Snow Camp hunter downs Alamance County trophy

Alamance County trophy
This Snow Camp, N.C. hunter was about to shoot a doe until this Alamance County beast showed up.

The mainframe 10-pointer had a big rack, declining body

Richard Allred of Snow Camp, N.C. killed a big Alamance County trophy buck that sported a 5×5 mainframe rack with two abnormal points. The headgear totaled 147 6/8 inches, and had an inside spread of 18 inches. Allred shot the deer on Dec. 8 with a 7 mm magnum rifle.

For Allred, it was a lesson in trusting the word of friends. In this case, those two friends, Jordan Simmons and Cale Rogers shared trail cam photos with him. The photos showed a deer that Allred had seen only once before. And it was a different deer than the “pretty good” 10-pointer the hunter was actively pursuing.

Because he noticed the rutting activity had calmed down by then in his area, Allred resigned himself to hunting for a doe to stock his freezer.

“It seemed like all the deer activity had disappeared, so I was meat hunting,” said Allred.

That afternoon around 3 p.m., he went to his favorite stand at the west side of a clearing between two sections of hardwoods. It was a box-style stand, good for hunting in any weather conditions. He didn’t see anything until 4:50. That’s when two small yearling does slipped into the opening. Shortly after, a small four-point buck emerged, heading for the does.

Five minutes later, things got more interesting

“The deer started getting nervous and looking into the woods across the opening, and a buck popped out,” he said. “When I saw the left side of his rack, I thought it was the same buck I’d been hunting. Then I could see the rest of his rack, and I knew it wasn’t that deer.”

At 4:59, the hunter leveled the crosshairs of his Nikon 4x16x50 scope on the left shoulder of the Alamance County trophy and pulled the 7-mag’s trigger.

“He went right down,” Allred said.

After he climbed to the ground and walked to the buck, Allred saw the deer’s physical condition wasn’t the best. He talked about it with his friends who had first shown him this deer’s photos.

“We think he could have been worn down after the rut. But he had an infection above his right shoulder on the top of his back,” Allred said. “He might have been hit with an arrow or nicked by a muzzleloader.

“He only weighed 155 pounds, but his rack is my best. Now I just hope the 10-pointer survives.”

About Craig Holt 1382 Articles
Craig Holt of Snow Camp has been an outdoor writer for almost 40 years, working for several newspapers, then serving as managing editor for North Carolina Sportsman and South Carolina Sportsman before becoming a full-time free-lancer in 2009.

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