Andrew and Austin King attended a wedding celebration on Nov. 22 — so they almost didn’t go hunting that next morning. But the rut was on, and the brothers decided to hunt some public land in Kingsbury County, which lies in east-central South Dakota — roughly a 2-hour drive from the wedding venue.
“We knew good bucks had been roaming on some public land that we knew well,” Andrew says. “I’m glad we decided to go.”
The brothers headed to the public ground consisting of rolling hills, marshy draws, and CRP fields. They started about dawn and hiked to some high ground to glass for deer.
“We spotted a big buck from about 800 yards,” says Andrew, a 29-year-old plumber from Arlington. “We started a stalk toward him, using low coulees to stay out of his sight and got to about 200 yards.”
The giant buck was sparring with another huge buck, this one in the 150-inch range. Austin rattled and grunted to stop the bigger buck, which then turned toward Andrew.
“He was preoccupied with the other buck,” Andrew says. “And when he turned my way, I used a small tree to steady my Remington .270 that my dad gave me.”
His shot dropped the buck, which was on the far side of a pond. They called their dad, Ron, and other brother, Aaron, for help dragging the buck out.
Andrew didn’t want to field dress the buck for fear it would spoil a full body mount of the 21-point whitetail. So, they dragged the estimated 250-pound buck 700 yards to reach their truck. Then they brought it to a shed, where the deer was cleaned with special care.
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He says the nontypical green-scored at 217 inches gross, or 203 inches net. Most of his family members hunt, too, and while they have some good bucks to their credit, Andrew’s 21-pointer is the top buck among his dad and brothers. But he says they all share in each other’s success.
“I still can’t believe it happened, but I’m beyond grateful to harvest a buck of a lifetime.”