Tommy Huskey booked a hunt with Dominant Buck Outfitters, a 400-acre hunting preserve, south of Canton Ohio. He and his son knew that a really big, 68-point buck was on the property yet had no idea that it could be a new Safari Club International record with a handgun. The senior Huskey felt confident that he could take down a mature whitetail buck with his Ruger Redhawk in .44 magnum if he could get withing 50 yards and planned the hunt accordingly. No trail camera pictures were available of the buck, yet the outfitter knew it often bedded in a particular thicket and placed a ground blind near an access trail.
The Rut is ON
Father and son sneaked into the blind before dawn and shortly after sunrise saw the huge deer chasing a doe, yet it did not come close enough to the blind. Next, it got into a fight with another buck which had the blind about to burst with adrenaline. Around 11:00 the whitetail headed for the bedding area, yet again well out of range. The weather turned nasty with snow, sleet, and winds that neared 50 mph. Given the conditions, the hunters returned to camp planning to return in early afternoon.
Down to the Wire
The buck left the bedding area in late afternoon and continued its rutting behavior, yet not approaching the blind. “It was about 15 minutes before dark when the buck got within 80 yards,” Huskey remembers. “Finally, it turned and walked toward us and I shot at 45 yards.” Huskey’s aim was true, yet the buck ran and he downed it with a second shot. “Sometimes you get a big rack and sometimes you get a big body, but I was lucky enough to get both,” Huskey said about the harvest. As he posed for a picture of the enormous 68-point deer he felt he’d been extremely blessed to take such a fine animal and to do so with his son. He blew the lingering smoke from the barrel of his Ruger and said, “Clint Eastwood, this one is for you.”
New World Record
A rough score of the deer netted 416 points, about 20 inches beyond the previous SCI record with a handgun. Although the buck has to dry for 60 days, Huskey believes that any shrinkage will still place him in the new number one spot. Currently, the big deer is listed under the heading of Dominant Buck Outfitters, but once a panel of judges has determined its official score, the deer will be listed under Huskey’s name.
