Matt Holland of Laurel Fork, Virginia, had seen this 9-pointer for two years in the area he was hunting near his home but the buck always seemed to disappear during hunting season. Last season, a friend and neighbor saw the buck across from Matt's home about two weeks before early archery season.
"This posed a problem as I knew that my neighbor would also be after the buck," Matt said. "So the heat was on. I hunted this buck almost daily for all of archery season as well as during black powder season and I passed up several others in the process.
Then, on the last day of black powder season, our family had planned a trip to visit relatives out of state so I unloaded and cleaned my rifle in preparation for rifle season. With my wife and daughter waiting in the car I glanced out the kitchen window and saw a small 4-pointer walking through a patch of young pines out back heading for a soybean plot. Not worrying about him I finished getting ready to leave. Just before walking out the door I decided to look one more time only to see an empty field. As I turned I saw a flash in the pines and noticed the 4-pointer running at full speed toward the top of the field. He disappeared from sight only to turn and run directly back toward the house with a slightly larger 6-point buck hot on his tail. They closed to within about 75 yards and turned to fight. As I watched, my wife burst through the door and said, "Are we going or staying?"
I told her about the two bucks and asked if she wanted to see. As I turned back to the field I noticed a much larger buck watching the other two. It was the 9-pointer! Throwing the binoculars in my wife's direction I told her not to be in much of a hurry because I was getting my gun. As she neared the window she dryly said, "Are you really going to shoot that.....Oh!"
Again, my black powder gun was unloaded and cleaned and my speed loaders were empty so there was a whirl of powder and primers flying everywhere as I headed out the door. With all prayers said I squeezed of a shot at about 125 yards and the buck expired after about a 50-yard run. I have hunted in 90 degree heat and sub-zero temperatures and for several miles around but I never dreamed that I would take a 145-class buck like this in my own back yard! I guess that we all deserve a little luck every once in a while!
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