3-year long wait ends with quick hunt
Patrick Brown of Sylva, N.C. killed a Jackson County 11-pointer on Dec. 11 that will land him in North Carolina’s record book. The brute has been green-scored at 172 4/8 inches. Brown and this deer had a pretty lengthy history. But the day he killed the buck was pretty routine, he said. With proper planning, he said sometimes it goes that way.
“I hunted that deer for three years. When I saw him the first year, he was a small 8-point, and I let him walk. I had him in my crosshairs. And I can say that’s the only 8-point I’ve ever let walk away. And then I didn’t see him again except for on trail cameras for the last two years,” he said.
The hunter said having Spypoint Micro trail cameras that send photos to his cell phone was a key element.
“That morning, I got a picture of the deer on my cell phone. It was my first daytime photo of the deer. So when I got off work, I went home, changed clothes, and went right into the woods,” he said.
Brown had a stand located near the location of the buck’s photo. But he realized the wind was coming in from an unfavorable direction. So he decided to go old school, staying on the ground.
The buck had a split brow tine and a split G2
“I knew from nighttime trail cam photos where that deer was coming in from. And once I realized the wind was wrong, I walked up on the ridge and kicked the leaves out from around a tree, and I just stood behind that tree,” he said.
Once Brown got to his spot, he waited about 30 minutes for the woods to calm down. Then he performed a series of tending grunts. He got results immediately.
“Within a minute, he was standing right there in shooting range. It was nothing exciting. It just happened that quick,” he said. “I was really blessed and thankful to finally get that deer.”
Brown shot the buck with a Savage 7mm-08, and said without his trail camera sending him the photo, he wouldn’t have known that deer was in there during daylight. And he said that played a bigger role than most folks realize.
“I would have had to go in there to check my camera to know the deer had made a daytime appearance. And then I’d have been spreading my scent all in there. And that may have pushed him out. You wouldn’t believe what a difference having those cameras will make,” he said.
The Jackson County 11-pointer was a mainframe 9, and had a split G2 and a split brow tine. The antlers were 6 1/2 inches in circumference at the bases, and carried that mass throughout.
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