Christmas came early for Whitford
Josh Whitford of Linden, NC killed a 14-point buck on public land during an afternoon hunt on Dec. 1, 2024.
Whitford entered the Carolina Sportsman Bag-A-Buck Contest and was selected as the monthly winner for December.
Throughout the past 4 years, Whitford said he hunted hard, in both North Carolina and Ohio, hoping to bag a trophy buck. He’s especially thankful that this hunt took place in his home state, and on public land.
“It’s the biggest buck of my life, and on public land!” he said
The buck has been green-scored at 161 7/8 inches.
The hunt started slowly for Whitford, and stayed that way until after 5 p.m.
“About 5:10, I thanked the Lord for a beautiful evening in His creation, and told Him it would sure be nice if He could send a big buck my way,” he said. “A couple of minutes later, I caught some movement and saw it was a deer. I lifted my rifle.”
Whitford was able to see it was a buck, but couldn’t tell much about the size of it because of the distance.
“I just tried to be patient and hoped he would come out in an opening,” he said. “He covered about 150 yards and never stopped until he reached the opening, and I was ready.”
At that point, he could see the buck was a shooter, and he squeezed the trigger. Then he texted a friend, telling him about the buck he’d shot.
“He said, ‘well, get climbed down and go check him out, and send me a picture,’” Whitford said.
Whitford did just that, and only when he got to the buck did he realize just how big it was.
“When I got close, I turned the flashlight on my phone, and I couldn’t believe what I saw: a North Carolina giant of a buck. I let out a loud ‘Thank you Jesus or three!’” he said.
Then he sat down beside the deer in awe, and continued to give thanks to God.
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