Pilot Mtn. hunter kills big Stokes County buck

Stokes County buck
Jordan Jessup killed this 130-class Stokes County buck on Nov. 26, 2019.

“Yogi” was a frequent visitor, but rarely during daylight

Jordan Jessup of Last Draw Outdoors killed a 130-class Stokes County buck on Nov. 26. The Pilot Mountain, N.C. hunter had a history with this deer. And after missing a shot at it during muzzleloader season, Jessup thought their history was through.

“We began observing him through trail camera photos three years ago, when he appeared to be about 3-years-old. In all that time, we had only a handful of daylight photos of the buck. We nicknamed him Yogi because he was as big as a bear,” said Jessup.

During muzzleloader season, Jessup was pleasantly surprised to see Yogi respond to a series of grunt calls. The deer moved into range, and Jessup took aim and pulled the trigger. But instead of the deer dropping, Jessup’s morale did instead. He’d missed the shot.

“I felt like that was the only opportunity I would have to see this legend. So my morale was pretty low. Yogi was a monster 8-point, and at 6-years-old according to our estimates, he humbled us in our pursuit of big whitetails,” he said.

Hard work, patience pays off

But Jessup continued to hunt patiently, and allowed numerous smaller bucks to walk, hoping to get another shot at the big buck.

On Nov. 26, he finally saw the buck again, and this time he didn’t miss.

Stokes County buck
The buck’s antlers towered over Jessup’s truck bed.

“Yogi came in grunting and chasing a doe just after 5 p.m. I shot him with a Remington Model 700 .270 at 180 yards from a ladder stand. The pics truly don’t do him justice. He was a true stud of a Stokes County buck and scored a little over 130. This is a memory that might be hard to top for a while,” he said.

This was Jessup’s second big deer of the season. In October, he killed a 4 1/2-year-old buck that he’d been pursuing for two years. That 8-point buck weighed 200 pounds.

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About Brian Cope 2726 Articles
Brian Cope is the editor of Carolina Sportsman. He has won numerous awards for his writing, photography, and videography. He is a retired Air Force combat communications technician, and has a B.A. in English Literature from the University of South Carolina. You can reach him at brianc@sportsmannetwork.com.

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