10-point buck had 19 1/2-inch spread, 11-inch tines
When you’re 17 years old and have already bagged five bucks scoring better than 120 inches, it takes a lot to get excited. But the afternoon of Dec. 3, Noah Hill of Indian Trail felt that fever when he laid eyes on a Union County 10-point buck walking toward him on a trail. While the buck green-scored 138 ¼ inches, he almost made it a double.
Perched in one his favorite spots, Hill was overlooking a heavily traveled trail that meandered through some hardwoods, with a thicket on both sides.
“All the bucks I see come down that trail,” he said. “I was in the stand by about 4. At about 4:45, a button buck and a spike came out.”
As Hill watched, he noticed the two little bucks kept looked back in the direction they had come from.
“Right at dark I looked through my scope, and I could see antlers coming through the woods,” he said. “I couldn’t see how big he was, but when he came in to about 60 yards, I could tell that he was a shooter.”
Armed with a Remington .30-06, Hill watched and waited for about 10 minutes until the buck posed for a shot. He squeezed the trigger at just the right moment and hurled a 150-grain Remington Core-Lokt bullet into his target, dropping him in his tracks.
At that moment, Hill heard a commotion behind him.
“Another 10-point walked in, but it was just too dark to get a shot,” said Hill, who decided that rather risk wounding the buck, he’d let him walk.
After the climb down and closer inspection, Hill realized his good fortune. The buck had an inside spread of 19 ½ inches, with the longest tines reaching 11 inches.
“I had been hunting this deer since bow season,” he said. “I have trail-cam pictures, but this is the first encounter I’ve had with him.”
Despite unseasonably warm conditions and a lack of deer movement, Hill had an ace in hole he believed made a difference. Buck Yum is an attractant, feed and mineral supplement that he began incorporating into his hunting areas.
“It’s a mixture of peanuts, salt, and corn,” said Hill. “I just clear a spot on the ground and pour it out.”
In addition to forage material, the product contains nutritional elements for growth and seeds that sprout to develop a permanent food source.
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