I had known about this buck since the August before I harvested him. His unique double throat patch and kicker off his G2 really made him stand out. Once December rolled around I knew he would be cruising his core area looking for those first does to come into heat. He was the dominant buck in the area and I knew he was aggressive from previous pictures of him fighting.
Eight am on December 2nd rolled around and many does have moved through with no sign of him, just smaller bucks. I decided it would be a good time to bash some antlers together. After thirty seconds of a rattling sequence, I put the antlers down and intensely looked and listened for a mature deer to come into sight. After two minutes I caught a glimpse of a massive body moving through an overgrown hay field. I kept catching glimpses of his big frame moving through the grassy hillside. Finally, his head popped out at 80 yards and I knew I would get my chance.
I raised my gun and buried the crosshairs behind his shoulder. I had a small opening to make the shot. I took a deep breath and slowly squeezed off my shot. Once I shot I could no longer see him. I sat in my tree saddle for a little over thirty minutes contemplating whether it was a clean shot or not. In my head I knew it was but there is always doubt when you do not see them go down.
I finally got out of my tree and went to the spot of impact. Thankfully, there was bright pink blood scattered at the point of impact and a clear blood trail going up through the thick hillside. After ten steps of following blood, I looked up and saw a matted down spot in the tall grass.
Knowing this was my biggest buck to date, I slowed everything down, and took in the moment of walking up on a true Mississippi stud. He weighed 227 pounds dressed and unofficially scored at 141 3/8.
