Hunter: Riley Carroll
Points: 10 (5L, 5R)
County: Troup
Season: 2016-2017
Hunt Story
Me and my son, Riley, were in our box stand overlooking our food plot. Our food plot was still dirt only, no rain, no growth. Our food plot is surrounded by tall native field grass and has a couple of chestnut oak trees in the middle that were dropping. We had the big 10 on camera during daylight hours since August. In several pictures he was traveling with a big mature 8-point. We were unable to get in our stand until 5:30, and we already had six does feeding on the field grass. They fed for a few minutes and went into the woods. A few minutes after the does left the field, five turkeys came to the "dirt plot" and began feasting on $200 worth of food plot seed mix. Around 7 p.m. my son spotted movement at the far end of the field. The big 8-point came into the field from a well-used trail. At this point he is about 180 yards. He stays on the field edge and proceeds to make a scrape. A couple minutes after he finished his scrape, a young 5-point came into the field from the same trail. They both started feeding on the field grass. A couple minutes later my son noticed another deer entering the field, it was the big 10-point! The big 10 went straight to the scrape that the big 8-point had made 5 minutes earlier, re-scraped the scrape and urinated in the scrape. He started to feed on the field grass but stayed behind the big 8-point. My son has never shot a deer farther than 100 yards, and it looked as though the bucks were not going to get much closer. The big 10 finally cleared the 8-point and was broadside at 150 yards. My son made the shot, the 8-point and 5-point ran away as the big 10 was slowly walking away. I was terrified thinking he missed, the buck walked about 15 yards and fell over. It was the largest buck that either one of us have ever seen in the woods...... I told him that this was one of the best days of my life, he said.... “Best days of YOUR life?????” I live to spend time in the woods with my sons and to witness him take the buck of a lifetime..... PRICELESS.
