South Carolina Hunter Adjusts Stand in Tropical Storm, then Bags Big Buck

Deer hunters along the southeastern coasts are used to dealing with hurricanes. Early opening season dates and late summer storms seem to coincide on a regular basis, and rarely to the hunter’s benefit. But every now and then, a storm works in a hunter’s favor.

South Carolina youth hunter Joe Kirton used the cover of a tropical storm to ready his stand for the season without spooking the buck that he suspected was bedding nearby.

Seventeen-year-old Joe Kirton has been hunting all his life. A passionate outdoorsman, he instantly recognized the big buck he saw one morning on the way to church as a true coastal giant. It was three weeks before the South Carolina youth season, Kirton’s last since he was about to age out, and the buck was on a neighboring farm.

The young hunter moved some trail cameras around hoping that the buck would make its way over to his hunting spot, and the play worked. About a week later, Kirton was excited to see a photo of the buck on one of his cameras. But the deer was transient, with photos being few and far between.

That changed in the days leading up the August 10 youth opener. Tropical Storm Debby, formerly Hurricane Debby, was bearing down on the Carolina coast. And as the storm drew near, the buck started showing up more regularly on Kirton’s cameras.

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Knowing he needed to do some prep work on the stands in the area the buck was frequenting, but not wanting to spook the deer, Kirton waited until the tropical storm was in full force before slipping out to check his stands. He reasoned that the big buck would likely be hunkered down and less likely to get spooked by his activity in the area.

The Saturday opener dawned hot and still. Kirton hadn’t gotten any photos of the buck in the two days since the storm had passed through, but he was confident the deer was still in the area. Since most of the photos had been from late evening, Kirton opted out of a morning hunt.

Based on trail camera photos, Kirton opted to skip the opening day morning hunt and head to the stand that evening.

He quietly climbed into his stand at about five in the evening. The stand location overlooked a large stand of pines. “There is a lot of thick stuff in there and that’s where I thought the buck was bedding. My stand was between the pines and a field of standing corn where the deer were going in the evenings to feed,” Kirton said.

The first hour was hot and uneventful, with no deer movement. But as the sun set, the sweltering heat began to subside. Kirton noticed movement at the edge of the pines. Soon, a buck stepped out, and then another. Kirton immediately realized that the first buck to emerge was the big one he was after.

The bucks walked steadily toward the corn about 80 yards from Kirton’s stand. He eased his rifle up and followed along, waiting for the perfect shot. When the buck paused, he squeezed the trigger.

At the shot, both bucks bolted back toward the timber. But his bullet had been on target, and the big deer made it only 10 yards before falling at the edge of the woods. Kirton immediately called his dad and his uncle to let them know he had shot the buck.

The buck only traveled 10 yards after the shot.

Even though he was pretty sure the buck was down, Kirton gave him some time before climbing out of his stand and checking for a blood trail. During that time, his dad, Andy, arrived to lend a hand. The pair went to where the buck had entered the woods and quickly located him right where Joe had seen him fall.

Once they had the deer dressed and cooling down, Kiirton dropped the rack and cape off with his taxidermist, who green scored the buck right at 150 inches, Kirton’s biggest to date and a fine way to finish off his final youth season.

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