Hunter: Kencade Sumner
Points: 8 (4L, 4R)
County: Madison
Season: 2015-2016
Hunt Story
Me and a buddy, Josh Sullivan, had an evening off from classes at UGA so we decided to sneak away from Athens and get an evening hunt in. We drove out of town about 45 minutes until we reached the land where we had permission to hunt. On our way out to the stand we hung several felt strips covered in doe urine around the edge of the field coupled with buck urine from the Buck Bomb I had from a previous hunt. We both were sitting in a box stand in the center of a large field where we were told that numerous deer had been seen this year. He was facing a stand of pine trees with a few hardwoods mixed in while I was facing in the opposite direction watching more of a hardwood/brush type area. We were both hoping to spot a buck sneaking around the edge of the field. I had told him previously to watch down in a corner of the field where I thought the deer may come from. After about two hours of hunting and intermittent rain, Josh picked up the binoculars and began focusing in on something. About 3 minutes after he had picked up the binoculars he whispered in an excited voice, "It's a good size buck!" I turned around and began to look for the buck. I couldn't see it because from my angle the buck was hidden by the yellow and red leaves of a beautiful Fall oak tree. I was anxious to see the buck because he had told me that it was a good one! My adrenaline was rushing, and I hadn't even caught a glimpse of the deer yet! He continued to watch the buck from his angle and update me on every move it made. He thought at one point that the buck was going to walk back into the pine thicket it had came out of. After about 5 minutes of grazing, the buck turned and started to make its way into the open field. As soon as the buck cleared the tree and I got a glimpse of him, I knew he was a shooter. Josh was so excited that this buck had slipped out of the woods for us and was consistently asking me if I could see him through my Leupold. I let him know that I was waiting on the deer to take one more step so I could get a clean shot, and as soon as he did I clicked the safety off the Browning A-Bolt and let the Hornady do its work. As soon as I pulled the trigger, the buck dropped. We were so excited about the buck it was hard for us to sit and wait it out until dark but we managed to do it in hopes that another buck would show up. Josh stepped off the distance from the stand to the buck to see which one of use had the closest estimate of how far out he was. We had both underestimated the distance—it turned out to be approximately 210 yards. By this time the rain was coming down pretty steady, but we didn't care because we were in awe of the wonderful hunt we had just experienced. For me, it was a great evening spent in the woods with a great friend. I also really appreciate the landowner who let a couple of UGA Veterinary School students come out and hunt his land. I will be forever grateful for the opportunity to hunt and to be able to harvest such a beautiful buck.
