Grant Vick had a feeling it was going to be a good afternoon in Kemper County with falling temperatures after the passage of a recent cold front last week. Vick had been looking for a buck after harvesting a nice doe on opening day of the youth season.
“I’d already shot a doe so I had my hopes on a buck but all we’ve been seeing is does,” Vick Said. “We’ve had game cameras out and pulling the cards once a week, but all we saw were does.
After getting to the stand the youth hunter realized it might be a long afternoon with all of the wind.
“It was really windy and nothing much was moving, but the wind was blowing in my face,” he said. “The only thing I saw most of the afternoon was a few doves but no deer.”
The youngster’s stand was situated in a shoot house overlooking a greenfield in the middle of some cutover, a perfect ambush point for deer.
Vick got in the shoot house a little after 4 p.m. and tried to stay warm and scan the woods for any sign of a deer without much success. That all changed at last light as a couple of does popped out into the food plot and started feeding. Suddenly they threw up their heads and looked back the way they’d come from.
The does took off running and left abruptly when a big buck came running towards them.
“He came out the other end of the field and I knew he was a shooter immediately so I tried not to look at his horns,” Vick said. “I got the gun out the window and got ready, but I still didn’t know just how big the rack was. All I knew was that he was a big bodied deer with a good rack.”
Vick aimed his Ruger 25-06 at the buck and slowly squeezed the trigger.
Ka-Pow! The rifle roared and the buck felt the sting of the well placed shot instantly.
“He hit the ground, rolled and made it just outside the green field,” Vick said. “I guess the cold weather had them up and moving.”
Vick’s trophy buck sported 11 points, had an 18-inch inside spread and tipped the scales a tad over 200 pounds. It rough scored in the 140s. Vick’s feelings were justified, his aim true and the buck of his lifetime was finally his.
*Don’t forget to enter photos of your bucks in the Big Buck Photo Contest to be eligible for monthly giveaways.
Read other stories about big bucks killed this season by clicking here.
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