New York's Gary Sam knew this buck was in the area, but never truly expected an opportunity to see it in person despite having trail-cam photos of the giant non-typical. When it came, he quickly made the most of it!
October 21, 2024
By Clifford Neames
Gary Sam has all hunted a small piece of ground in Erie County, New York for several years. Along with his family — dad William Sr., brother William Jr., and brother-in-law Kyle Abdo — they had heard rumors of a unique giant non-typical whitetail in the area, but none of them had ever encountered it — that is, until it showed up on their trail cams over the summer of 2024. But despite its sudden appearance, there was nothing to suggest any of them would be lucky enough to tag it.
On the second day of October, Gary left work and headed to an old ladder stand which had been on the property for years. The stand is in a thick area that deer pass through to feed, so it was a good choice for the afternoon hunt.
“I was going on the hunt, but really wasn’t expecting anything unusual,” he said. “So, I settled in to enjoy the time away from work.”
The rumors of a unique non-typical buck in the area were confirmed by numerous sightings via trail cameras throughout the summer of 2024. The hours passed quickly, with nothing unusual happening until 6:30.
“That is when I looked over to my right and there he was,” Gary exclaimed!
The monster buck was already in bow range and totally oblivious to the hunter staring at him from just above.
“He was just 18 yards away, and 15 feet down,” Gary added. “I couldn’t believe what I was seeing!”
But he managed to maintain his composure and make a great shot. The big deer went down, and Gary called his family to let them know what had happened.
Measuring 218 inches, Sam's buck will certainly rank highly in New York's state record books when scoring is completed. “After that, everything happened so quickly,” he explained. “I was talking to North American Whitetail the very next morning, and I'm not even sure how they found me so quickly! Social media blew up. I was very surprised.”
The 5 ½-year-old buck weighed 275 pounds, and measured 218 inches with 29 scorable points — numbers which will likely place it high in the New York state record books after it is officially scored.