Worth County Split Brow Buck Killed By Teen

Ben Hatcher, 15, of Albany, made skipping a morning class the morning of Nov. 3 well worth it after he was able to shoot the buck of a lifetime in Worth County. The giant 17-pointer they knew as “Split Brow” grossed 172 inches and is expected to net in the 160s. This was the second season Ben and his family had been hunting the buck.

“My two cousins Frank and Boles and I saw him consistently on camera last year,” said Ben, “Frank saw him once while hunting but was unable to get a shot at him.”

On the afternoon of Nov. 1, Ben saw Split Brow with his own eyes for the first time. However, Ben was bowhunting, and the Worth County giant was out of range.

Ben Hatcher connected on this Worth County buck on Nov. 3. He usually hunts with a bow, but his dad talked him into taking his .270 that morning. As it goes with hunting, the deer was 20 yards away when Ben pulled the trigger.

Ben’s next encounter would come on the morning of Nov. 3, when the 10th-grade student at Deerfield Windsor decided to lay out of his first class and go deer hunting. Good decision.

The previous encounter a few days before when the buck was out of bow range would come into play.

“My dad insisted I take my rifle instead of my bow, so I did,” said Ben.

Ben was hunting from a climbing stand in a hardwood creek bottom, and he wouldn’t have to wait long for the buck to make an appearance.

“Around 7 a.m., I heard him behind me, and he appeared right under me and walked on out about 20 yards from the tree,” said Ben.

Ben’s well-placed shot with a .270 rifle quickly put the big buck on the ground. His cousin Boles was also hunting that morning and heard the shot.

“I was just so nervous but happy to be able to drop him,” said Ben, “Boles immediately started sending me tons of text messages.”

Ben then called his dad, Chris, who quickly left work to come help Ben and to put his hands on the buck.

“I know there are a lot of big deer in Worth County, but I’ve never been able to take one until now,” said Ben.

Ben took the buck to J&J Taxidermy in Sylvester with plans to have him shoulder mounted.

“I just can’t thank my dad, grandfather and uncle enough for all they do helping manage our hunting land, buying cameras, corn and everything they do to have made this possible,” said Ben.

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