It’s not the hunter’s first deer, but it’s his biggest
Hunter Beltz, 16-years-old from Summerville, S.C., killed a whopper 17-point buck on Dec. 30. The young hunter has killed plenty of deer, but this was by far his biggest. The spread on the antlers measured 22 inches.
“I’ve never even gotten close to a wall hanger until this one,” said the youth hunter.
It was only Beltz’s second time hunting at Springfield Hunting Club, and he had no clue whether the stand he picked was a promising spot. He even offered the stand up to a friend, who decided to head to the next one.
“I wasn’t aware if the stand I got was a good stand or bad. I told my friend who was going to the next stand ‘if you want this stand, you can have it, and I’ll just take the next one.’ But he said no,” said Beltz.
The buck was a fighter, but no match for the young hunter
This hunt was a dog drive, and as Beltz got settled into his spot, he could hear the dogs in the distance. It wasn’t long before things got real interesting for him.
“I looked up and saw a buck coming towards me at 60 yards out. So I was as still as possible as it came in closer and closer. I fired twice when he was 30 yards out. I hit it broadside. The deer stumbled, then pitched off,” he said.
The deer was obviously hit, but it wasn’t giving up. But Beltz wasn’t giving up either.
“I fired another shot, hitting its body again. It went down, but got back up again. So I fired two more shots. That killed it,” he said.
Beltz is currently waiting on the SCDNR to green-score the 17-point buck, and he’s hoping it scores high enough to get him on the South Carolina records list. Either way, he’s happy to finally have his wall hanger.
Beltz entered his buck into the Carolina Sportsman Bag-A-Buck Contest. Click here to see all the entries.
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