
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