Three bucks down for eight-year-old hunter
Reed Courtney knew he was going to have a good deer season when he bagged an eight-point buck on the second evening of this year’s archery opener with his crossbow. Any deer with archery equipment is good, and when it has headgear—it’s even better.
Eight-year-old Courtney is an avid Hinds County sportsman and has a few deer under his belt, but he had no idea how much success he would have and how soon it would come.
Reed and his dad Matt hunt together a lot, as much as possible, but they spent the rest of archery season chasing crappie due to warmer temps and were anxiously awaiting the opening of youth gun season.
On the evening of Nov. 14, the Courtneys headed to a stand overlooking a food plot they had been waiting on the right wind to hunt. They settled in and watched a bachelor group of four bucks most of the evening. Reed opted to pass and wait on a bigger buck since he already had one under his belt.
The next evening of the 15th they headed back to the same stand. This time a different group of four bucks came out and they could see another in the woods rubbing trees. The hunters waited, hoping that this would be a shooter.
During the wait, the four bucks came right to their box stand at 10 yards.
“When the deer in the woods stepped out, it looked like a mule deer,” said Matt Courtney, “I told Reed that if he wanted to shoot, this was the one.”
Adding to his resume
The bigger buck joined the others bucks and were so close, Reed had to wait for them to get away from the stand to get a shot. The youth put a well-placed shot on the buck at 35 yards and the buck ran to the bottom of a hill when they heard him crash. The buck was a huge 4-point with a 16 ½ inch spread and 20 ¾ inch main beams—a real trophy for a four point.
Reed wasn’t through though, on the Sunday evening of Nov. 29, it had rained all day and it was cool. He and his dad decided to make a short hunt before dark, hoping that the rain would subside.
They got to the box stand and were soaked at 4:15 p.m. It was raining hard and they weren’t seeing any deer. At five o’clock a buck stepped out at 150 yards. He was obviously a good buck and Reed didn’t waste any time. He steadied his rifle on his tripod, the buck turned offering a good angle, and the young hunter squeezed off.
“Reed has killed some deer at this distance before—he is a really good shot,” said Matt Courtney.
The big bruiser didn’t go more than 30 yards and piled-up. The buck was a big 8-point with a lot of mass with an 18-inch spread and 23 ½ inch main beams.
Reed Courtney plans to wrap the season up and put a few does in the freezer.
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