Monster 8-point taken by youth hunter

Cameron and Landyn Murphy, 8, pose with the monster 8-point Landyn killed Nov. 12 near their home in Madison County. The amazing buck grossed over 143 inches, huge for an 8-point.

Mother and daughter share experience with out-of-state dad

When Landyn Murphy’s “buck of a lifetime” walked into view Nov. 12, it was her mom Cameron Murphy beside her, not her dad Danny, her usual hunting partner.

But thanks to fast thinking, the father got to experience the thrill of the moment, hundreds of miles away, when his little girl took a monster 8-point in Madison County — an 8-point that grossed over 143 inches.

“We were hunting at my father-in-law’s farm just across the road from our house,” said Cameron Murphy, the Neuro ICU Nurse Manager at St. Dominic’s Hospital in Jackson. “There’s a food plot behind his house where he had been seeing some bucks. He was at home while we were in the stand on that plot, and he was watching through his spotting scope when these two bucks walked out.

“He called my husband Danny and was talking to him and telling him that we were in the stand and that there (were) bucks in the field and if he wanted to hear his daughter shoot and kill her first buck…”

So, here’s the whole story.

“We have two children, Landyn and Brendon, her little brother who is 6 and is going for the first year,” said Cameron. “The past few years, Landyn has been hunting with Danny, but this year I’ve hunted more with her for two reasons. First, Danny is working in Texas, until he can find a job here and when he’s been here, he has hunted with Freeman.

“He had hunted last weekend with Brendon and I hunted with Landyn hoping to get her on one of the bucks her grandfather had been seeing. But it didn’t work out, but I knew when I saw the conditions on Monday that it was a good day. We needed to go as soon as she got out of school.”

The weather had changed, with a passing front cooling the central Mississippi area.

“I just had a feeling it would be a good day,” she said. “I’ve been hunting since I was 10, when I took the hunter education class 22 years ago, and I knew that with the high for the day being early that morning, that it would be the best chance she’d had this year to see those bucks.”

Mom knew what she was talking about.

Battling all that comes along with basically being a single parent, she raced back to Canton Academy to get her third-grader to the farm as soon as school ended.

“We were late getting to the stand and there were already a bunch of does in the field and we had to run them out to get to the stand,” she said. “I knew then that we would have to be patient and let things settle down if we had any chance of any more deer returning.

“But, I told Landyn, as least we know they are moving this afternoon.”

Trying to make the best use of every moment, Cameron urged little Landyn to do her homework in the stand as they waited. As she did her schoolwork, five does and a fox visited the field, an encouraging sign.

“She finished her homework and the sun was setting and we were starting to get a little anxious about the bucks,” the mom said. “Then at 4:45, a big 8-point walked out. Standing broadside at 100 yards from the stand, there he was.

“The buck of a lifetime for many people was standing there 100 yards from (my) little 8-year-old daughter and her 44 rifle. And if that wasn’t enough for her to take in, a 9-point walked out. I looked at them and told her the 8-point was clearly the better deer.”

In the meantime, several hundred yards away, Cameron Murphy’s father-in-law, George Murphy, was in his backyard with the spotting scope watching. When he saw the two bucks, he grabbed his phone.

“Papa called Danny and told him that the two big bucks were in the field with us and that if he listened, he would hear his daughter shoot her first buck,” Cameron said.

Back in the stand, little Landyn and Cameron Murphy were understandably nervous. “We were both shaking and I don’t know which of us was shaking worse,” the mom said. “My hands were shaking and my heart was pounding, and I wasn’t even holding the gun.

“But Landyn remained calm enough, at least until she squeezed the trigger.”

BOOM!

The shot was heard in Texas, and Danny Murphy immediately hung up and dialed his wife.

“I mean, as soon as he heard the shot, he told his Dad goodbye and called me,” Cameron Murphy said. “His first words were ‘Did she get him?’ I told him that I saw the buck skip flinch and draw up his leg before he ran off so I figured she had hit him. But I also told him I had to go and look for blood and see.”

Mother and daughter climbed out of the stand and went to the field, where they quickly located the first few drops of blood.

“‘That means I hit him,’ is what she said,” mom said. “I said yes, and told her to start blood trailing the deer. After 30 yards, the trail of blood increased and 10 more yards she walked up on him laying there. She started hollering ‘I got him. I got him’ And she called her dad and told him.

“I grabbed her and hugged her and told her how proud I was of her and Danny was telling her the same thing. Then she got down and jumped on the back of the buck, lifted his head up and told me to start taking pictures.”

With George Murphy’s help, the buck was hauled back to the skinning shed for more photos and measuring.

“My little 47-pound, 8-year-old daughter had killed a 240-pound, 8-point that was 18½ inches wide and gross scored 143½ inches,” the proud mother said. “We are so proud of her. Many people hunt their whole lives to kill a deer that size.

“The great thing about it was that even in that odd situation, we were able to celebrate that moment as a family. Because of the phone calls, both from Papa and from us, Danny was able to share both the excitement, the nervousness and the elation with us.”

Click here to read about other big bucks.

And don’t forget to upload pictures of your kills to the MS-Sportsman.com Big Buck Contest, which is free to all registered users. Not a site member yet? It’s free, so click here to get started today!

About Bobby Cleveland 1343 Articles
Bobby Cleveland has covered sports in Mississippi for over 40 years. A native of Hattiesburg and graduate of the University of Southern Mississippi, Cleveland lives on Ross Barnett Reservoir near Jackson with his wife Pam.

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