Hunter killed the buck with an 85-yard shot
Jesse Linville of Reidsville, N.C. killed a trophy 11-point buck on Nov. 15 a little after 5 p.m. on his farm in Rockingham County. The mainframe 10 with one kicker has been green-scored at 142 7/8-inches. It was his second time in the stand that day. And he said the two hunts were as different as night and day.
“I took that day off and I hunted that morning and didn’t really see anything. And that afternoon it was like the flip of a switch,” said Linville.
“About 3 p.m., I had a nice 8-pointer come in chasing a doe. And some other does came funneling through. Then everything calmed back down. And then about 5 p.m. I had a 4-pointer push out to me. And I kept hearing a bunch of ruckus in the thicket to my right. I saw a bigger doe come in. It looked like she’d been pushed pretty hard. It probably wasn’t another minute later when he (the 11-pointer) came strolling in,” he said.
Within a minute of spotting the buck, the animal offered Linville a clear shot at about 85 yards from his ladder stand. He pulled the trigger on his CVA Optima muzzleloader, killing the deer.
“He didn’t run 20 yards before piling up,” he said. “He’s the biggest deer I’ve seen on our farm on the hoof.”
Linville has been managing his land to draw in trophy deer
Linville had a slight history with this buck. His trail camera captured a photo of it three days before he killed it. And he also got some nighttime trail camera photos of it in 2016, very close to where he killed the buck.
Even though Linville lives in what has been one of the top trophy-producing counties in the state for quite some time, his property didn’t hold many trophy bucks until just a a few years ago. Part of his deer hunting hobby has become doing everything he can to draw trophy deer in, and keep them on his farm.
“Probably seven years ago, our farm didn’t really hold nice deer, especially during the rut. They’d walk away to the adjoining properties,” he said.
But for the past few years, Linville has actively done what he’s needed to keep those big deer coming around. His efforts are one reason the Rockingham County buck was so special to him.
“I feed them minerals and plant decent food plots throughout the year to keep them there and give them that nutrition that they need. I like to keep up with it and I guess it makes the hobby a little bit more interesting to me.
“In the last three years, I think I’ve taken the right steps to get our farm to where it needs to be. And I hope to progress it every year from here on,” he said.
Click here to listen to Linville tell the story in his own words.
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