Joey's Monster MS Buck

A buck that appeared to have the potential to become a trophy had done just that. He'd blossomed into a 150-class buck, but trail camera photos of him only came at night.

He seemed to be a buck that couldn't be hunted until he made the same mistake twice last week.

"We've watched that deer for three years now," said Joey Brock of Slayden, located in Marshall County near the Tennessee state line. "He was an 8-point three years ago.

"I'd looked at him two or three times in 2022, but I let him go. Then he got to be a 9-point. He kept putting on length and mass."

His antlers were growing bigger, and he was growing smarter, too. The buck managed to stay out of sight during daylight hours.

It is definitely a day I'll never forget.

That Brock didn't get daylight photos of the buck in 2023 didn't really matter. Brock said he only harvests mature bucks, and the 9-point wasn't quite there in 2023. Brock said he's fortunate because adjoining landowners also give bucks a pass until they reach maturity.

"Having good neighbors is the key to having big deer," Brock said.

The buck was big enough to shoot this season, but like last season, he wasn't seen during daylight. However, on Dec. 10, the buck broke his pattern and was caught on camera in a food plot during midday. Brock thought it was a one-and-done event.

"I couldn't believe it," Brock said. "He didn't get that big by being stupid. When I saw that picture, I thought he'd slipped up the only time for the year."

The following morning, Brock was in a stand overlooking the same food plot, but deep down, he didn't think he'd see the buck. 

"I thought it was a long shot, but the wind was right, and I knew he was in the area," Brock said.

It was a cool morning with a light breeze and frost, and Brock began seeing activity almost immediately. A doe and a small buck walked by, and a little later, a young 8-point appeared, followed by a group of does.

"At 8:30, he started coming in, and he was right behind them," Brock said. "I thought it was a dream at first.

"My breathing was out of control. I had to get out of the scope twice or three times before calming down. I never thought he'd step out like that."

Brock got his nerves under control and pulled the trigger. The buck fell on the spot and didn't take another step.

"I ran out there to get my hands on him, and it was an awesome feeling," Brock said. "For a typical deer, he's my best deer."

The inside spread was 16 1/4 inches, with main beams measuring 24 1/4 and 23 3/4 inches. His G3s were 10 inches, and his G2s measured 12 1/4 inches and 12 inches. His total gross score was 157 7/8.

"His G2s are what makes him," Brock said. "We don't have any other deer on camera at any of our farms as tall as him."

When Brock said there aren't any deer on the properties he hunts with G2s that long ago, he meant right now. Brock said there's at least one young buck with antlers very similar to those on the buck he harvested.

"I guess we're getting pictures of his offspring," Brock said. "His genes are out there. The one that looks just like him, hopefully he'll make it two more years and get as big as this one."

My congratulations to Joey in our great Mississippi outdoors!

What an awesome hunt!

Congratulations, Paul Howell

Congratulations to Paul Howell on a nice buck on his hunting land near Eden, Mississippi, called the Christmas Place Plantation and Hunting Club.

I have deer and hog hunted there on their 2,500 acres of land. My hunting buddy, his brother, Rex Howell, has had me up to hunt for almost 13 years. It's a family hunting ground, and the people there are the nicest you ever meet.

Rex passed away on January 31, 2021. He also had a hunting blog, Deer Camp Blog.  If you get time, go check it out.  So many stories were told of his brothers Trent and Paul and family members hunting.  The land also has 11 Indian mounds on it.  A very special place to hunt, and I'm so glad I had the opportunity. I have fond memories to cherish for the rest of my life.

Kennedy's First Deer

 

Nine-year-old Kennedy Turner got her first deer, a spike buck. My congratulations to Kennedy in our wild Mississippi outdoors! Way to go!

Father & Son Hunt

Scooter Whatley and his son Connor killed these bucks with their bows on the opening day of gun season in the Delta. Connor's was a 12-point buck, and Scooter's was an 8-pointer. 

I hunted at the same deer camp years ago with Scooter at Browns Pont on Kings Point Island north of Vicksburg, MS.   Scooter is also a  Producer/Director/Videographer for MS Outdoors TV and Marketing at Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks.

What an extraordinary hunt to hunt with family in our great Mississippi outdoors!  My congratulations to Scooter and his son Connor.

Paisley's First Deer @ 3 Years Old

Paisley Dwon Ashley, only 3 years old, shot her fist deer, a 9-pointer, on November 110 in Unica.  Paisley Down is the daughter of Evie Hilderbrand and Joshua Ashley.  

Now, that is awesome.  Starting young!  My congratulations to Paisley in our great Mississippi outdoors!!!  Way to go, little one.

Victoria's Massive Buck

 Victoria and Maverick with a 230-pound buck. 

Because of its rich ground, the area yields bumper agricultural crops and offers wildlife a cornucopia of food. Eastern turkeys and puddle ducks (during the fall migration) are abundant, and so are whitetails. And Delta Bucks can grow big. It’s flat ground, offering hunters long vistas to spot game. It also allows rifle hunters to make shots as far as they can see through optics. Victoria Darden Garland, a 30-year-old South Delta farmer, has shot multiple deer at a distance.

“I’ve shot deer out to 444 yards with my .243,” says Garland, who took her first deer 20 years ago at age 10. “We hunt the big open fields in the South Delta, and my .243 is the perfect rifle.”

She shoots a custom-built Remington 700 bolt-action rifle with a special aftermarket barrel and hand loads her .243 ammo using 105-grain bullets.

“I’ve shot it a lot over the years, and my Burris Eliminator laser rangefinding scope helps in judging yardage and makes my .243 the perfect gun for me,” she says.

Victoria’s husband, Thomas Garland, began getting trail photos of a large farm buck he’d passed the previous season because of a broken tine. By Dec. 2021, the buck had returned to their 1,200-acre farm, and on Christmas Day, Thomas got a long shot at the buck but missed.

Two days later, Victoria was hunting in a box blind during an unusually warm December afternoon. She thought she should be sitting poolside instead of in a deer stand when she happened to look up to see a giant buck. She instantly recognized it from trail cam photos as the deer Thomas missed.

She got on the buck, standing 173 yards away, and shot … but the deer didn’t move. So she chambered a second round, aimed, and fired again. The buck turned and ran, showing no sign of being hit. Checking where the buck stood, she found no blood trail to follow. So the Garlands got their trusty two-year-old black Labrador, Maverick, to trail the deer.

“Maverick got on the scent right away and went to the buck,” says Victoria. “There was no blood to follow, and the deer only went 100 yards. Thank goodness for Maverick.”

My congratulations to Victoria in our great Mississippi outdoors!!!  

Brooklyn's First Deer

 

Brooklyn Ross, 9 years old, killed her first deer on family property while hunting with her father in Vicksburg, MS. 

My congratulations to Brooklyn on a nice buck in our great Mississippi outdoors!!!  Way to go!!!

A Young Mississippi Hunter's Dream

After watching it grow for two years, Walker Hilbun of Starkville harvested a 167-inch buck on Nov. 2. 

A Mississippi teen first got a particular buck on camera two years ago, and although it was a 10-point shot, it didn't really stand out. Since the buck appeared to be young, the teen's father said they should let him grow, and two years later, that decision paid off with a huge buck that unofficially gross-scored 167 inches. "He was nothing special," said Walker Hilbun, 18, of Starkville. "He was 3 1/2 (years old), and my dad said we should let him go, which was a perfect thing we did. "I passed on the deer four or five times the next year. It was tough to do. It was hard to let him go last year."

When the buck showed up on camera this summer, it was a different story.

"He was just a monster with tons of mass and points on him," Hilbun said. "I was thrilled I let him go last year and immediately wanted to kill him this year."

Harvesting the buck was easier said than done. Hilbun said Patterning the buck was difficult because the cameras on the Oktibbeha County property where he was hunting were set up on food plots and at a feeder, but the buck wasn't frequenting those spots.

Instead, the buck appeared to be feeding on the early crop of acorns in wooded areas, so that's where Hilbun focused his efforts, but the plan needed to be fixed. A month into the season, Hilbun had not had an encounter with the buck. On Nov. 1, the buck decided to eat something other than acorns. While Hilbun was hunting in a wooded area, the buck showed up on camera at a nearby food plot. That prompted a change. Hilbun said his dad said he should hunt out of a shooting house at the food plot in case the buck returned. The following afternoon, that's what Hilbun did. 

"I got in the stand at 3:15," Hilbun said. "I saw lots of deer. I ended up seeing about 30 deer in the food plot." And soon enough, the big buck decided to join them. "He did pop out at 5:30, 5:35, and I watched him," Hilbun said. "He'd feed to me and then feed back." The buck continued grazing in the food plot for about an hour but stayed out of range of Hilbun's bow. Then something happened, and the buck couldn't resist. "It was getting darker, and I had four bucks fighting before me," Hilbun said.

"When he walked up, he was on a march."

Hilbun said he was nervous but managed to stay calm until he got a shot. "It was right before dark," Hilbun said. "I slowly drew back, and when I shot, I think he was at 27 yards. I was really confident in my shot, and I was really shaken up," Hilbun said. "I was super nervous." Long, sleepless night ends with Buck of Mississippi Hunter's Dreams.   SunHerald~

Congratulations to MS teen Walker Hilbun in our great Mississippi wild outdoors!!!

Thankful

 

Bo's Big Buck

Bo Koestler, 7, of Vicksburg, MS, took this big buck in Kansas during that state's youth weekend in September.  The deer weighed 260 pounds and scored 178 inches.  

Congratulations to Bo on a fantastic hunt and buck in our great wild outdoors.