Double Drop Tine Buck Taken By 12 Year Old

Many hunters dream of taking a double drop tine buck. Just taking a big buck is hard enough, much less one with double drop tines. Wesley Bennett, of Seville, Fla., recently knocked that off his bucket list—and Wesley is just 12 years old!

Wesley’s father, John, bought private land in Brooks County, Georgia in February of 2015. Brooks County is located along the Georgia-Florida line between Valdosta and Thomasville. Throughout the whole summer, Wesley and John spent every weekend planting food plots, putting up stands and cameras and everything that comes with preparing for hunting season.

Early on in the season, the two got their first picture of the double drop tine buck, which they called “DD.”

“We were pumped,” said John, “I told him we weren’t shooting any does or other bucks.”

However, DD was the only mature buck they had on camera.

“Being 12, he likes to shoot, and we both like to eat them,” said John, “But we stuck to our plan and hunted hard.”

Their property is less than 200 acres, and in mid-November John heard a shot on the neighbor’s property and became concerned that DD may have been shot. Wesley and John continued to hunt for another week with no signs of DD.

During the Thanksgiving weekend Wesley and John hunted in Lee County with some of John’s friends. On that Saturday the duo was in a tower stand when a 10-pointer stepped into view.

“Wesley couldn’t wait any longer, he dropped him,” said John.

Although excited about his kill in Lee County, Wesley still had his mind on DD.

The following Saturday, Wesley and John were back in their stand in Brooks County, but by 9:30 a.m. they still had not seen a single deer.

“I was busy texting my buddies in Lee County, just checking in, when Wesley said, ‘Daddy, there’s a buck,'” said John.

John looked up to see a monster buck standing 200 yards away just inside the timber. After putting the binoculars on the buck, John realized it was DD.

“I told him to get on him and shoot as soon as he could,” said John.

As he was watching the buck come toward them, John realized Wesley still didn’t have the rifle in his hands yet.

Demanding, yet in a still excited tone, John told Wesley to get his gun up, and at that moment DD slammed on the brakes and the stare-down began.

Within a minute, he started toward the stand once again. Wesley got the gun up, and DD turned to go in a trail through thick cover.

“Just as he turned, I said, ‘Shoot him in the shoulder,'” said John, “Wesley fired, and DD darted into the trail.”

Wesley made a perfect 110-yard shot. His buck was every hunter’s dream buck, a main-frame 8-pointer with beautiful long drop tines on each antler.

“I was so excited,” said Wesley. “It became even more fun after getting the golf cart stuck while trying to pick him up.”