 TWO
ON BUCKS
Buddy Hunting the Giles Island Monster
EDITOR’S NOTE: What would you do if you discovered
where a trophy buck lived? Would you bet that this older-age-class
deer wouldn't die or get killed before the next hunting
season? And, if you didn't bag this big buck yourself,
would you willingly share him with a buddy? Many hunters
face these questions each season when they hunt big
bucks. Before you answer, consider some of the reasons
buddy hunting is better than hunting alone.
 Jim
Riley and Chad Pugh of Ferriday, Louisiana, who hunt
together, in 2001, bagged the biggest non-typical buck
ever taken on Giles Island in Mississippi. Speed Bancroft,
owner of the island, had spotted the huge deer in 1998
and had become concerned that the buck might die of
natural causes before a hunter could harvest him. So
he asked Riley and Pugh to try to take the big buck
with a bow. "Chad and I traded-out hunts,"
Riley explains. "On one hunt he'd take the bow,
and I'd take the camera. On the next hunt, I'd get to
take the bow, and Chad would carry the camera. We didn't
hunt the buck every day, however. We only hunted him
six times, and we made sure that we had the right wind
and weather conditions so we wouldn't spook the buck
out of the area."
On four occasions when Riley and Pugh hunted the buck,
they spotted him. But the deer never came within bow
range. Then, on one cold December day, Riley said to
Pugh, "Let's go hunt the 16 pointer." Although
the two hunters saw a large number of does and young
bucks coming to a field, they didn't spot the big buck
until  late
in the afternoon. "I looked up on a hill and whispered
to Chad, 'I see him on top of that hill,'" Riley
says. "Chad then moved the camera and zoomed in
on the big buck." Although Riley didn't know for
sure if he'd actually seen the monster buck, Pugh whispered,
"I see him too, Jim. You'd better get ready."
“I'd hunted deer all my life, but this buck made
me nervous," Riley states. "Too, I'd never
before taken a buck on Giles Island. I couldn't believe
that I'd have a chance to take a trophy buck on the
island. I started breathing hard, and I felt a big knot
develop in my throat. My heart beat so loudly that I
didn't even hear Chad say, 'I have my camera on him,'
when the buck came in close enough to take the shot."
Riley got so focused on taking the deer with his bow
that he completely forgot about his hunting buddy, the
tree stand and the rest of the world around him. In
the zone that only hunters who have had the opportunity
to take a monster buck know or understand, Riley had
that out-of-body hunting experience where nothing seemed
to exist except you and the big buck in front of you.
"I  concentrated
on a little hole in the brush to shoot through when
the buck came within range," Riley recalls. "I
knew I had to pull my bow to full draw when the buck
hit that spot. So just before the buck moved to the
hole, I drew my bow." But then the does in the
field behind Riley spotted him and sprinted away. Riley
heard the does running behind him, but he stood frozen
in time at full draw. When the buck stepped into the
hole, Riley released the arrow. The buck had walked
up to within seven steps from the base of Riley's tree
when the arrow found its mark. The massive buck, now
a 17 pointer, only ran about 75 yards before piling
up on the ground. The buck weighed 260 pounds, gross-scored
182 Boone and Crockett points and netted 176 3/4 B&C.
Two hunters buddy hunting definitely paid off with this
monster.
TOMORROW: DOUBLE-CALLING BUCKS
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