Hunter: Riley Singleton
Points: 10 (5L, 5R)
County: Monroe
Season: 2022-2023
Hunt Story
This mature buck has been a ghost for the 2021 season, but showed himself on trail cam over a mock scrape in Oct this season. On the day of the hunt, Hurricane Nicole had just blown through Middle GA and I had a great feeling this buck would get on his feet to check scrapes and look for does in daylight. I set the trap to intercept him in my climber in a small hardwood drain with 4 year old and 2 year old planted pines joining together. Just after 5 pm, I caught movement to my right and I saw this big 10 at 40 yards out. He didn’t make a sound on his approach. He kept walking my way till he got about 30 yds away and with a SW wind, he caught some of my scent and just stood there for a solid minute or two. Then he turned back the way he came in down a woods road. I was able to quickly get into shooting position and when he stopped to turn and look back my direction at about 100 yards out, I was able to get a shot. He buckled and ran with his head down into the thick 4 year old planted pines. I was able to get down and find blood at impact before a heavy rain shower came in and washed away the blood trail. I knew I would struggle to find him without blood, so I backed out and got a tracking dog. He went right to him after a 200 yard run.
