Carroll County trophy buck is hunter’s third trophy in 12 months

Matt Langford of Petal got into his hunting camp late on the afternoon of Oct. 12, filled with excitement. He had harvested 171-inch and 150-inch bucks last season, and the promise of more big bucks enticed him to get back into the woods. Brimming with anticipation, Langford stepped into his Viper stand and climbed high in a tree early the next morning.

“I hunted an open, hardwood bottom next to a soybean field,” Langford said. “I spotted a buck coming through the open woods and heading my way. He was on a collision course with me but suddenly locked up and looked directly at me as he walked downwind of me. He was alert, and I could tell by his body language that he was about to leave so I pulled to full draw and released my arrow.”

“Whap!” Langford’s arrow smacked the buck right above his shoulder and cut two arteries. The buck was dead on his feet, but he ran until the blood pumped out about 75 yards from the place he was shot.

“When the arrow and broadhead made the classic ‘thud’ upon impact, I knew that I had made a good shot,” Langford said.

The trophy buck sported a rocking chair rack with 11 points and long, thick tines. It scored 137 inches with a 16½-inch spread and 5 1/8-inch and 5¾-inch bases.

Good growth

Langford was hunting in the edge of the Delta in Carroll County; his camp is next to agricultural fields, and the soybeans had evidently resulted in some serious growth on some of the bucks.

“I normally like to shoot deer inside of 30 yards, but I’m dialed in up to 50 yards,” Langford said. “I practice some at that range each year, so I’m confident that I can make a killing shot up to 50 yards.”

Langford was shooting an Elite Energy 32 bow with a Slick Trick Traditional 4-blade broadhead on a Micro diameter Easton Access Long Range arrow.

Langford and a couple of his hunting buddies were bowhunting on the morning of his kill, and the 48-degree temperature had the deer moving. They had gotten a couple of pictures of the bucks 2 weeks before, and he had not been using the area regularly, but Langford picked a great stand location and it paid off.