Neely Jordan’s 8-point buck gross scored 144 5/8
Neely Jordan, 14, killed a trophy 8-point buck in Leflore County on Dec. 10, 2022. She shot the buck around 4:15 p.m. with a 7MM-08 from an elevated shooting house while hunting with her mom.
The deer has been gross green-scored at 144 5/8 inches. The bases measured 5 1/2 inches, the main beams were 22 1/2 inches and the inside spread was 19 1/2 inches.
It’s a hunt that Neely said she’ll never forget. Here’s the story of the hunt, in her own words:
Our family got invited to go to the Melton’s family farm in Minter City, MS to hunt. My dad took my brother Reeves, who is 11, to one stand. My mom took me to another stand called the Black Box. This stand has an open green field in front, a lane behind the stand, and a lane to the right of the stand.
We got to our stand around 2:45 p.m., and within 15 minutes, we had two does come out in the lane behind us. The does stayed in the field the whole time and were making their way closer to the stand.
A little after 4 p.m., my mom was looking out into the field in front of the stand and noticed something in the woods while I was still watching the two does. My mom immediately noticed it was a buck. She got her binoculars and looked at him and was pretty sure he was a shooter. She tried to show me where the deer was, but I did not see him.
Buck dropped on the spot
He continued to walk the tree line, and finally, I saw the buck. My mom told me to get set up once he went behind a tree. She told me to only take the shot if he walked out into the field, and sure enough, he did. One more peek at him through the binoculars and she knew, for sure, he was a shooter.
She told me when he stopped, and if I could hold the gun steady on him, to take the shot. I was very excited but I was not shaking at all because I did not have any time, due to how fast he was moving. My mom, however, was shaking, and told me her heart was pounding for me.
Finally, he stopped and started working his scrape. I put the crosshairs on him and pulled the trigger. He fell to the ground. We were both so excited. After I shot him, I was shaking because I was so excited, and my mom was cheering for me because she was so happy.
I killed him around 4:15 p.m., and my mom told me we would go back to the stand so maybe she could kill a doe. However, we were both so excited we could not sit still! Once my dad and brother were done hunting, they came to help load the buck onto our Polaris. My brother was super thrilled for me and so was my dad.
A special hunt for many reasons
This hunt will always be very special to me. I will never forget! My grandfather, Robert Neely, was a Game Warden for the state of Mississippi for more than 30 years. He passed away in 2016. I know he would be so proud of me!
My parents taught me about the outdoors from an early age. Also, my grandfather made my passion for the outdoors grow by taking me fishing and teaching me all about his job and the outdoors.
This hunt was also very special to me because I killed my first buck with my dad, but I killed my first big buck with my mom. I love the outdoors and plan to continue hunting for the rest of my life.
—Neely Jordan
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