11-point buck had a 23-inch spread, scored 142 5/8
When South Carolina’s 2019 deer season started, Andy Till of Orangeburg, S.C. had two bucks on his mind. He killed the first one, One-Eyed Jack, in the heat of August. And he killed the second one, Capt. Hook, on the evening of Nov. 3. This buck, an 11-point brute, had a 23-inch spread and has been green-scored at 142 5/8 inches.
Till killed the buck on an 11-acre plot of land he owns in Orangeburg County. The deer had a kicker off the back of his right side G2 that resembled a fish hook, and after seeing that on trail cameras for a while, Till named it Capt. Hook. Unfortunately, that drop tine broke off before Till killed the deer.
He first saw the buck through trail camera photos this past summer.
“One of the biggest deer I’ve ever caught on camera started frequenting the food plot about 300 yards off our back porch. As the months went by, I was surprised to see him hanging around,” said Till.
Once the summer ended, Till stopped seeing any daytime photos of the buck, but on the evening of Nov. 3, he was hunting from a stand that he generally doesn’t like to hunt this time of year. But it paid off for him.
Neighboring hunters also had Capt. Hook on their trail cameras
“It’s a field stand and I just hate hunting fields this time of year. I hadn’t seen anything all afternoon. I was getting a bit discouraged to be honest, but right about 5:35 p.m., he popped out just as broadside as can be. I had to watch him for a few minutes because a doe was standing between us. But when she moved just enough to clear my view, I took the shot,” he said.
The buck took off running. Till at first felt good about the shot, but the more he thought about how quickly the deer bolted, the less sure he was about it.
“The deer wasn’t down, so I was nervous. I got my buddy and we started looking. After some time in the woods, we found Capt. Hook at the end of a 150-yard blood trail. What a freaking animal!” he said.
A day after Till killed the buck, word spread around, and two other guys from neighboring properties sent him photos of Capt. Hook from their own trail cameras.
“According to them, he should’ve been dead two times over before I got my chance at him. I had no idea he was being hunted so hard,” he said.
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