It’s the first deer he’s shot in two years
Anthony Richard of Butner, N.C. took a massive mainframe eight point on Nov. 9 with his 50-caliber black powder rifle. Richard may be a diehard deer hunter, but he has spent more time over the last several years preparing stands for his three kids than spending many hours in the stand alone. Last Saturday was different though. He was free and conditions were more than suitable for an enjoyable afternoon in the stand.
“A front had just gone through and it was one of those afternoons where you just knew the bucks would be on their feet,” Richard said. And he was correct.
Back in September, Richard gained access to a brand-new hunting property that looked and smelled like a place to find a good buck. Richard and his son, Colby set up a buddy stand where they could hunt together. And after a few trips to the woods, they saw several small bucks, but nothing even close to shooter size. Yet, it was still early in the season and the rut was far from mature.
On Saturday, Nov. 9, a very nice buck showed up on camera at another hunting property. Colby decided to go hunt that other stand. This gave Richard a chance to go hunting on his own.
Richard decided to take his rattling gear along
“I haven’t hunted in a couple of years on my own. It was a good afternoon and I decided to just run out to the farm to sit and enjoy a short afternoon hunt,” he said.
Richard grabbed his rattling antlers and grunt call since it was during a time of year when the bucks may be receptive to the sounds of bucks battling in the woods. He was running late, but if an active buck was in the area, he hoped to persuade a good deer into the field.
As Richard arrived at the farm, he spooked off one small buck and six does that were already in the field. He climbed into the stand and waited for 20 minutes before he started his first rattling/grunting sequence. He scanned all over the field for a buck to show, but nothing. Fifteen minutes later, he started up another sequence and sat back and waited again. Then, he saw movement to his far right.
“It was a shooter,” he said.
He thought he missed at first
The deer was so far to the right, Richard had to stand up and turn so he could maneuver the rifle toward the deer. As he stood, the deer spotted the movement and locked-in on the motion. The gig was almost up and Richard needed to make a shot quick if he wanted to take this deer.
“The only shot I could find was through a hole in the tree limbs. As soon as I found the hole, I shot. The deer took off like I had clean missed him,” he said.
Richard took off down the tree and walked over to where he shot. And his worst nightmare was coming to fruition. He saw no blood anywhere. He had shot and missed! But, Richard doesn’t give up that easily either. He headed into the direction the deer ran off and about 40 yards down the trail, he spotted a small speck of blood. He had hit him.
He backed out and called one of his co-workers, Jessie Rich to come help track the deer. And after a thorough search, the two finally found the deer down the trail.
“He is a heavy mainframe eight pointer with really nice hooks off both 8 ½ inch G2s. It’s been two years since I have even shot a deer and I am extremely happy to have him,” he said.
His last-minute decision ended victoriously with a 130-inch eight pointer to take to the taxidermist.
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