“White-Socks” Piebald Has 140-Inch Rack

There was lots of history with this Turner County piebald buck. Because of trail-cam pictures, hunters knew the buck was 6 1/2 years old this season.

You don’t see many bucks with the combination of white piebald markings, age and rack size like the one killed opening morning of firearms season in Turner County by Jonathan Duke, of Buchanan.

“There is a lot of history with this buck,” Jonathan said. “I’ve had him on camera for two years, and we had a neighbor who had him when he was 4-pointer as a year and a half old buck, that’s how we know how old he was this season. When he showed up on camera last season it was late December, and he was very elusive. We were fortunate enough this year to have him start showing up for four weeks in the plot, he was like clockwork in the mornings.”

Jonathan said he got excited about the chance to maybe get the buck, and then the Thursday night before gun season opened a new big buck came on the scene, and Jonathan worried it might ruin his chance at the piebald buck.

“We had a 150-inch 10-point that came in. These bucks were on their feet and moving. He moved in, and I kinda braced myself. This piebald deer was on such a good routine, I thought there’s gonna be a mishap coming, something’s going to mess this up. Then this big 10 comes up—never had a picture of him all year—strolling through the same food plot that the piebald had been using. I thought, ‘He’s done.’ They know when a big buck is around. They don’t have to tie up necessary, they know a dominant buck has come through.”

Jonathan hunted the plot on opening morning, getting in the stand early at 6:30 a.m., and he killed the buck at 7:34.

“It had been good shooting light for 15 minutes, and he was the eighth buck I saw that morning. This is just a place we don’t hunt very often at all. We wait until we get the right wind. It is very, very special property. Very low intrusion. That’s what it takes. You let a buck know you’re there, he’s out of there.

“I’ve hunted all my life. I’m 43 years old, and I’ve been fortunate to kill some good deer. I have five deer over 170 from the Midwest, and this buck is as special as any deer I’ve ever killed. I’m going to do a full body mount on him.”

The taxidermist measured the buck at 142 total inches, and he also added a twist to the story. While caping him out, the taxidermist found a lump at the base of the meaty part of the buck’s neck where it meets the shoulder. He found a 7mm round where the buck had been shot sometime the past. 

The Turner County buck that Jonathan Duke shot has piebald white patches on its haunches and totally white legs—white socks.