Steven Smith

Cole Smith shot this buck in Hertford County on 11/11/2025 during peak rut. The buck was chasing a doe at 30 yards when Cole made the shot with his mom’s Ruger American .243. They only found sparse blood and tracked the buck 150 yards into a thick cutover before losing the trail. His dad searched for hours over several days but never found the deer. On 12/19/2025 they returned to the same stand hoping to see the buck again – and they did, just not how they expected! Three does came out and Cole took a shot at one. While tracking the doe, his dad stumbled across the original buck’s remains in a holly thicket 50 yards from where they’d lost the blood trail. Nothing left but bones and antlers, but amazingly the rack was still in perfect condition. Cole’s buck scored 135-3/8″ – impressive for an eastern NC 8-pointer! A great reminder to never give up looking for a deer, even weeks later.