Florida hunter shoots first buck over food plot

By Al Moore

My name is Al Moore, aka Almoe. I’m 50 years old and I live in Bayou George just outside of Panama City, Fla. I moved to this area three years ago. Last year my friend, Bud, and I decided to start hunting again with poor results: one doe.

This season I joined the Cat Creek Sportsman Association in Calhoun County and was determined to have a better hunting season. I read the Whitetail News, practiced shooting and listened to a lot of the locals who have been hunting this area all of their lives.

I moved my spot into the pines, built a condo and planted a food plot of Imperial Whitetail Clover and Chicory Plus. I also planted a food plot in Imperial No-Plow at the end of the pines. All of the seeds grew well.

I will re-plant my entire plot next spring with one of the two of them, probably Chicory Plus. I also put trail cameras out. All the pictures from the camera showed lots of does, black bears and turkeys every day, but no bucks. Everyone said be patient, if you got does the bucks will be there.

On the opening day of archery season I sat all day but didn’t see any bucks. At 5 p.m. a nice-size doe came out into the food plot and, while eating, walked a straight line to me. Every time she put her head down for another bite, I would make another move to get ready. When she was about 30 yards out, she put her head down for another bite. I drew my bow back, but that was a mistake because she was facing right at me, and I didn’t have a good shot.

She continued to walk straight at me for another 10 yards. I have a mechanical artificial heart valve, and when it is quiet you can hear it tick. It was so loud I thought she was going to hear it, and my arms were starting to get tired. But just then she turned to the right and I put the arrow right into her heart. She only ran about 20 yards and dropped.

That was my first Florida deer with a bow. As the season went on I saw doe after doe and even had the same five hen turkeys coming in to feed almost every day. I didn’t want to take another doe because I was told they will bring in the bucks.

It was a cold morning on Dec. 27, 2006 when I got in the stand at 5:15 a.m. I sat all morning and saw two does. At 10:30 a.m. I started packing up my gear to head for home. I picked up my thermos and noticed I had a cup of coffee left. Rather than leave in a hurry, I poured a cup, and as I sipped it, I looked out the corner of my eye. There at the end of the food plot stood a buck. The big buck was with two does about 110 yards from my stand.

I raised my .308 rifle and took a look. I stopped counting at six points and waited. I was hoping the buck would come in a little closer, but he was trying to get frisky with one of the does. Luckily, she wanted nothing to do with him; all she wanted to do was eat. I put the crosshairs on the buck and shot.

The buck dropped in his tracks. That’s when “Buck Fever” kicked in. I was so excited that I was shaking. You should have heard my heart valve ticking then. My friends at the hunting club were right when they told me to be patient when hunting big bucks.  

After a few minutes and multiple cell phone calls to all my friends, I walked out to the buck and that’s when I noticed not only was it an 8-point, but one heck of an 8-point. It weighed 175 pounds with a Boone and Crocket measurement of 118-6/8. This was my first Florida buck.

I can’t wait to hunt my food plots next year.