Hunter scouted buck for 3 weeks
Shane Copeland of Abbeville County killed a trophy of another kind on Nov. 3 when he bagged a piebald buck that is easily the most unique buck he has ever taken. Copeland had been scouting the deer for a couple of weeks, after it began showing up on his trail-cams.
“Earlier in the season, some other hunters were talking about seeing a small white deer, but that was about 6- or 8-miles from my property. Then about three weeks ago, the deer started showing up on our trail-cams. My cousin saw it while hunting once, but didn’t take a shot at it,” said Copeland.
Every time the buck showed up on one of Copeland’s trail-cams, it was always during the morning hours. “He never showed up on any trail-cams in the afternoons or evenings,” he said.
Finally, on the morning of Nov. 3, Copeland saw the deer in person. “It was supposed to be foggy that morning, so I was planning to use my climbing stand in the woods. But it turned out to not be foggy at all, so I decided to hunt overlooking a big field instead. About 8:45 that morning, I saw something white and looked with my binoculars. It was about 450-yards away and it was the white buck,” said Copeland, who watched the buck for a short 5-seconds before it disappeared into the woods.
“Just seeing that deer, I knew I wanted it and I sat there trying to figure out what I needed to do to get it. I laid my burdens down to God and asked for His help getting that buck. I got out of that stand and went to check my trail-cam in the woods, where I almost sat that morning, and there was a photo of that buck. He’d been there earlier that very morning,” said Copeland.
Since the buck only showed on their trail-cams during morning hours, Copeland decided he would hunt that stand early the next morning, but decided to get a good lay-of-the-land that afternoon. “I decided to sit in that stand that afternoon, and I was going to leave some stuff in the tree so I wouldn’t have to haul it all up the next morning. I knew I would want to get in early and quietly the next morning,” he said.
“I really felt good about my chances of killing the buck the next morning; I never thought I would kill it that afternoon instead, but that’s what happened,” said Copeland, who got in the stand that afternoon as more of a scouting trip than anything. “I wanted to make sure I had any limbs cut and had a clear path,” he said.
“I got in the stand at about 4-o’clock that afternoon and I killed it at 4:51,” said Copeland, who shot the buck at 40-yards with a Savage .223 and Leupold scope. “It came walking straight at me, then turned and began moving away, offering me a clean shot. I give all the glory to God on this one. He blessed me with this deer,” he said.
Copeland said the deer, who had a 7-point rack, had a long tail, and short front legs, and he estimated the buck’s age at about 18-months. He is getting a full-body mount from Chuck Mulkey at Chuck’s Taxidermy in Anderson County.
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