Draw Hunt Buck Potentially the Largest Ever Taken by a Woman in South Carolina

Angela Pizzino has served as a hunt volunteer and escort on the massive Savannah River Site (SRS) in South Carolina for years. The highly sought-after draw hunt is tightly controlled. Hunters are dropped off at blinds situated around the nearly 170,000-acre wilderness. For Angela, this year was different. Instead of volunteering and escorting other lucky hunters to their stands, Angela had drawn a coveted SRS tag.

South Carolina hunter Angela Pizzino made the most of her coveted draw tag with a pair of great bucks. Images courtesy of Angela Pizzino

Before we get to her hunt, here’s a quick backstory. Angela began hunting in 2009 when her husband, Steve, introduced her to it. But she has more than made up for the late start and is now very passionate about hunting deer, hogs and turkeys.

Steve fondly recalls the tale of Angela’s first deer.

“I was bowhunting with some buddies on a nearby WMA when she texted me,” he chuckled. “Her text read, ‘I think I got one.’”

Moments later, they spoke. Over the phone, Angela said, “A buck with big antlers came out. I shot him. He’s just laying there now.” Turns out the buck was a nice eight-pointer that Steve had missed with his bow just two weeks prior.

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Since then, Angela has taken several more good bucks. Steve noted that nine of the 11 deer mounts on their wall are hers.

Now, back to Angela’s SRS hunt. Before the hunt, Angela purchased a new rifle chambered in .350 Legend, dialed it in, and became comfortable with it.

On the morning of her hunt, she was escorted to her blind and dropped off well before daybreak. Hunters have two buck tags and are encouraged to take wild hogs. With more than an hour before dawn, Angela was anxious for daylight to reveal her surroundings.

As the morning light crept in, she noticed the blind was positioned to look down a pair of forest roads, giving her a good view and hopefully an open shot. Soon after sunrise, a large hog stepped out into the open road in front of her blind. Without hesitation, Angela aimed and fired, dropping the hog where it stood.

Shortly after daylight, Angela dropped a nice hog with a single shot.

“I started to worry that the hog would spook any deer that might come out,” she said. “We are supposed to stay in our blinds unless escorted by a guide, but I texted and explained the situation and asked if I could get out and move it off the road.”

Given the green light, Angela struggled to move the 200-pound hog on her own, eventually rolling it to the edge of the roadbed. After getting back into her blind, she settled in to wait for a deer. She didn’t have to wait long. Only five minutes later, a nice buck emerged from the thick cover. She fired. Once again, her target dropped.

Still on the high of taking a nice buck, Angela looked up and saw another buck getting ready to step out. While her first buck was nice, this one was massive.

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“I was so excited after I shot the first buck,” she said. “When this one stepped out at 40 yards just a few minutes later, I immediately raised my rifle. All I could see was him shaking his head and his big antlers.”

The giant buck stepped out of the woods and shook his head from side to side.

This time, Angela heard a deafening “click” when she squeezed the trigger. In the excitement of shooting her first buck, she hadn’t chambered another round. Luckily, the big buck stood in the open road long enough for her to quietly work her rifle’s bolt and reload. She aimed again and fired. Just like the hog and the first buck, the big buck fell within sight.

Both bucks fell within sight, no tracking required.

It was about 8:20 a.m., and Angela had already filled both buck tags and had taken a nice hog. Fresh out of tags, she sat back and relaxed, hoping to see another hog.

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“I enjoy hog hunting, but you know how it is. I sat there the rest of the day, hoping for a hog, and all I saw were deer,” she laughed. She enjoyed watching multiple does and bucks work back and forth across the dirt road throughout the remainder of the day.

After taking her bucks to the processor, Angela and Steve took the big buck’s head to Vince Smith at Custom Taxidermy in Dalzell, South Carolina. There, the giant buck was green-scored at 169 4/8 inches, gross, and 161 4/8, net. If the score holds, Angela’s buck will rank inside the top 30 all-time typical whitetails tagged in the state and could be the largest ever taken by a female hunter in South Carolina.

“I just love hunting,” Angela said. “I’ve learned so much since I started. I’m constantly asking Steve questions, watching hunting shows, and reading magazine articles. I really enjoy volunteering for the hunting and fishing events at SRS, particularly the Wounded Warrior and Veteran events.”

Besides being a passionate hunter, Angela loves to fish and just recently landed this 10.15-pound bass.

Angela also enjoys bass fishing and caught her personal best bass, a 10.15-pounder, during one of the recent fishing events, adding to her banner of accomplishments this year.

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