10-year-old Hernando hunter kills 143-inch trophy buck

Hunters clueless 10-point Tate County deer is on property.

Kent Porter was just taking his two kids hunting on a buddy’s property in Tate County on Wednesday afternoon (Nov. 16), and by 4:15 p.m. the Hernando hunter was being absolutely pestered to death by his 10-year-old son Cody who wanted to pop a spike standing in front of the stand in which the hunters were concealed.

The elder Porter absolutely refused to allow it, and now young Cody is probably happy because a mere 30 minutes later a monster 10-point walked out. That deer later green scored 143 inches Boone & Crockett.

Kent Porter’s 15-year-old daughter Aley killed a doe the week before, but wanted to sit with her father and brother Cody on this day. So the three jammed into the 3-foot-by-6-foot box stand about 4 p.m. on Nov. 16, and Aley Porter took a position to see the entire food plot stretched out in front of the stand.

It didn’t take long for young Cody Porter to lose interest.

“Cody is starting to get bored, and a little hungry,” Kent Porter said. “I said, ‘Son, all you have to do is sit for 45 minutes and it’ll be dark.”

That worked, and then a few minutes later the trio got a bit excited when a deer eased out eased out into the green patch to feed. It was a spike, and young Cody Porter was ready to blast it.

“We argued back and forth about whether to shoot or not to shoot,” Kent Porter said. “He just got frustrated and said, ‘I want to kill something. Please let me kill this deer.’

“He even almost teared up.”

Kent Porter stood his ground.

“I said, ‘No, son. The (deer’s) spots are on the ground out there,’” the elder Porter said.

Finally, Cody Porter was distracted by playing a game on his father’s phone.

And then Aley Porter whispered excitedly to her father.

“My daughter says, ‘Daddy, a buck! Oh my gosh, look at that buck coming into the field,” Kent Porter said.

Kent Porter, who could only see the little spike, leaned up to see out of the single window along the front of the stand. He couldn’t believe what he saw.

“I leaned up and sure enough he was strutting out into the field about 50 yards,” Kent Porter said.

He hurried to get his son set up while the buck continued toward the spike.

“The buck never even looked over at the box stand,” Kent Porter said.

Cody Porter said his heart began racing as he watch the deer walking into the opening.

“I was nervous,” said the young hunter, who to that point had yet to kill a buck. In fact, his only kill when he climbed into the stand that afternoon had been a doe.

Young Cody had to sit on his father’s knee to get the right angle to even aim the rifle at the oblivious deer. But as soon as the crosshairs were on the buck’s chest, the young hunter squeezed off a shot.

“When he shot, the deer jumped 6 feet in the air,” Kent Porter said. “I’ve never seen a deer jump that high: He would’ve cleared my head.”

The deer then took off across the food plot, and Cody Porter panicked.

“I thought he was going to get away,” he said.

He tried to get his father to bail him out.

“Cody handed me the gun and said, ‘Shoot him, Daddy! Shoot him,’” Kent Porter laughed. “I said, ‘No, Cody, you have to shoot him.’”

So Kent Porter bolted another round into the chamber and was handing the gun back to his adrenaline-pumped son when they watched the deer fall.

That sight was too much for the budding hunter to handle.

“When he saw the buck go down, he just put his head in his hands and started crying,” Kent Porter said.

The reaction confused Kent Porter, but he was relieved to find out that his son wasn’t distraught.

“He said, ‘I just ain’t ever killed a buck like that,’” the elder Porter said. “He would look and smile, and then put his head in his hands and cry again.”

The three hunters were soon standing over the big animal, and were astounded with the mass of calcium sprouting from the deer’s head.

The buck had 9 main-frame points, with thick beams and sky-scraper tines. A split G2 added a 10th point.

“He was bigger than I thought,” Cody Porter said.

Be sure to watch the short video that’s attached to this story to see and hear the hunters’ excitement over the kill.

A small sticker made it an 11-point in the eyes of the now-die-hard hunter. That added a wild angle to the story.

“My first deer that I killed when I was 16 years old, was an 11-point,” Kent Porter said.

And the best part was that none of the Porters had a clue there was such an animal on the property.

“My friend didn’t bother to tell me he had a nice 10-point out there,” Kent Porter said. “So I called him and asked him if he knew there was a big buck in the area, and he said he had seen it on a trail cam.

“I asked him, ‘Was it a 10-point?’ He said, ‘Yes, it was.’ I asked, ‘Did it have a split G2 on the right side?’ and he said, ‘Yes.’ I said, ‘Do you want to see it?’”

Kent Porter’s buddy was floored and hurried to the property to join the celebration.

While Cody Porter was ecstatic about the kill, he was no more excited than the adults.

“It’s all about the kids,” Kent Porter said.

See other bucks killed this season – and add photos of your own – in the Nikon Big Buck Photo Contest, which is free to all registered users or MS-Sportsman.com.

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