Daniel Ziegler almost missed out on the buck of a lifetime on Oct. 28 due to rainy and windy weather conditions, but he decided to stick it out until dark.
The decision paid off for the Laurens County hunter when his biggest buck yet – a trophy main-frame 10-pointer – showed himself about 15 minutes before dark.
“I hunted another spot that morning with no luck,” said Ziegler, who goes by his name on the SouthCarolinaSportsman.com forum. “I walked around a little bit and noticed some big buck tracks in this little field that we had wanted to plant something in. I decided I was going to hunt that field later in the day.”
That evening, Ziegler set up a lounge chair on the edge of the woods facing that field. It was his first time sitting in this spot.
The weather turned from a nice, low-60s day into a windy and chilly rain as the sun began to set.
“I almost left,” Ziegler admitted. “I was getting wet and cold, but it wasn’t long before dark, so I decided to stay put. About 15 minutes before dark, I saw a deer walking toward me from that field.
“It was about 150 yards away, and I couldn’t tell if it was a buck or not.”
Ziegler raised his Remington 270 in order to get a look through his Leupold scope.
The buck came closer, offering Ziegler a better look.
“I turned my scope to the maximum setting and knew right away it was a shooter,” he said. “I had to take a few deep breaths because I felt a little buck fever. “I raised my rifle back up and shot him square in the neck.
“He dropped right there. I didn’t have to track him at all, thank goodness.”
It was his first buck of the season, after having shot two does earlier.
Ziegler knew the deer, which he shot with a 130-grain Core-Lokt bullet, was a shooter but he did not know it was big enough to land him in the South Carolina record books.
“I didn’t even think about that until I got my hands on the rack,” he said. “I was sure then that it was a record-class buck.
“I thought it would score in the 150s, and was surprised when we green scored it at 162 ¼.”
This will be Ziegler’s first buck to make it into the record books. This also was Ziegler’s first time seeing this deer — either in person or on a trail camera.
Sprouse’s Taxidermy in Laurens is handling the mounting duties, and Ziegler hopes to have the mount back in time to have it officially scored by the SCDNR at the 2012 Palmetto Sportsmen’s Classic in March.
See other bucks killed this season – and add photos of your own – in the South Carolina Sportsman Bag-a-Buck Contest!
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