130-class buck finishes season for trophy deer hunter
After R.J. Seiler took his all-time largest buck on the first few days of the season, he would have never dreamed of killing another trophy buck before the end of the 2015 season. But in the afternoon of December 10, Seiler punched out his last tag on another fine Rockingham County brute that will score in the upper 130’s.
Back on Sept 14, Seiler killed a massive 150-inch, typical eight pointer on his small farm in Rockingham County. And shortly after he took his trophy deer out of the woods that day, another big buck showed up in his trail camera footage. It was a big 10-pointer with another massive set of antlers.
“The buck showed up back in bow season and continued to show up on camera many times in and around the 30-acre clear cut,” he said.
After the excitement wore off from the first big buck he killed, the big 10-pointer was steadily on his mind and he started to remove all of the stops to get this new buck in range. The rut was in full force and the buck would most likely remain on the scene, as long as there were plenty of available mates around. So, Seiler loaded up on apples and corn to begin sweetening up the clear cut to keep a nice herd of does fat and happy.
“I think he was bedding in the cutover so he could stay close to the does,” he said.
Seiler made sure to keep the two bait piles stocked with plenty of corn and apples. And on Monday, Dec 7, the buck arrived on the scene 200-yards away, trailing a hot doe through the saplings and thick brush. Unfortunately, the buck was moving too quickly and got away before Seiler could negotiate a fatal shot.
Several days later on Dec 10, Seiler got back in his tree stand in hopes the buck would make another appearance. After he sat for a while without seeing any deer at all, the clear cut was bare and nothing was moving. Seiler began to believe his afternoon was going to end without even one deer to look at.
But a few minutes after 5 p.m., he heard something rustling around in the cutover behind and downwind of him.
“The buck busted out of the cover and started running hard away from me in the cutover. Apparently, he was bedded in the cutover downwind of me and I never knew it. He never got up when I walked to the stand or when I climbed into it,” he said.
The buck sprinted hard directly away from Seiler and he started to panic. But luckily, the buck stopped 125-yards away giving Seiler a chance to close out his season. Seiler took the shot, but the bullet hit the dirt without touching one hair on the deer’s body. Without wasting any time, Seiler took aim one last time and fired a kill shot right into the engine room. The buck fell to the ground.
For over 20 years, Seiler has trampled the woods of Rockingham County in search of a trophy buck. And not only did Seiler find one trophy, he bagged two fine bucks off the same hunting property.
“It was the best hunting season of my life,” says Seiler.
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