Written by Conor Harrison, Lone Star Outdoor News
Cousins Darrell Green and James Reed have a history of hunting together the past several years.
When Reed purchased property near Blue between Lexington and Elgin, the pair began to chase bucks on the property. One cull buck in particular, caught both hunters’ eyes, although antler restrictions made them hold off on the cull buck.
“We had been looking at an old cull buck,” Green said. “He had one antler that went straight up and another that went straight down next to his face. He had four total points but the game warden said we couldn’t shoot him. I’m not sure how you’d measure spread on a deer like that. He had to be 18 inches from tip to tip, but he really didn’t have a spread.”
Green said because the cull buck was off limits, the pair were just hoping for a legal buck to appear. Reed had never killed a deer before, so Green was hoping to find him a nice buck.
“James was shooting an antique, open-sighted .30-06,” Green said. “He could hit a beer can at 75 yards, so I knew he was ready. I wasn’t going to let him go out and wound something on his first deer.”
It was about 9:45 a.m. one early December morning when a doe appeared in front of the hunters.
“We were about to give up for the morning,” Green said. “The doe was acting real spooky and nervous, so I told James we needed to wait and see if a buck was following her. I figured it would be the cull that was around.”
When a mature 10-pointer appeared at 75 yards, Green gave Reed the green light.
“This buck walked up and I got my spotting scope on him and told James I know he’s at least 13 inches wide and to shoot him,” Green said. “I didn’t know how big the buck was until I walked up to him after James had made a perfect neck shot — dropped him like a sack of potatoes. I walked up and knew it was a great trophy.”
Green said his cousin was happy, but wasn’t as excited as Green was.
“I’ve been hunting a long time and this buck was bigger than anything I’ve ever killed,” he said. “He was a novice, but I was the one who was jealous.
“He made me very proud and envious.”
