The Big 11

Buck: 169 inches green Time of Year: Dec. 28, 2020 Place: McDowell County, West Virginia Weapon: Mathews Chill X with Rage Hypodermic NC It takes a lot for a deer to become special in West Virginia. Boone and Crocket class bucks are incredibly rare in the state. It takes the right combination of age, genetics, and nutrition to produce these types of deer. These are hard to acquire or maintain in the mountain state. Having said that, the deer above still missed that mark with a green score of 169 inches

Introduction To kill trophy bucks you have to be willing to pass on smaller ones, leaving the young ones more time to reach their full potential. The 2020 season didn’t present me with many of those opportunities but experience from past seasons lead me to make that statement. I had set out on December 27th to kill the very deer in the picture above. Little did I know what emotions would follow the next three days. The big 11 was on property that I hunt every year and one that I now have consistent access to for the foreseeable future. Still holding onto my tag, I set my sights on this particular buck. 2020 has been a challenging year for everyone. We have experienced a world-wide pandemic, economic uncertainty, and life slowly grinding to a halt. Social distancing requirements have made activities that people enjoy very difficult to participate in. As a result, the country as a whole, particularly the state of West Virginia has saw a spike in people participating in outdoor activities. For example, the Hatfield McCoy trail system experienced a record spike in the purchasing of trail permits. In addition, other individuals have spent time hunting and fishing. This is where I found myself during these unprecedented times. The 2020 WV archery season was challenging for a lot of hunters. Southern West Virginia experienced one of the most abundant acorn crops of recent memory, while temperatures remained well above average through the month of November. These circumstances posed challenges that most hunters experienced throughout the entire season, myself included. Opening day of archery season on September 26th, I found myself in the hardwoods of West Virginia perched 30 ft in a white oak. This was much-anticipated after running trail cameras during the summer months and adding bucks to the hitlist.

After compiling a list of 4-5 very solid shooters, one particular deer stood out to us; this is where we find the “big 11”. Persistence Fast-forwarding through the majority of the 2020 bow season, I found myself in the month of December still holding onto my tag. Thirty-five sits deep in the season I had yet to have any real success. Deer movement was sporadic and patterning a deer was nearly impossible. Personal days and sick days had been spent and as the calendar continued to advance, the season was looking like a bust. However, as is often the case, things often unexpectantly change. This was the case with the one particular deer mentioned earlier. After receiving trail cam pictures of a true WV stud 11 point, we had begun to lose faith in catching up with him during the season. However, sporadic daylight pictures of this deer had rolled in throughout the month of December. These became more frequent as the season drew to a close. One particular date comes to mind as I reflect on the season. On December 15th, multiple daylight pictures placed this deer at one of our stands. December 16th, he was caught on camera about a mile away at another stand location only to return to the previous spot on the evening of December 17th. This activity gave us a clue to the deer’s late season behavior, forcing me to solely pursue him for the remainder of the season. Given the Christmas season I found myself in a stand on the morning of December 26th. As I drove to my location and parked my truck I remember the thermostat reading a bone chilling 13 degrees. Nonetheless, I would proceed to the stand. The morning was filled with an abundance of deer activity, well before the break of daylight. By 9:00 I had saw 15 deer, mostly does and fawns with two small bucks. I was standing up in the stand due to abundance of deer in close proximity. I had been scanning the area while I watched does feed on the ridge just out of shooting distance. Almost as if being dropped from the sky, I looked to my left and the “big 11” appeared over the crest of the hill up onto the ridge. The next 20 seconds couldn’t be scripted any better as I quickly grabbed my bow and the deer worked himself to 25 yards. As he was approaching the stand I drew on him as he turned broadsided. I settled the pin into the deer as I have many times in the past. However, as I began to release, the size of this buck began to run through my head, almost as if I was celebrating prematurely. As I put pressure on my release I pulled ever so slightly to the right, as if to watch the arrow contact the deer (if you’ve bow hunted much you are familiar with this subconscious movement I’m referring to). Upon releasing I saw the arrow graze the buck’s belly right behind the right front leg. I was in shock. After being given an opportunity many hunters are never blessed to receive, I had blown the shot. The deer ran about 60 yards and stood there for what seemed like an eternity, then slowly walked back the way he had come. Adversity Accurately describing the emotions, I felt would be a near impossible task. I had hit the lowest point as a bow hunter I had ever experienced. While I was devastated, disgusted, angry, and emotional, I couldn’t help but feel a sense of gratitude for the experience I had been blessed with. Shortly after I contacted friends and family to let them know the unfortunate news. The following night was filled with nearly no sleep as I grappled with the events of the day. That being said, I made plans to go back the next morning. As my alarm went off at 3:30 am I rolled out of bed with no sense of anticipation in seeing that deer again. However, by 6:45 am I was in the same stand I had missed the deer the morning prior.

Again, the deer activity was great all morning until about 11:00 am. Now reflecting back, I can’t help but remember a text message I sent to my dad around 12:00 that morning saying “think I might call it a season”. Redemption I climbed out of the stand just moments later and put out two trail cameras in hopes of figuring out the buck’s movement in preparation for the 2021 season. However, about 1:30 pm I decided I would go hunt a stand about a mile from where I had missed the deer the previous day. We had consistently been getting pictures of another shooter at this stand. He was about a 140-inch ten point that I would’ve been happy to put my tag on, especially given the fact that it was December 28th. Upon getting to the stand I jumped 5 does. Somewhat aggravated, I climbed into the stand. About 4:30 pm the woods came alive as two small 8 point and a 4 point came into the stand. I watched them for about 30 minutes as the sun began to set. The does I had previously spooked began to ease their way back to the stand. As I looked across a little holler in front of me I saw a big rack of antlers coming down the hill toward the stand. At this point I had around 12 deer under me. As a result, I spooked the 4 point I mentioned early as he bolted down the hill taking the does with him. Much to my surprise the two 8 points hung around. Given that activity, the bigger buck almost froze in position looking around for what seemed like an eternity.

About 10 minutes later the deer that had previously spooked began to work their way back up the hill to the stand. This was enough to convince the buck to come in as well. By this time, I found myself in the last moments of shooting light. As the buck worked his way into 30 yards I took an opportunity to draw my bow. Almost as if making as challenging as possible, the buck turned directly toward the stand behind two trees. Given that there were so many deer present, I was only left one option; stay at full draw. I held for about 2 minutes, as my arms and shoulders began to reach their limit. Suddenly the buck turned broadside and stepped out from behind the two trees he had been hidden behind forever. As he came into the open, I steadied myself until I was confident on my shot placement and let an Easton arrow fly. As the arrow contacted the deer, he bolted as fast as any deer I have ever shot. Given the fact that it was near dark and suspecting the shot was a little far back, I climbed down the tree and left. I drove an hour and half back home and decided to give the deer the night before I went back to look. The drive home consisted of multiple phone calls discussing the shot placement and the deer I thought I had shot. The following morning my uncle and I drove back to look for the deer. Upon taking up the trail, the deer was bleeding minimally. Doubt began to set in on the chances of finding the deer. Despite that, it was apparent where the deer had gone to the fact of him running so quickly and it being muddy on that hillside. After tracking for about 250 yards we spotted a white belly laying over the hill and ran down to him. Upon getting to the deer we realized I didn’t shoot the ten point I had initially thought but had indeed killed the same deer I missed the day prior. This buck was a true WV monarch dwarfing anything I had taken in years past. The deer green scored 169 inches, while I wait on the 60-day drying period to expire to receive an official net score from the Pope and Young Club.