Crack! Pop. George Arrington of Meridian stared intently into the woods for the unseen deer that was about to enter his zone. In seconds, a basket racked 8-point entered the field, but Arrington just watched the woods beyond. His “target buck” had been seen with this smaller buck on camera a few times. Suddenly another buck strode in about 15 yards behind with a rack standing tall and looming large.
It was indeed the buck he’d seen on camera for the first time a couple weeks earlier before an Ole Miss football game. The buck was probably the best he’d seen since he started bow hunting, so he canceled plans to join the family at the game and started his quest for the buck in Jasper County.
The buck fed cautiously towards Arrington’s saddle-stand high above terra firma.
Another chance
Arrington, 23, drew his bow back and was about to shoot when the does in the field suddenly darted away from the younger 8-point and the big buck ran back to the edge of the field. Was it all over? The young hunter had been busted by the wind the previous week and was afraid it was going to happen again. Thankfully the “target” buck settled down and fed back towards the excited hunter.
Before he came into range the skittish does darted to and fro again and the buck whirled and ran away again, stopping just short of the cover. The old monarch slowly surveyed the area as the does settled down again, so he remained motionless watching them for a few minutes before resuming his feeding.
Arrington knew his chances for getting a clean shot were dwindling, so he planned to take a shot as soon as the buck got into his shooting comfort zone. The buck was on course to enter his shooting range as it fed slowly closer and closer.
Inching ever closer, the buck seemingly took forever to get there as Arrington watched from high up a tree, sitting comfortably in his tree saddle. As the buck moved into range, the young hunter’s grip tightened and adrenalin pulsed through his veins.
Now or never
The buck took one more step, now facing Arrington almost dead on. He drew back his bow when the buck looked away and let the arrow fly as soon as he zeroed in on the deer’s chest.
“Thwack!” The arrow plunged into the buck, and he lurched forward and took off. Time of shot was 6:15 p. m.
“I knew I’d made a good hit on him and watched as he ran into the thicket,” Arrington said. “I heard him running but never heard him pile up.”
Ironically, young George Arrington, formerly known as Little George by family members as he carries his grandfather Dr. George Arrington’s name, was disking food plots in the area prior to the afternoon hunt.
“I figured that the deer wouldn’t be spooked by the tractor, so I left this food plot alone and just drove it back there and disked the others prior to hunting my spot,” Arrington said. “I knew I’d hit the buck, as I found blood on my arrow, but I didn’t find any blood on the ground, so I just backed out and drove the tractor back to the camp. My phone died so I drove back to camp and called Cooper and Dad for help.
“Cooper had used a dog man to find a deer for him, so we called Billy Deer from Enterprise, but it took a while for him to get over here. But when they did get here his dog found the buck so fast we almost didn’t believe it. We thought he was stopping to do his business, but it turned out the buck had only run about 100 yards and was dead on arrival!”
Buck of a lifetime
The buck of Arrington’s lifetime had 16 scorable points and scored 156 3/8! It was his first deer kill with a bow and was impressive indeed. Arrington shot the buck with his Hoyt bow while using Easton arrows and G-4 broadheads.
“There is a ravine drop off about 100 yards from my stand, so I assumed he’d gone down there,” Arrington said. “As it turned out he never even made it to the ravine.”
George Arrington seems to be carrying on the family tradition of harvesting bucks like his grandfather, Dr. George L. Arrington, and father, Lamar Arrington, successful outdoorsmen in their own right!
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