Golightly’s Suburban P&Y Survived Road Rash To Grow 162 Inches Of Antler

Kendall Golightly, of Atlanta, is another one of those guys who makes a killing, literally, from small tracts and backyards in Fulton County. Kendall arrowed his cover buck—aptly named “Tips” because of the crossing tips of its main beams—from a 3-acre tract bordering a subdivision last Oct. 1 in Fulton County.

The twist to the story on this month’s cover buck is that Tips, Kendall’s best bow-buck ever, was almost reduced to roadkill just before Kendall had his first encounter with the buck in 2008.

Kendall Golightly, of Atlanta, arrowed this big Fulton County buck last Oct. 1. The 13-pointer had main beams longer than 20 inches that crossed on their ends.

“I had been watching him since last Christmas Day when he first showed up on my trail cam,” said Kendall of his unique 13- point Pope & Young kill. “I had over 300 photos of him in less than a year period. At first I didn’t know if he was a buck or a doe.”

On Dec. 25, 2008, when Kendall first started getting photos, Tips was struggling. With a nasty wound on its left haunch, the deer looked like it had been hit by a vehicle, and it had no antlers. Kendall said he wouldn’t have even recognized the buck as the same deer if it hadn’t been for the scar that remained when Tips healed.

Over the following nine months leading up to the 2009 season, Kendall watched an amazing transformation on his trail cameras. The gruesome wound scabbed over and healed, and the once sickly looking deer began to grow into an impressive 4 1/2-year-old buck with an amazing set of antlers, antlers that would eventually measure 162 2/8 gross inches. Tips’ net score was hammered with almost 16 inches of side-to- side deductions, but the rack still netted 146 7/8 inches.

“I watched as he grew his new antlers and shed his velvet,” said Kendall. “Then all I did was try to pattern that deer.”

When it first showed up in trail-cam photos in 2008, Kendall’s buck had a nasty wound on its haunch and no antlers. If it had not been for the scar, Kendall would not have realized the tremendous comeback the buck made over the following year.

Kendall saw exactly what he was looking for in late September 2009. Tips showed up on one of his cameras like clockwork at 6:45 p.m. for five consecutive days. The buck was hanging out with a young 8-pointer and feeding on falling acorns along a hard- wood ridge.

Kendall was in a stand waiting for the buck the next afternoon, Oct. 1.

“When that 8-pointer came out, I poked my head around the tree, and I guess (Tips) saw the bill of my hat,” said Kendall. “He was staring right at me.”

The buck stayed out about 60 yards, munching on acorns and looking up at Kendall in the tree for about an hour.

“He just knew something wasn’t right,” Kendall said. “He was trying to figure out what I was up there in the tree.”

As the standoff continued, more deer funneled into the area. Kendall said eventually an 8-pointer, a 6-point- er and two does were just milling around under his stand, but Tips would not move down the ridge toward him.

“None of the other deer even looked at me,” Kendall said. “But every time (Tips would) get some acorns in his mouth, he’d look up at me while he chewed.”

Finally Tips began to work his way down the ridge. With the 8-pointer at just 10 yards, Kendall marked Tips at 38 yards with his rangefinder. The hunter began going through his check list and waited for an opportunity with the other deer feeding all around him.

“I drew and stood up all in one motion, but there was a branch in my way,” said Kendall. “I squatted down in my stand to get a clear view, and I let fly. It looked like a perfect shot, and I heard that Jello splat. My emotions went crazy. He bee-lined out of there, but the other deer didn’t care.”

Kendall watched two younger bucks sparring as he called his dad, Kerry, with the news. After waiting for his dad and some friends to arrive, they all went looking for the buck at a little after 8 p.m. They followed a spotty blood trail straight to the buck, which was piled up on the side of a fallen tree.

“We all started going crazy and dancing.” Kendall said. “I’m just so blessed to have been able to take him. For all those variables to come together, I just felt like it was meant to happen.”