Buck has been green-scored at 166 5/8
Thirteen-year-old Walker Smith of Ridgeland, S.C. killed a whopper of a deer during his school’s fall break at the end of October in Jasper County. The buck was green-scored at 166 5/8 inches, and is the young hunter’s biggest buck ever.
Walker gave one of his friends a great introduction to hunting. It was his friend’s first time in a deer stand.
“Walker had a few friends join him to do some hunting and fishing that week. That evening, he and one of those friends got in a double-box stand about 600 yards from the stand I was hunting. I don’t think his friend had ever worn camo before that day. It was quite an experience for him,” said Canada Smith, Walker’s dad.
Walker’s friend had best seat for the show
They watched a doe run into the cut corn field, then a big buck ran right in after the doe. Walker took aim with his Savage 7mm-08 and shot the buck when it was about 120 yards away.
“They watched the buck run about 60 yards into a tree line and out of sight. Walker felt good about the shot but didn’t see it fall, so there was still some mystery there. He sent me a text saying he’d shot a big buck, so I went to help look for it, he said.
They found the buck just inside that tree line pretty quickly.
“We were really just in shock at the size of the buck. We’ve had a few sightings of what I think may have been this buck, but we never got a really good look at it. To see it up close like that was astonishing.
“I will say that Walker has passed on many good bucks throughout the years. That’s not always an easy thing for young hunters to do. So it was good to see that pay off for him. He’s put in a lot of time, been patient, and has let numerous bucks walk that many other hunters wouldn’t have. We had it green-scored at 166 5/8 inches by an QDMA scorer, and we are interested in getting it officially scored soon,” said Canada Smith.
