Despite a warm first day in Oklahoma, Cody Blalock punched his tag on a spectacular Sooner State trophy buck.
December 17, 2024
By Clifford Neames
When scoring a deer, the difference between "wide" and "a little wider" isn’t really a big deal. But a whitetail rack with a 24 1/2-inch inside spread, separating two beams full of crowns like a red deer had Cody Blalock in the zone!
He had been watching the unique buck since October of 2023 when he got the first trail camera pictures. The huge whitetail had drifted in and out for a year, then suddenly locked in on the 400 acres in southern Oklahoma that Cody hunts. When the 2024 season opened, he was ready to go.
“I’ve kept minerals and protein out year-round for four years and had some success,” he explained. “But this buck was just off the charts!”
Blalock got his first photo of his top target in October of 2023, and made sure to do everything he could in the ensuing year to keep him in the area of his hunting property. Cody had him patterned, and strongly suspected he would show up in a small plot on the opening afternoon of archery season. The weather was still warm, but opening day is, well — opening day! — and he going to be there waiting.
“The buck had been showing up two times a day, right around daylight, and between 11:00 and 11:30 AM,” Blalock added. “I got in there early and climbed into the ladder stand I had moved in just for this hunt!”
And, like he had been summoned, the mega giant came in just as the sun rose. It looked like the hunt was about to conclude, then he started behaving like a big whitetail. For absolutely no reason, he turned around and eased off. This wasn’t part of the plan, but Cody wasn’t going anywhere, and a little while later the huge whitetail was back and headed right to him.
With 24 scoreable points and an incredible display of width, the buck added up to 217 6/8 inches — a great, unique trophy whitetail by any measure. “The wind was perfect, and I decided to take the quartering-to shot when he reached 32 yards,“ he smiled. “Then I sat and waited for a very long hour!”
No worries! The bolt had completed the mission, and Cody had no problem recovering the deer.
The buck had 24 scorable points and totaled 217 6/8 inches. The exceptional width, along with over 40 inches of abnormal points, and overall shape of the rack makes it a very unique trophy!
