Deer of the Day - A Coal Miner's Reward, Curt Taylor

Curt Taylor, of Virginia, was looking forward to taking a break from the coal mines and spending some well-deserved hunting time with his two brothers, Rip and Dwayne, who reside 40 minutes away in West Virginia. The trio hadn't hunted together in a good long while and had a week to hunt during shotgun season on a patch of land they were leasing in Morgan County, Ohio from a generous farmer that cut them a great deal.

Rain fell from the heavens during most of the hunt, making conditions rough as the Taylor brothers heard shots all around them.

"We stand hunt, but most of the guys in the area drive hunt," shared Taylor, "the first day I heard hundreds of shots and saw 15-20 deer, with one being a 120 to 130-inch ten point but didn't get a shot."

The week went on and it was now the last day of the hunt, and only a doe had been taken between the three brothers during the week.

After a morning sit in which Curt saw 10 or 11 deer feeding, with none presenting a shot, Rip approached Curt, who was in his stand around 10:15 a.m. to enjoy the sun and talk about their afternoon departure. In mid-conversation, Rip spotted a massive buck hop a fence on a dead run from 500 yards away, heading straight towards the pair of hunters.

The buck veered away from Curt as it approached within 200 yards, but as it trotted up a hill, a cow bawled at the buck, spooking it, and sending it back towards Curt and his Model 1300 12-gauge Winchester that was loaded Federal slugs.

"I got myself in the best position I could for a shot," shared Curt, "When the deer was at 126 yards, Rip stopped the deer by bleating with his mouth and I took the shot."

"The deer turned on a dime and jumped a 5-foot fence like nothing ever happened," said Curt.

Curt immediately thought he'd missed and Rip did to.

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"We laughed at how I had just blew it on the biggest buck we have ever seen," reports Curt, "I was in shock and he was picking at me hard."

Upon further inspection, the pair did find a small strip of blood about 40 yards from where the buck was standing when Curt fired, and deciding to be safe, the pair backed out just in case the buck needed more time.

As they were waiting, they heard a shot from Dwayne, who was successful in dropping a young 10-point. After helping him with the drag out and field dressing, the trio turned their attention to Curt's buck.

"All three of us spread out in case he jumped," shared Curt, "one brother went to the blood and I went into the woods where he jumped the fence."

"Just as Rip found blood on the other side of the fence, I saw the deer laying in the brush, he hadn't ran 70 to 80 yards," said Curt, "Then we celebrated because there was no ground shrinkage€¦AT ALL!"

The buck was a mainframe 10 point that sported 16 total points. Taylor reports the green gross score was about 180 inches non-typical.

Congrats on a fantastic buck Curt!

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We want your buck as our Deer of the Day! Please send us an image of your buck, a brief description (including where you're from) of your hunt and the gear used to whitetail@imoutdoors.com