A 190 North Carolina Buck Called The Mule

North Carolina hunter Wayne Louya doesn’t get too hung up on a buck’s score. Unusual antlers catch his attention. And the buck he caught on camera in September of 2023 with a mule deer-like fork on one side and extra point curling up from the base of a main beam on the other definitely scratched the itch. Louya named the buck “The Mule” and estimated it would score around 130. Even though he knew the buck was young and probably had a lot of potential if he made it another year or two, the lure of the strange rack was enough to make Louya hunt him.

When Louya first saw the buck with an unusual rack last year, he first decided to try to tag him even though he knew the buck was young. Image by Wayne Louya

But the deer eluded him during archery and rifle season both. Louya became almost obsessed with taking the deer, hunting him as often as possible, and finally, he got a shot. And he missed. “It was a clean shot. I guess all the pressure I had put on myself got to me. I just missed,” Louya said.

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About that time, his grandsons, Aiden and Jace, known affectionately as PeeWee and Butterbean, told him they wanted to hunt. On Thanksgiving, Louya was with PeeWee when he took his first buck. His grandson’s excitement made him realize that he was no longer enjoying what hunting was all about. Louya made the decision to stop hunting The Mule and just enjoy the remainder of the season with his grandsons.

After a clean miss on the buck and spending some time hunting with his two grandsons, Louya decided to hold off in hopes the buck would stick around another season. Image by Wayne Louya

As the season drew to a close, Louya enjoyed hunting with his grandsons even more than chasing the buck he had wanted so badly. “The only bad part was my 5-year-old grandson talking smack about how he could kill a buck but Grandpa couldn’t,” Louya laughed.

When he saw that The Mule had made it through the season, Louya decided to do everything he could to keep the buck close by and give him every opportunity he could to reach his maximum potential. That meant putting out high protein feed, protein pellets, and mineral. It worked. Louya watched The Mule and his impressive running mate until they dropped their antlers in late spring.

Louya put out high protein feed for the buck all winter and through the following summer. Image by Wayne Louya

As spring turned to summer, both bucks stayed regular around the feeders, and Louya purchased a new box blind to put near one of the most active areas. He vowed to keep the feed out and keep the bucks in the area. He did his best to only enter the area to fill the feeders, using cell cameras to keep tabs on the deer. With an extra year and all the high protein feed he could eat, the buck grew. And grew. Louya soon realized that this was going to be one of the biggest whitetails he had ever seen.

By August, Louya was down to only feeding in one spot near his new hunting blind. He had kept the existence of the buck quiet, only sharing with a couple close friends. Even his wife, Shelly, didn’t know about the deer and eventually got exasperated with her husband for spending all his time working and worrying about it. She came around once she saw the trail camera photos. Louya figured the buck would score in the high 160s or low 170s. His buddies all thought it would score even higher.

As season opener approached, Louya made the decision to hunt with his crossbow instead of his vertical bow. “I looked at it like this. This was the buck of a lifetime. If I was able to drive in the Daytona 500, would I want some passenger car or old truck, or would I want something that gave me the best shot at finishing?” Louya said.

Louya decided a crossbow would give him the best chance at taking the buck. Image by Wayne Louya

Louya had been carefully keeping notes on when the big buck was showing up. He knew the moon phases that made the deer most active in daylight. While the moon phase wasn’t perfect on the September 7 North Carolina opener, it was getting close. Louya decided to try an evening hunt.

“The wind wasn’t perfect, but I was running an Ozonic unit and thought the wind would be OK based on where the buck had been coming from,” he said. As evening progressed, a big doe stepped out at 50-60 yards. She was coming in at a steady pace, then stopped. While she didn’t act completely spooked, the old doe felt something was off. She started to stomp and snort and wouldn’t let the other deer trailing her pass by. Louya watched as she chased off every deer that tried to come to the feeder that evening.

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The next evening’s wind was perfect. Louya was back in his blind when, just like the evening before, the old doe came out first and spent the evening doing her best to ruin the hunt. “At this point, I thought it was over. If this doe was going to keep doing that, no buck was going to come in,” he said. Louya talked it over with his buddies. Should he risk spooking the buck by trying to take the old doe? Should he back out and give the area a rest? They talked him into keeping at it.

From his notes, Louya knew his best chances at seeing the big buck during the daylight would be over the next few days. He worried that shedding velvet would alter the buck’s pattern, and so he continued hunting hard, but didn’t see the buck.

On the morning of Tuesday the 10th, Louya noticed The Mule pass by his camera in the early dawn without stopping to eat. He knew based on his notes that the buck would likely be back in before dark that evening to feed. That was also the best day for daylight movement according to the moon phases he had recorded in his notes.

He climbed into his stand early that afternoon and settled in to wait. The wind started out questionable, but switched to a good direction as evening progressed and Louya’s anticipation was high. He had already decided to take the first good shot the buck offered if it came in. “In my mind, I was expecting the worst outcome. I’d been on some good bucks before and something would always happen. I kind of expected the same this time,” Louya said.

A group of does came in to feed, then eased away without spooking. Louya texted his buddy that the deer had come in and left without spooking. It was 7:25 in the evening. As Louya looked up from his phone, he saw an unmistakable set of antlers coming down the trail. His first thought was, “My God, that is a big buck.”

The buck’s 8-point running buddy came in first, with The Mule following about 30 yards behind. The big buck stopped to scent check the area, lifting his nose and twisting his head back and forth. Light was fading fast but for a while, the smaller buck obscured the shot. But after a bit, The Mule took a step, offering Louya a clear angle. He settled his crosshairs and squeezed the shot.

Just before the end of shooting light, Louya got his shot at the Mule. Image by Wayne Louya

Louya worried that the shot looked high as the buck turned to crash into the thick cover.

After texting his buddy that he had shot the deer, Louya called his wife and a couple other friends. He knew it would take them a little while to get there to help, so he settled in and waited, giving the buck some time.

When he got down to look for sign, Louya found what looked like some gut splatter on the ground. He soon found his arrow. It had blood, but no obvious gut residue. Louya still worried that his shot was back. Once everyone arrived, they started down the trail. Louya fretted that they might push the buck and considered backing out. Once they found blood, his buddies convinced him to search just a little farther. Soon, the blood got heavier. After 125 yards, Louya looked up to see antler shining in his flashlight beam.

The buck was huge. With 13-inch G2’s, three kicker points and a 12-point main frame, Louya instantly knew he had just taken the buck of a lifetime. Once they got the buck home, a couple friends who were western hunting guides and experienced scorers came by to put a tape on the deer. The numbers they came up with blew Louya away. They scored the buck conservatively and still came up with 189 2/8, making it likely one of the largest bucks ever taken in Randolph County.