8 Photos
The mountains of Southwest Virginia support some quality big buck genes and Smyth County resident Randy Peake was blessed to inherit a hunting bloodline that matches what these mountains have to offer.
Randy's two biggest heroes are his late grandfather (papaw) Dick Adams and father Jim Peake, who both played significant roles in developing Randy into the man and outdoorsman he is today.
Life doesn't always play fair and as 2015 began Randy lost his father and only 11 months later his papaw passed away as well. Both of these gentlemen were accomplished woodsmen, especially his papaw "Dick" who was an exclusive bow hunter and used a recurve for much of his hunting which began in the 1960's in the mountains of Grayson County Virginia on National Forest property. Randy said "Papaw was so dedicated to hunting that each fall he and some close hunting buddies took their renovated school bus that they gutted and added bunk beds, gas heater, stove and refrigerator to the Pine Mountain area of Grayson County in the National Forest for a 7 week bow hunt, only coming home on Sunday and Wednesday for a warm shower."
These losses heavily impacted Randy's desire to hunt in 2015 and he didn't get out into the woods nearly as much, but as the 2016 deer season drew near he found a way to turn the grief he felt for his two fallen heroes into motivation, and as fate would have it an exclusive Bland County hunt club that his cousin Jimmy Peake was a member of had 2 openings and Jimmy was able to get both Randy and life-long friend Chris Ashby in as new members. This club has 16 members and leases over 2800 acres of mostly mountain property in Bland County.
Soon after meeting the other members of the hunt club it became apparent that there was one particular buck on everyone's hit list. The members called this mythical buck "Kickstand" due to a big kicker that shoots off of his left G2. This buck began appearing in trail cam pictures on the property in 2013 as a 3.5 year old, but had never been seen live and rarely was caught on camera during daylight hours.
Randy is just like many of us, between work, family and life it leaves him less time in the woods than he would prefer, but in October 2016 he managed to get in a bow hunt and although he missed a decent buck he harvested a doe.
His next hunt was November 12th and again he missed a real nice buck with his muzzleloader, but he said he can remeber walking out of woods feeling optimistic about the opportunities he had thus far and to know that the infamous buck known as Kickstand might still be roaming these parts kept his hopes high.
The next thing that takes place really took me by surprise. On the way out of the woods that November 12th evening only some 30 yards from his stand, Randy made a mock scrape with his foot and then he urinated in it and hung a trail camera over the scrape to catch any action.
Now this is new territory for me, I have always been the hunter that carries along a mason jar for those long sets and wouldn't dare pee or poop in the woods near my hunting stands, so you can imagine I really questioned Randy about this tactic and he heavily encouraged me to try it, and said with conviction "the mature bucks in the area will visit the scrape"!
Well I guess the proof is in the "urine", several days later when Randy checked his trail camera guess who visited the scrape just 3 hours later the very evening he made it- "KICKSTAND" !!
Randy was blown away at just how big this buck was that everyone had been talking about, and these Novemer pictures served as the first ones they had of the buck in all of 2016.
The first week of rifle came and went with Randy only seeing 3 deer and no sign of the rut. Thanksgiving week provided a few hunting opportunities, but again the action was pretty calm in the hills of Bland County.
On November 30th he moved to a lower stand on the mountain and harvested a nice 8 pointer at 7:30am hot on a doe.
The next day he and life-long buddy Chris Ashby decided to do an afternoon hunt arriving at the property around 3pm. Randy had a certain stand in mind which was about a mile and a half away on the other side of the property, but for some reason Chris encouraged him to go back and hunt the stand up on the mountain where he had made the mock scrape and got the pic of Kickstand.
So heeding his friends advice Randy found himself back up on the mountain and nestled in his stand by 3:30 pm. After sitting quietly for about an hour Randy looked up at the sky and said "daddy if he is in here I'm going to kill him" and he said a quick prayer. A short time later he employed another tactic he often uses that I rarely do, his grunt call. Randy delivered a sequence of deep grunts followed by an estrus bleat spaced 5 minutes apart. He continued this action for 45 minutes when he heard a loud grunt from the woods below him. He remained quiet trying to pinpoint where the answering grunt came from.
After about 5 minutes of complete quiet, Randy again hit his grunt call and again he received an answering grunt. Out of the thickets a big mature doe appeared and she had her attention completely on Randy in his stand. He froze in hopes to not spook her because he felt for sure there must be a trailing buck that was answering his earlier grunt calls.
It seemed like forever to Randy, but within moments the buck that had all hunters on this mountain range on high alert over the last 4 years showed up for his very first "live sighting". Indeed it was the giant Bland County buck known as Kickstand and he was only 40 yards away standing still.
Experience told Randy that the window of opportunity to harvest this mature mountain elder statesman was probably brief, so without hesitation he began to slowly raise his Remington model 700-.270 Win rifle, hoping that the doe would not break this party up.
As Randy settled his scope in on Kickstand he noticed the big kicker that so easily identified him. Kickstand then turned his head and again loudly grunted back toward another juvenile buck that was tagging along. Randy waited no longer and slowly squezzed the trigger. At the crack of the gun the big buck reared up on his back legs and came back down only to go forward about 15 yards where he began to wobble a bit then tipped over.
Randy again looked at the skies and said "Thank you Lord" and gave thanks to his 2 fallen heroes. Unable to compose himself Randy tried to text his hunting partner Chris to tell him what he had just done then he called Wendy his finace and said "I just killed Kickstand" before he broke down in tears of joy as well as all the memories that came rushing back in from hunts of the past alongside his heroes.
Since his landmark Virginia buck harvest last fall I am glad to say that Randy and I have become good friends and I got to actually lay hands and eyes on Kickstand in July of 2017 when he and Chris made the two hour drive to my house in the Star City from their Smyth County home to share this magnificent animal with myself and a few other hunters from our local hunting community.. Folks I can tell you this buck is even bigger in person. This blessing couldn't have happened to a nicer and more humble guy who has a smile that is contagious!
*On a side note after writing this article I may leave my mason jar at home and definitely use my grunt call this fall*
Folks make sure you check out Randy's buck at the Southampton State show September 23 & 24, 2017.
Randy also gives great credit to Chris Benton of "Bentons Taxidermy" for the unbelievable pedestal mount!
Jeff Phillips 9/3/2017
The mountains of Southwest Virginia support some quality big buck genes and Smyth County resident Randy Peake was blessed to inherit a hunting bloodline that matches what these mountains have to offer.
Randy's two biggest heroes are his late grandfather (papaw) Dick Adams and father Jim Peake, who both played significant roles in developing Randy into the man and outdoorsman he is today.
Life doesn't always play fair and as 2015 began Randy lost his father and only 11 months later his papaw passed away as well. Both of these gentlemen were accomplished woodsmen, especially his papaw "Dick" who was an exclusive bow hunter and used a recurve for much of his hunting which began in the 1960's in the mountains of Grayson County Virginia on National Forest property. Randy said "Papaw was so dedicated to hunting that each fall he and some close hunting buddies took their renovated school bus that they gutted and added bunk beds, gas heater, stove and refrigerator to the Pine Mountain area of Grayson County in the National Forest for a 7 week bow hunt, only coming home on Sunday and Wednesday for a warm shower."
These losses heavily impacted Randy's desire to hunt in 2015 and he didn't get out into the woods nearly as much, but as the 2016 deer season drew near he found a way to turn the grief he felt for his two fallen heroes into motivation, and as fate would have it an exclusive Bland County hunt club that his cousin Jimmy Peake was a member of had 2 openings and Jimmy was able to get both Randy and life-long friend Chris Ashby in as new members. This club has 16 members and leases over 2800 acres of mostly mountain property in Bland County.
Soon after meeting the other members of the hunt club it became apparent that there was one particular buck on everyone's hit list. The members called this mythical buck "Kickstand" due to a big kicker that shoots off of his left G2. This buck began appearing in trail cam pictures on the property in 2013 as a 3.5 year old, but had never been seen live and rarely was caught on camera during daylight hours.
Randy is just like many of us, between work, family and life it leaves him less time in the woods than he would prefer, but in October 2016 he managed to get in a bow hunt and although he missed a decent buck he harvested a doe.
His next hunt was November 12th and again he missed a real nice buck with his muzzleloader, but he said he can remeber walking out of woods feeling optimistic about the opportunities he had thus far and to know that the infamous buck known as Kickstand might still be roaming these parts kept his hopes high.
The next thing that takes place really took me by surprise. On the way out of the woods that November 12th evening only some 30 yards from his stand, Randy made a mock scrape with his foot and then he urinated in it and hung a trail camera over the scrape to catch any action.
Now this is new territory for me, I have always been the hunter that carries along a mason jar for those long sets and wouldn't dare pee or poop in the woods near my hunting stands, so you can imagine I really questioned Randy about this tactic and he heavily encouraged me to try it, and said with conviction "the mature bucks in the area will visit the scrape"!
Well I guess the proof is in the "urine", several days later when Randy checked his trail camera guess who visited the scrape just 3 hours later the very evening he made it- "KICKSTAND" !!
Randy was blown away at just how big this buck was that everyone had been talking about, and these Novemer pictures served as the first ones they had of the buck in all of 2016.
The first week of rifle came and went with Randy only seeing 3 deer and no sign of the rut. Thanksgiving week provided a few hunting opportunities, but again the action was pretty calm in the hills of Bland County.
On November 30th he moved to a lower stand on the mountain and harvested a nice 8 pointer at 7:30am hot on a doe.
The next day he and life-long buddy Chris Ashby decided to do an afternoon hunt arriving at the property around 3pm. Randy had a certain stand in mind which was about a mile and a half away on the other side of the property, but for some reason Chris encouraged him to go back and hunt the stand up on the mountain where he had made the mock scrape and got the pic of Kickstand.
So heeding his friends advice Randy found himself back up on the mountain and nestled in his stand by 3:30 pm. After sitting quietly for about an hour Randy looked up at the sky and said "daddy if he is in here I'm going to kill him" and he said a quick prayer. A short time later he employed another tactic he often uses that I rarely do, his grunt call. Randy delivered a sequence of deep grunts followed by an estrus bleat spaced 5 minutes apart. He continued this action for 45 minutes when he heard a loud grunt from the woods below him. He remained quiet trying to pinpoint where the answering grunt came from.
After about 5 minutes of complete quiet, Randy again hit his grunt call and again he received an answering grunt. Out of the thickets a big mature doe appeared and she had her attention completely on Randy in his stand. He froze in hopes to not spook her because he felt for sure there must be a trailing buck that was answering his earlier grunt calls.
It seemed like forever to Randy, but within moments the buck that had all hunters on this mountain range on high alert over the last 4 years showed up for his very first "live sighting". Indeed it was the giant Bland County buck known as Kickstand and he was only 40 yards away standing still.
Experience told Randy that the window of opportunity to harvest this mature mountain elder statesman was probably brief, so without hesitation he began to slowly raise his Remington model 700-.270 Win rifle, hoping that the doe would not break this party up.
As Randy settled his scope in on Kickstand he noticed the big kicker that so easily identified him. Kickstand then turned his head and again loudly grunted back toward another juvenile buck that was tagging along. Randy waited no longer and slowly squezzed the trigger. At the crack of the gun the big buck reared up on his back legs and came back down only to go forward about 15 yards where he began to wobble a bit then tipped over.
Randy again looked at the skies and said "Thank you Lord" and gave thanks to his 2 fallen heroes. Unable to compose himself Randy tried to text his hunting partner Chris to tell him what he had just done then he called Wendy his finace and said "I just killed Kickstand" before he broke down in tears of joy as well as all the memories that came rushing back in from hunts of the past alongside his heroes.
Since his landmark Virginia buck harvest last fall I am glad to say that Randy and I have become good friends and I got to actually lay hands and eyes on Kickstand in July of 2017 when he and Chris made the two hour drive to my house in the Star City from their Smyth County home to share this magnificent animal with myself and a few other hunters from our local hunting community.. Folks I can tell you this buck is even bigger in person. This blessing couldn't have happened to a nicer and more humble guy who has a smile that is contagious!
*On a side note after writing this article I may leave my mason jar at home and definitely use my grunt call this fall*
Folks make sure you check out Randy's buck at the Southampton State show September 23 & 24, 2017.
Randy also gives great credit to Chris Benton of "Bentons Taxidermy" for the unbelievable pedestal mount!
Jeff Phillips 9/3/2017
The mountains of Southwest Virginia support some quality big buck genes and Smyth County resident Randy Peake was blessed to inherit a hunting bloodline that matches what these mountains have to offer.
Randy's two biggest heroes are his late grandfather (papaw) Dick Adams and father Jim Peake, who both played significant roles in developing Randy into the man and outdoorsman he is today.
Life doesn't always play fair and as 2015 began Randy lost his father and only 11 months later his papaw passed away as well. Both of these gentlemen were accomplished woodsmen, especially his papaw "Dick" who was an exclusive bow hunter and used a recurve for much of his hunting which began in the 1960's in the mountains of Grayson County Virginia on National Forest property. Randy said "Papaw was so dedicated to hunting that each fall he and some close hunting buddies took their renovated school bus that they gutted and added bunk beds, gas heater, stove and refrigerator to the Pine Mountain area of Grayson County in the National Forest for a 7 week bow hunt, only coming home on Sunday and Wednesday for a warm shower."
These losses heavily impacted Randy's desire to hunt in 2015 and he didn't get out into the woods nearly as much, but as the 2016 deer season drew near he found a way to turn the grief he felt for his two fallen heroes into motivation, and as fate would have it an exclusive Bland County hunt club that his cousin Jimmy Peake was a member of had 2 openings and Jimmy was able to get both Randy and life-long friend Chris Ashby in as new members. This club has 16 members and leases over 2800 acres of mostly mountain property in Bland County.
Soon after meeting the other members of the hunt club it became apparent that there was one particular buck on everyone's hit list. The members called this mythical buck "Kickstand" due to a big kicker that shoots off of his left G2. This buck began appearing in trail cam pictures on the property in 2013 as a 3.5 year old, but had never been seen live and rarely was caught on camera during daylight hours.
Randy is just like many of us, between work, family and life it leaves him less time in the woods than he would prefer, but in October 2016 he managed to get in a bow hunt and although he missed a decent buck he harvested a doe.
His next hunt was November 12th and again he missed a real nice buck with his muzzleloader, but he said he can remeber walking out of woods feeling optimistic about the opportunities he had thus far and to know that the infamous buck known as Kickstand might still be roaming these parts kept his hopes high.
The next thing that takes place really took me by surprise. On the way out of the woods that November 12th evening only some 30 yards from his stand, Randy made a mock scrape with his foot and then he urinated in it and hung a trail camera over the scrape to catch any action.
Now this is new territory for me, I have always been the hunter that carries along a mason jar for those long sets and wouldn't dare pee or poop in the woods near my hunting stands, so you can imagine I really questioned Randy about this tactic and he heavily encouraged me to try it, and said with conviction "the mature bucks in the area will visit the scrape"!
Well I guess the proof is in the "urine", several days later when Randy checked his trail camera guess who visited the scrape just 3 hours later the very evening he made it- "KICKSTAND" !!
Randy was blown away at just how big this buck was that everyone had been talking about, and these Novemer pictures served as the first ones they had of the buck in all of 2016.
The first week of rifle came and went with Randy only seeing 3 deer and no sign of the rut. Thanksgiving week provided a few hunting opportunities, but again the action was pretty calm in the hills of Bland County.
On November 30th he moved to a lower stand on the mountain and harvested a nice 8 pointer at 7:30am hot on a doe.
The next day he and life-long buddy Chris Ashby decided to do an afternoon hunt arriving at the property around 3pm. Randy had a certain stand in mind which was about a mile and a half away on the other side of the property, but for some reason Chris encouraged him to go back and hunt the stand up on the mountain where he had made the mock scrape and got the pic of Kickstand.
So heeding his friends advice Randy found himself back up on the mountain and nestled in his stand by 3:30 pm. After sitting quietly for about an hour Randy looked up at the sky and said "daddy if he is in here I'm going to kill him" and he said a quick prayer. A short time later he employed another tactic he often uses that I rarely do, his grunt call. Randy delivered a sequence of deep grunts followed by an estrus bleat spaced 5 minutes apart. He continued this action for 45 minutes when he heard a loud grunt from the woods below him. He remained quiet trying to pinpoint where the answering grunt came from.
After about 5 minutes of complete quiet, Randy again hit his grunt call and again he received an answering grunt. Out of the thickets a big mature doe appeared and she had her attention completely on Randy in his stand. He froze in hopes to not spook her because he felt for sure there must be a trailing buck that was answering his earlier grunt calls.
It seemed like forever to Randy, but within moments the buck that had all hunters on this mountain range on high alert over the last 4 years showed up for his very first "live sighting". Indeed it was the giant Bland County buck known as Kickstand and he was only 40 yards away standing still.
Experience told Randy that the window of opportunity to harvest this mature mountain elder statesman was probably brief, so without hesitation he began to slowly raise his Remington model 700-.270 Win rifle, hoping that the doe would not break this party up.
As Randy settled his scope in on Kickstand he noticed the big kicker that so easily identified him. Kickstand then turned his head and again loudly grunted back toward another juvenile buck that was tagging along. Randy waited no longer and slowly squezzed the trigger. At the crack of the gun the big buck reared up on his back legs and came back down only to go forward about 15 yards where he began to wobble a bit then tipped over.
Randy again looked at the skies and said "Thank you Lord" and gave thanks to his 2 fallen heroes. Unable to compose himself Randy tried to text his hunting partner Chris to tell him what he had just done then he called Wendy his finace and said "I just killed Kickstand" before he broke down in tears of joy as well as all the memories that came rushing back in from hunts of the past alongside his heroes.
Since his landmark Virginia buck harvest last fall I am glad to say that Randy and I have become good friends and I got to actually lay hands and eyes on Kickstand in July of 2017 when he and Chris made the two hour drive to my house in the Star City from their Smyth County home to share this magnificent animal with myself and a few other hunters from our local hunting community.. Folks I can tell you this buck is even bigger in person. This blessing couldn't have happened to a nicer and more humble guy who has a smile that is contagious!
*On a side note after writing this article I may leave my mason jar at home and definitely use my grunt call this fall*
Folks make sure you check out Randy's buck at the Southampton State show September 23 & 24, 2017.
Randy also gives great credit to Chris Benton of "Bentons Taxidermy" for the unbelievable pedestal mount!
Jeff Phillips 9/3/2017
The mountains of Southwest Virginia support some quality big buck genes and Smyth County resident Randy Peake was blessed to inherit a hunting bloodline that matches what these mountains have to offer.
Randy's two biggest heroes are his late grandfather (papaw) Dick Adams and father Jim Peake, who both played significant roles in developing Randy into the man and outdoorsman he is today.
Life doesn't always play fair and as 2015 began Randy lost his father and only 11 months later his papaw passed away as well. Both of these gentlemen were accomplished woodsmen, especially his papaw "Dick" who was an exclusive bow hunter and used a recurve for much of his hunting which began in the 1960's in the mountains of Grayson County Virginia on National Forest property. Randy said "Papaw was so dedicated to hunting that each fall he and some close hunting buddies took their renovated school bus that they gutted and added bunk beds, gas heater, stove and refrigerator to the Pine Mountain area of Grayson County in the National Forest for a 7 week bow hunt, only coming home on Sunday and Wednesday for a warm shower."
These losses heavily impacted Randy's desire to hunt in 2015 and he didn't get out into the woods nearly as much, but as the 2016 deer season drew near he found a way to turn the grief he felt for his two fallen heroes into motivation, and as fate would have it an exclusive Bland County hunt club that his cousin Jimmy Peake was a member of had 2 openings and Jimmy was able to get both Randy and life-long friend Chris Ashby in as new members. This club has 16 members and leases over 2800 acres of mostly mountain property in Bland County.
Soon after meeting the other members of the hunt club it became apparent that there was one particular buck on everyone's hit list. The members called this mythical buck "Kickstand" due to a big kicker that shoots off of his left G2. This buck began appearing in trail cam pictures on the property in 2013 as a 3.5 year old, but had never been seen live and rarely was caught on camera during daylight hours.
Randy is just like many of us, between work, family and life it leaves him less time in the woods than he would prefer, but in October 2016 he managed to get in a bow hunt and although he missed a decent buck he harvested a doe.
His next hunt was November 12th and again he missed a real nice buck with his muzzleloader, but he said he can remeber walking out of woods feeling optimistic about the opportunities he had thus far and to know that the infamous buck known as Kickstand might still be roaming these parts kept his hopes high.
The next thing that takes place really took me by surprise. On the way out of the woods that November 12th evening only some 30 yards from his stand, Randy made a mock scrape with his foot and then he urinated in it and hung a trail camera over the scrape to catch any action.
Now this is new territory for me, I have always been the hunter that carries along a mason jar for those long sets and wouldn't dare pee or poop in the woods near my hunting stands, so you can imagine I really questioned Randy about this tactic and he heavily encouraged me to try it, and said with conviction "the mature bucks in the area will visit the scrape"!
Well I guess the proof is in the "urine", several days later when Randy checked his trail camera guess who visited the scrape just 3 hours later the very evening he made it- "KICKSTAND" !!
Randy was blown away at just how big this buck was that everyone had been talking about, and these Novemer pictures served as the first ones they had of the buck in all of 2016.
The first week of rifle came and went with Randy only seeing 3 deer and no sign of the rut. Thanksgiving week provided a few hunting opportunities, but again the action was pretty calm in the hills of Bland County.
On November 30th he moved to a lower stand on the mountain and harvested a nice 8 pointer at 7:30am hot on a doe.
The next day he and life-long buddy Chris Ashby decided to do an afternoon hunt arriving at the property around 3pm. Randy had a certain stand in mind which was about a mile and a half away on the other side of the property, but for some reason Chris encouraged him to go back and hunt the stand up on the mountain where he had made the mock scrape and got the pic of Kickstand.
So heeding his friends advice Randy found himself back up on the mountain and nestled in his stand by 3:30 pm. After sitting quietly for about an hour Randy looked up at the sky and said "daddy if he is in here I'm going to kill him" and he said a quick prayer. A short time later he employed another tactic he often uses that I rarely do, his grunt call. Randy delivered a sequence of deep grunts followed by an estrus bleat spaced 5 minutes apart. He continued this action for 45 minutes when he heard a loud grunt from the woods below him. He remained quiet trying to pinpoint where the answering grunt came from.
After about 5 minutes of complete quiet, Randy again hit his grunt call and again he received an answering grunt. Out of the thickets a big mature doe appeared and she had her attention completely on Randy in his stand. He froze in hopes to not spook her because he felt for sure there must be a trailing buck that was answering his earlier grunt calls.
It seemed like forever to Randy, but within moments the buck that had all hunters on this mountain range on high alert over the last 4 years showed up for his very first "live sighting". Indeed it was the giant Bland County buck known as Kickstand and he was only 40 yards away standing still.
Experience told Randy that the window of opportunity to harvest this mature mountain elder statesman was probably brief, so without hesitation he began to slowly raise his Remington model 700-.270 Win rifle, hoping that the doe would not break this party up.
As Randy settled his scope in on Kickstand he noticed the big kicker that so easily identified him. Kickstand then turned his head and again loudly grunted back toward another juvenile buck that was tagging along. Randy waited no longer and slowly squezzed the trigger. At the crack of the gun the big buck reared up on his back legs and came back down only to go forward about 15 yards where he began to wobble a bit then tipped over.
Randy again looked at the skies and said "Thank you Lord" and gave thanks to his 2 fallen heroes. Unable to compose himself Randy tried to text his hunting partner Chris to tell him what he had just done then he called Wendy his finace and said "I just killed Kickstand" before he broke down in tears of joy as well as all the memories that came rushing back in from hunts of the past alongside his heroes.
Since his landmark Virginia buck harvest last fall I am glad to say that Randy and I have become good friends and I got to actually lay hands and eyes on Kickstand in July of 2017 when he and Chris made the two hour drive to my house in the Star City from their Smyth County home to share this magnificent animal with myself and a few other hunters from our local hunting community.. Folks I can tell you this buck is even bigger in person. This blessing couldn't have happened to a nicer and more humble guy who has a smile that is contagious!
*On a side note after writing this article I may leave my mason jar at home and definitely use my grunt call this fall*
Folks make sure you check out Randy's buck at the Southampton State show September 23 & 24, 2017.
Randy also gives great credit to Chris Benton of "Bentons Taxidermy" for the unbelievable pedestal mount!
Jeff Phillips 9/3/2017
The mountains of Southwest Virginia support some quality big buck genes and Smyth County resident Randy Peake was blessed to inherit a hunting bloodline that matches what these mountains have to offer.
Randy's two biggest heroes are his late grandfather (papaw) Dick Adams and father Jim Peake, who both played significant roles in developing Randy into the man and outdoorsman he is today.
Life doesn't always play fair and as 2015 began Randy lost his father and only 11 months later his papaw passed away as well. Both of these gentlemen were accomplished woodsmen, especially his papaw "Dick" who was an exclusive bow hunter and used a recurve for much of his hunting which began in the 1960's in the mountains of Grayson County Virginia on National Forest property. Randy said "Papaw was so dedicated to hunting that each fall he and some close hunting buddies took their renovated school bus that they gutted and added bunk beds, gas heater, stove and refrigerator to the Pine Mountain area of Grayson County in the National Forest for a 7 week bow hunt, only coming home on Sunday and Wednesday for a warm shower."
These losses heavily impacted Randy's desire to hunt in 2015 and he didn't get out into the woods nearly as much, but as the 2016 deer season drew near he found a way to turn the grief he felt for his two fallen heroes into motivation, and as fate would have it an exclusive Bland County hunt club that his cousin Jimmy Peake was a member of had 2 openings and Jimmy was able to get both Randy and life-long friend Chris Ashby in as new members. This club has 16 members and leases over 2800 acres of mostly mountain property in Bland County.
Soon after meeting the other members of the hunt club it became apparent that there was one particular buck on everyone's hit list. The members called this mythical buck "Kickstand" due to a big kicker that shoots off of his left G2. This buck began appearing in trail cam pictures on the property in 2013 as a 3.5 year old, but had never been seen live and rarely was caught on camera during daylight hours.
Randy is just like many of us, between work, family and life it leaves him less time in the woods than he would prefer, but in October 2016 he managed to get in a bow hunt and although he missed a decent buck he harvested a doe.
His next hunt was November 12th and again he missed a real nice buck with his muzzleloader, but he said he can remeber walking out of woods feeling optimistic about the opportunities he had thus far and to know that the infamous buck known as Kickstand might still be roaming these parts kept his hopes high.
The next thing that takes place really took me by surprise. On the way out of the woods that November 12th evening only some 30 yards from his stand, Randy made a mock scrape with his foot and then he urinated in it and hung a trail camera over the scrape to catch any action.
Now this is new territory for me, I have always been the hunter that carries along a mason jar for those long sets and wouldn't dare pee or poop in the woods near my hunting stands, so you can imagine I really questioned Randy about this tactic and he heavily encouraged me to try it, and said with conviction "the mature bucks in the area will visit the scrape"!
Well I guess the proof is in the "urine", several days later when Randy checked his trail camera guess who visited the scrape just 3 hours later the very evening he made it- "KICKSTAND" !!
Randy was blown away at just how big this buck was that everyone had been talking about, and these Novemer pictures served as the first ones they had of the buck in all of 2016.
The first week of rifle came and went with Randy only seeing 3 deer and no sign of the rut. Thanksgiving week provided a few hunting opportunities, but again the action was pretty calm in the hills of Bland County.
On November 30th he moved to a lower stand on the mountain and harvested a nice 8 pointer at 7:30am hot on a doe.
The next day he and life-long buddy Chris Ashby decided to do an afternoon hunt arriving at the property around 3pm. Randy had a certain stand in mind which was about a mile and a half away on the other side of the property, but for some reason Chris encouraged him to go back and hunt the stand up on the mountain where he had made the mock scrape and got the pic of Kickstand.
So heeding his friends advice Randy found himself back up on the mountain and nestled in his stand by 3:30 pm. After sitting quietly for about an hour Randy looked up at the sky and said "daddy if he is in here I'm going to kill him" and he said a quick prayer. A short time later he employed another tactic he often uses that I rarely do, his grunt call. Randy delivered a sequence of deep grunts followed by an estrus bleat spaced 5 minutes apart. He continued this action for 45 minutes when he heard a loud grunt from the woods below him. He remained quiet trying to pinpoint where the answering grunt came from.
After about 5 minutes of complete quiet, Randy again hit his grunt call and again he received an answering grunt. Out of the thickets a big mature doe appeared and she had her attention completely on Randy in his stand. He froze in hopes to not spook her because he felt for sure there must be a trailing buck that was answering his earlier grunt calls.
It seemed like forever to Randy, but within moments the buck that had all hunters on this mountain range on high alert over the last 4 years showed up for his very first "live sighting". Indeed it was the giant Bland County buck known as Kickstand and he was only 40 yards away standing still.
Experience told Randy that the window of opportunity to harvest this mature mountain elder statesman was probably brief, so without hesitation he began to slowly raise his Remington model 700-.270 Win rifle, hoping that the doe would not break this party up.
As Randy settled his scope in on Kickstand he noticed the big kicker that so easily identified him. Kickstand then turned his head and again loudly grunted back toward another juvenile buck that was tagging along. Randy waited no longer and slowly squezzed the trigger. At the crack of the gun the big buck reared up on his back legs and came back down only to go forward about 15 yards where he began to wobble a bit then tipped over.
Randy again looked at the skies and said "Thank you Lord" and gave thanks to his 2 fallen heroes. Unable to compose himself Randy tried to text his hunting partner Chris to tell him what he had just done then he called Wendy his finace and said "I just killed Kickstand" before he broke down in tears of joy as well as all the memories that came rushing back in from hunts of the past alongside his heroes.
Since his landmark Virginia buck harvest last fall I am glad to say that Randy and I have become good friends and I got to actually lay hands and eyes on Kickstand in July of 2017 when he and Chris made the two hour drive to my house in the Star City from their Smyth County home to share this magnificent animal with myself and a few other hunters from our local hunting community.. Folks I can tell you this buck is even bigger in person. This blessing couldn't have happened to a nicer and more humble guy who has a smile that is contagious!
*On a side note after writing this article I may leave my mason jar at home and definitely use my grunt call this fall*
Folks make sure you check out Randy's buck at the Southampton State show September 23 & 24, 2017.
Randy also gives great credit to Chris Benton of "Bentons Taxidermy" for the unbelievable pedestal mount!
Jeff Phillips 9/3/2017
The mountains of Southwest Virginia support some quality big buck genes and Smyth County resident Randy Peake was blessed to inherit a hunting bloodline that matches what these mountains have to offer.
Randy's two biggest heroes are his late grandfather (papaw) Dick Adams and father Jim Peake, who both played significant roles in developing Randy into the man and outdoorsman he is today.
Life doesn't always play fair and as 2015 began Randy lost his father and only 11 months later his papaw passed away as well. Both of these gentlemen were accomplished woodsmen, especially his papaw "Dick" who was an exclusive bow hunter and used a recurve for much of his hunting which began in the 1960's in the mountains of Grayson County Virginia on National Forest property. Randy said "Papaw was so dedicated to hunting that each fall he and some close hunting buddies took their renovated school bus that they gutted and added bunk beds, gas heater, stove and refrigerator to the Pine Mountain area of Grayson County in the National Forest for a 7 week bow hunt, only coming home on Sunday and Wednesday for a warm shower."
These losses heavily impacted Randy's desire to hunt in 2015 and he didn't get out into the woods nearly as much, but as the 2016 deer season drew near he found a way to turn the grief he felt for his two fallen heroes into motivation, and as fate would have it an exclusive Bland County hunt club that his cousin Jimmy Peake was a member of had 2 openings and Jimmy was able to get both Randy and life-long friend Chris Ashby in as new members. This club has 16 members and leases over 2800 acres of mostly mountain property in Bland County.
Soon after meeting the other members of the hunt club it became apparent that there was one particular buck on everyone's hit list. The members called this mythical buck "Kickstand" due to a big kicker that shoots off of his left G2. This buck began appearing in trail cam pictures on the property in 2013 as a 3.5 year old, but had never been seen live and rarely was caught on camera during daylight hours.
Randy is just like many of us, between work, family and life it leaves him less time in the woods than he would prefer, but in October 2016 he managed to get in a bow hunt and although he missed a decent buck he harvested a doe.
His next hunt was November 12th and again he missed a real nice buck with his muzzleloader, but he said he can remeber walking out of woods feeling optimistic about the opportunities he had thus far and to know that the infamous buck known as Kickstand might still be roaming these parts kept his hopes high.
The next thing that takes place really took me by surprise. On the way out of the woods that November 12th evening only some 30 yards from his stand, Randy made a mock scrape with his foot and then he urinated in it and hung a trail camera over the scrape to catch any action.
Now this is new territory for me, I have always been the hunter that carries along a mason jar for those long sets and wouldn't dare pee or poop in the woods near my hunting stands, so you can imagine I really questioned Randy about this tactic and he heavily encouraged me to try it, and said with conviction "the mature bucks in the area will visit the scrape"!
Well I guess the proof is in the "urine", several days later when Randy checked his trail camera guess who visited the scrape just 3 hours later the very evening he made it- "KICKSTAND" !!
Randy was blown away at just how big this buck was that everyone had been talking about, and these Novemer pictures served as the first ones they had of the buck in all of 2016.
The first week of rifle came and went with Randy only seeing 3 deer and no sign of the rut. Thanksgiving week provided a few hunting opportunities, but again the action was pretty calm in the hills of Bland County.
On November 30th he moved to a lower stand on the mountain and harvested a nice 8 pointer at 7:30am hot on a doe.
The next day he and life-long buddy Chris Ashby decided to do an afternoon hunt arriving at the property around 3pm. Randy had a certain stand in mind which was about a mile and a half away on the other side of the property, but for some reason Chris encouraged him to go back and hunt the stand up on the mountain where he had made the mock scrape and got the pic of Kickstand.
So heeding his friends advice Randy found himself back up on the mountain and nestled in his stand by 3:30 pm. After sitting quietly for about an hour Randy looked up at the sky and said "daddy if he is in here I'm going to kill him" and he said a quick prayer. A short time later he employed another tactic he often uses that I rarely do, his grunt call. Randy delivered a sequence of deep grunts followed by an estrus bleat spaced 5 minutes apart. He continued this action for 45 minutes when he heard a loud grunt from the woods below him. He remained quiet trying to pinpoint where the answering grunt came from.
After about 5 minutes of complete quiet, Randy again hit his grunt call and again he received an answering grunt. Out of the thickets a big mature doe appeared and she had her attention completely on Randy in his stand. He froze in hopes to not spook her because he felt for sure there must be a trailing buck that was answering his earlier grunt calls.
It seemed like forever to Randy, but within moments the buck that had all hunters on this mountain range on high alert over the last 4 years showed up for his very first "live sighting". Indeed it was the giant Bland County buck known as Kickstand and he was only 40 yards away standing still.
Experience told Randy that the window of opportunity to harvest this mature mountain elder statesman was probably brief, so without hesitation he began to slowly raise his Remington model 700-.270 Win rifle, hoping that the doe would not break this party up.
As Randy settled his scope in on Kickstand he noticed the big kicker that so easily identified him. Kickstand then turned his head and again loudly grunted back toward another juvenile buck that was tagging along. Randy waited no longer and slowly squezzed the trigger. At the crack of the gun the big buck reared up on his back legs and came back down only to go forward about 15 yards where he began to wobble a bit then tipped over.
Randy again looked at the skies and said "Thank you Lord" and gave thanks to his 2 fallen heroes. Unable to compose himself Randy tried to text his hunting partner Chris to tell him what he had just done then he called Wendy his finace and said "I just killed Kickstand" before he broke down in tears of joy as well as all the memories that came rushing back in from hunts of the past alongside his heroes.
Since his landmark Virginia buck harvest last fall I am glad to say that Randy and I have become good friends and I got to actually lay hands and eyes on Kickstand in July of 2017 when he and Chris made the two hour drive to my house in the Star City from their Smyth County home to share this magnificent animal with myself and a few other hunters from our local hunting community.. Folks I can tell you this buck is even bigger in person. This blessing couldn't have happened to a nicer and more humble guy who has a smile that is contagious!
*On a side note after writing this article I may leave my mason jar at home and definitely use my grunt call this fall*
Folks make sure you check out Randy's buck at the Southampton State show September 23 & 24, 2017.
Randy also gives great credit to Chris Benton of "Bentons Taxidermy" for the unbelievable pedestal mount!
Jeff Phillips 9/3/2017
The mountains of Southwest Virginia support some quality big buck genes and Smyth County resident Randy Peake was blessed to inherit a hunting bloodline that matches what these mountains have to offer.
Randy's two biggest heroes are his late grandfather (papaw) Dick Adams and father Jim Peake, who both played significant roles in developing Randy into the man and outdoorsman he is today.
Life doesn't always play fair and as 2015 began Randy lost his father and only 11 months later his papaw passed away as well. Both of these gentlemen were accomplished woodsmen, especially his papaw "Dick" who was an exclusive bow hunter and used a recurve for much of his hunting which began in the 1960's in the mountains of Grayson County Virginia on National Forest property. Randy said "Papaw was so dedicated to hunting that each fall he and some close hunting buddies took their renovated school bus that they gutted and added bunk beds, gas heater, stove and refrigerator to the Pine Mountain area of Grayson County in the National Forest for a 7 week bow hunt, only coming home on Sunday and Wednesday for a warm shower."
These losses heavily impacted Randy's desire to hunt in 2015 and he didn't get out into the woods nearly as much, but as the 2016 deer season drew near he found a way to turn the grief he felt for his two fallen heroes into motivation, and as fate would have it an exclusive Bland County hunt club that his cousin Jimmy Peake was a member of had 2 openings and Jimmy was able to get both Randy and life-long friend Chris Ashby in as new members. This club has 16 members and leases over 2800 acres of mostly mountain property in Bland County.
Soon after meeting the other members of the hunt club it became apparent that there was one particular buck on everyone's hit list. The members called this mythical buck "Kickstand" due to a big kicker that shoots off of his left G2. This buck began appearing in trail cam pictures on the property in 2013 as a 3.5 year old, but had never been seen live and rarely was caught on camera during daylight hours.
Randy is just like many of us, between work, family and life it leaves him less time in the woods than he would prefer, but in October 2016 he managed to get in a bow hunt and although he missed a decent buck he harvested a doe.
His next hunt was November 12th and again he missed a real nice buck with his muzzleloader, but he said he can remeber walking out of woods feeling optimistic about the opportunities he had thus far and to know that the infamous buck known as Kickstand might still be roaming these parts kept his hopes high.
The next thing that takes place really took me by surprise. On the way out of the woods that November 12th evening only some 30 yards from his stand, Randy made a mock scrape with his foot and then he urinated in it and hung a trail camera over the scrape to catch any action.
Now this is new territory for me, I have always been the hunter that carries along a mason jar for those long sets and wouldn't dare pee or poop in the woods near my hunting stands, so you can imagine I really questioned Randy about this tactic and he heavily encouraged me to try it, and said with conviction "the mature bucks in the area will visit the scrape"!
Well I guess the proof is in the "urine", several days later when Randy checked his trail camera guess who visited the scrape just 3 hours later the very evening he made it- "KICKSTAND" !!
Randy was blown away at just how big this buck was that everyone had been talking about, and these Novemer pictures served as the first ones they had of the buck in all of 2016.
The first week of rifle came and went with Randy only seeing 3 deer and no sign of the rut. Thanksgiving week provided a few hunting opportunities, but again the action was pretty calm in the hills of Bland County.
On November 30th he moved to a lower stand on the mountain and harvested a nice 8 pointer at 7:30am hot on a doe.
The next day he and life-long buddy Chris Ashby decided to do an afternoon hunt arriving at the property around 3pm. Randy had a certain stand in mind which was about a mile and a half away on the other side of the property, but for some reason Chris encouraged him to go back and hunt the stand up on the mountain where he had made the mock scrape and got the pic of Kickstand.
So heeding his friends advice Randy found himself back up on the mountain and nestled in his stand by 3:30 pm. After sitting quietly for about an hour Randy looked up at the sky and said "daddy if he is in here I'm going to kill him" and he said a quick prayer. A short time later he employed another tactic he often uses that I rarely do, his grunt call. Randy delivered a sequence of deep grunts followed by an estrus bleat spaced 5 minutes apart. He continued this action for 45 minutes when he heard a loud grunt from the woods below him. He remained quiet trying to pinpoint where the answering grunt came from.
After about 5 minutes of complete quiet, Randy again hit his grunt call and again he received an answering grunt. Out of the thickets a big mature doe appeared and she had her attention completely on Randy in his stand. He froze in hopes to not spook her because he felt for sure there must be a trailing buck that was answering his earlier grunt calls.
It seemed like forever to Randy, but within moments the buck that had all hunters on this mountain range on high alert over the last 4 years showed up for his very first "live sighting". Indeed it was the giant Bland County buck known as Kickstand and he was only 40 yards away standing still.
Experience told Randy that the window of opportunity to harvest this mature mountain elder statesman was probably brief, so without hesitation he began to slowly raise his Remington model 700-.270 Win rifle, hoping that the doe would not break this party up.
As Randy settled his scope in on Kickstand he noticed the big kicker that so easily identified him. Kickstand then turned his head and again loudly grunted back toward another juvenile buck that was tagging along. Randy waited no longer and slowly squezzed the trigger. At the crack of the gun the big buck reared up on his back legs and came back down only to go forward about 15 yards where he began to wobble a bit then tipped over.
Randy again looked at the skies and said "Thank you Lord" and gave thanks to his 2 fallen heroes. Unable to compose himself Randy tried to text his hunting partner Chris to tell him what he had just done then he called Wendy his finace and said "I just killed Kickstand" before he broke down in tears of joy as well as all the memories that came rushing back in from hunts of the past alongside his heroes.
Since his landmark Virginia buck harvest last fall I am glad to say that Randy and I have become good friends and I got to actually lay hands and eyes on Kickstand in July of 2017 when he and Chris made the two hour drive to my house in the Star City from their Smyth County home to share this magnificent animal with myself and a few other hunters from our local hunting community.. Folks I can tell you this buck is even bigger in person. This blessing couldn't have happened to a nicer and more humble guy who has a smile that is contagious!
*On a side note after writing this article I may leave my mason jar at home and definitely use my grunt call this fall*
Folks make sure you check out Randy's buck at the Southampton State show September 23 & 24, 2017.
Randy also gives great credit to Chris Benton of "Bentons Taxidermy" for the unbelievable pedestal mount!
Jeff Phillips 9/3/2017
The mountains of Southwest Virginia support some quality big buck genes and Smyth County resident Randy Peake was blessed to inherit a hunting bloodline that matches what these mountains have to offer.
Randy's two biggest heroes are his late grandfather (papaw) Dick Adams and father Jim Peake, who both played significant roles in developing Randy into the man and outdoorsman he is today.
Life doesn't always play fair and as 2015 began Randy lost his father and only 11 months later his papaw passed away as well. Both of these gentlemen were accomplished woodsmen, especially his papaw "Dick" who was an exclusive bow hunter and used a recurve for much of his hunting which began in the 1960's in the mountains of Grayson County Virginia on National Forest property. Randy said "Papaw was so dedicated to hunting that each fall he and some close hunting buddies took their renovated school bus that they gutted and added bunk beds, gas heater, stove and refrigerator to the Pine Mountain area of Grayson County in the National Forest for a 7 week bow hunt, only coming home on Sunday and Wednesday for a warm shower."
These losses heavily impacted Randy's desire to hunt in 2015 and he didn't get out into the woods nearly as much, but as the 2016 deer season drew near he found a way to turn the grief he felt for his two fallen heroes into motivation, and as fate would have it an exclusive Bland County hunt club that his cousin Jimmy Peake was a member of had 2 openings and Jimmy was able to get both Randy and life-long friend Chris Ashby in as new members. This club has 16 members and leases over 2800 acres of mostly mountain property in Bland County.
Soon after meeting the other members of the hunt club it became apparent that there was one particular buck on everyone's hit list. The members called this mythical buck "Kickstand" due to a big kicker that shoots off of his left G2. This buck began appearing in trail cam pictures on the property in 2013 as a 3.5 year old, but had never been seen live and rarely was caught on camera during daylight hours.
Randy is just like many of us, between work, family and life it leaves him less time in the woods than he would prefer, but in October 2016 he managed to get in a bow hunt and although he missed a decent buck he harvested a doe.
His next hunt was November 12th and again he missed a real nice buck with his muzzleloader, but he said he can remeber walking out of woods feeling optimistic about the opportunities he had thus far and to know that the infamous buck known as Kickstand might still be roaming these parts kept his hopes high.
The next thing that takes place really took me by surprise. On the way out of the woods that November 12th evening only some 30 yards from his stand, Randy made a mock scrape with his foot and then he urinated in it and hung a trail camera over the scrape to catch any action.
Now this is new territory for me, I have always been the hunter that carries along a mason jar for those long sets and wouldn't dare pee or poop in the woods near my hunting stands, so you can imagine I really questioned Randy about this tactic and he heavily encouraged me to try it, and said with conviction "the mature bucks in the area will visit the scrape"!
Well I guess the proof is in the "urine", several days later when Randy checked his trail camera guess who visited the scrape just 3 hours later the very evening he made it- "KICKSTAND" !!
Randy was blown away at just how big this buck was that everyone had been talking about, and these Novemer pictures served as the first ones they had of the buck in all of 2016.
The first week of rifle came and went with Randy only seeing 3 deer and no sign of the rut. Thanksgiving week provided a few hunting opportunities, but again the action was pretty calm in the hills of Bland County.
On November 30th he moved to a lower stand on the mountain and harvested a nice 8 pointer at 7:30am hot on a doe.
The next day he and life-long buddy Chris Ashby decided to do an afternoon hunt arriving at the property around 3pm. Randy had a certain stand in mind which was about a mile and a half away on the other side of the property, but for some reason Chris encouraged him to go back and hunt the stand up on the mountain where he had made the mock scrape and got the pic of Kickstand.
So heeding his friends advice Randy found himself back up on the mountain and nestled in his stand by 3:30 pm. After sitting quietly for about an hour Randy looked up at the sky and said "daddy if he is in here I'm going to kill him" and he said a quick prayer. A short time later he employed another tactic he often uses that I rarely do, his grunt call. Randy delivered a sequence of deep grunts followed by an estrus bleat spaced 5 minutes apart. He continued this action for 45 minutes when he heard a loud grunt from the woods below him. He remained quiet trying to pinpoint where the answering grunt came from.
After about 5 minutes of complete quiet, Randy again hit his grunt call and again he received an answering grunt. Out of the thickets a big mature doe appeared and she had her attention completely on Randy in his stand. He froze in hopes to not spook her because he felt for sure there must be a trailing buck that was answering his earlier grunt calls.
It seemed like forever to Randy, but within moments the buck that had all hunters on this mountain range on high alert over the last 4 years showed up for his very first "live sighting". Indeed it was the giant Bland County buck known as Kickstand and he was only 40 yards away standing still.
Experience told Randy that the window of opportunity to harvest this mature mountain elder statesman was probably brief, so without hesitation he began to slowly raise his Remington model 700-.270 Win rifle, hoping that the doe would not break this party up.
As Randy settled his scope in on Kickstand he noticed the big kicker that so easily identified him. Kickstand then turned his head and again loudly grunted back toward another juvenile buck that was tagging along. Randy waited no longer and slowly squezzed the trigger. At the crack of the gun the big buck reared up on his back legs and came back down only to go forward about 15 yards where he began to wobble a bit then tipped over.
Randy again looked at the skies and said "Thank you Lord" and gave thanks to his 2 fallen heroes. Unable to compose himself Randy tried to text his hunting partner Chris to tell him what he had just done then he called Wendy his finace and said "I just killed Kickstand" before he broke down in tears of joy as well as all the memories that came rushing back in from hunts of the past alongside his heroes.
Since his landmark Virginia buck harvest last fall I am glad to say that Randy and I have become good friends and I got to actually lay hands and eyes on Kickstand in July of 2017 when he and Chris made the two hour drive to my house in the Star City from their Smyth County home to share this magnificent animal with myself and a few other hunters from our local hunting community.. Folks I can tell you this buck is even bigger in person. This blessing couldn't have happened to a nicer and more humble guy who has a smile that is contagious!
*On a side note after writing this article I may leave my mason jar at home and definitely use my grunt call this fall*
Folks make sure you check out Randy's buck at the Southampton State show September 23 & 24, 2017.
Randy also gives great credit to Chris Benton of "Bentons Taxidermy" for the unbelievable pedestal mount!
Jeff Phillips 9/3/2017
The mountains of Southwest Virginia support some quality big buck genes and Smyth County resident Randy Peake was blessed to inherit a hunting bloodline that matches what these mountains have to offer.
Randy's two biggest heroes are his late grandfather (papaw) Dick Adams and father Jim Peake, who both played significant roles in developing Randy into the man and outdoorsman he is today.
Life doesn't always play fair and as 2015 began Randy lost his father and only 11 months later his papaw passed away as well. Both of these gentlemen were accomplished woodsmen, especially his papaw "Dick" who was an exclusive bow hunter and used a recurve for much of his hunting which began in the 1960's in the mountains of Grayson County Virginia on National Forest property. Randy said "Papaw was so dedicated to hunting that each fall he and some close hunting buddies took their renovated school bus that they gutted and added bunk beds, gas heater, stove and refrigerator to the Pine Mountain area of Grayson County in the National Forest for a 7 week bow hunt, only coming home on Sunday and Wednesday for a warm shower."
These losses heavily impacted Randy's desire to hunt in 2015 and he didn't get out into the woods nearly as much, but as the 2016 deer season drew near he found a way to turn the grief he felt for his two fallen heroes into motivation, and as fate would have it an exclusive Bland County hunt club that his cousin Jimmy Peake was a member of had 2 openings and Jimmy was able to get both Randy and life-long friend Chris Ashby in as new members. This club has 16 members and leases over 2800 acres of mostly mountain property in Bland County.
Soon after meeting the other members of the hunt club it became apparent that there was one particular buck on everyone's hit list. The members called this mythical buck "Kickstand" due to a big kicker that shoots off of his left G2. This buck began appearing in trail cam pictures on the property in 2013 as a 3.5 year old, but had never been seen live and rarely was caught on camera during daylight hours.
Randy is just like many of us, between work, family and life it leaves him less time in the woods than he would prefer, but in October 2016 he managed to get in a bow hunt and although he missed a decent buck he harvested a doe.
His next hunt was November 12th and again he missed a real nice buck with his muzzleloader, but he said he can remeber walking out of woods feeling optimistic about the opportunities he had thus far and to know that the infamous buck known as Kickstand might still be roaming these parts kept his hopes high.
The next thing that takes place really took me by surprise. On the way out of the woods that November 12th evening only some 30 yards from his stand, Randy made a mock scrape with his foot and then he urinated in it and hung a trail camera over the scrape to catch any action.
Now this is new territory for me, I have always been the hunter that carries along a mason jar for those long sets and wouldn't dare pee or poop in the woods near my hunting stands, so you can imagine I really questioned Randy about this tactic and he heavily encouraged me to try it, and said with conviction "the mature bucks in the area will visit the scrape"!
Well I guess the proof is in the "urine", several days later when Randy checked his trail camera guess who visited the scrape just 3 hours later the very evening he made it- "KICKSTAND" !!
Randy was blown away at just how big this buck was that everyone had been talking about, and these Novemer pictures served as the first ones they had of the buck in all of 2016.
The first week of rifle came and went with Randy only seeing 3 deer and no sign of the rut. Thanksgiving week provided a few hunting opportunities, but again the action was pretty calm in the hills of Bland County.
On November 30th he moved to a lower stand on the mountain and harvested a nice 8 pointer at 7:30am hot on a doe.
The next day he and life-long buddy Chris Ashby decided to do an afternoon hunt arriving at the property around 3pm. Randy had a certain stand in mind which was about a mile and a half away on the other side of the property, but for some reason Chris encouraged him to go back and hunt the stand up on the mountain where he had made the mock scrape and got the pic of Kickstand.
So heeding his friends advice Randy found himself back up on the mountain and nestled in his stand by 3:30 pm. After sitting quietly for about an hour Randy looked up at the sky and said "daddy if he is in here I'm going to kill him" and he said a quick prayer. A short time later he employed another tactic he often uses that I rarely do, his grunt call. Randy delivered a sequence of deep grunts followed by an estrus bleat spaced 5 minutes apart. He continued this action for 45 minutes when he heard a loud grunt from the woods below him. He remained quiet trying to pinpoint where the answering grunt came from.
After about 5 minutes of complete quiet, Randy again hit his grunt call and again he received an answering grunt. Out of the thickets a big mature doe appeared and she had her attention completely on Randy in his stand. He froze in hopes to not spook her because he felt for sure there must be a trailing buck that was answering his earlier grunt calls.
It seemed like forever to Randy, but within moments the buck that had all hunters on this mountain range on high alert over the last 4 years showed up for his very first "live sighting". Indeed it was the giant Bland County buck known as Kickstand and he was only 40 yards away standing still.
Experience told Randy that the window of opportunity to harvest this mature mountain elder statesman was probably brief, so without hesitation he began to slowly raise his Remington model 700-.270 Win rifle, hoping that the doe would not break this party up.
As Randy settled his scope in on Kickstand he noticed the big kicker that so easily identified him. Kickstand then turned his head and again loudly grunted back toward another juvenile buck that was tagging along. Randy waited no longer and slowly squezzed the trigger. At the crack of the gun the big buck reared up on his back legs and came back down only to go forward about 15 yards where he began to wobble a bit then tipped over.
Randy again looked at the skies and said "Thank you Lord" and gave thanks to his 2 fallen heroes. Unable to compose himself Randy tried to text his hunting partner Chris to tell him what he had just done then he called Wendy his finace and said "I just killed Kickstand" before he broke down in tears of joy as well as all the memories that came rushing back in from hunts of the past alongside his heroes.
Since his landmark Virginia buck harvest last fall I am glad to say that Randy and I have become good friends and I got to actually lay hands and eyes on Kickstand in July of 2017 when he and Chris made the two hour drive to my house in the Star City from their Smyth County home to share this magnificent animal with myself and a few other hunters from our local hunting community.. Folks I can tell you this buck is even bigger in person. This blessing couldn't have happened to a nicer and more humble guy who has a smile that is contagious!
*On a side note after writing this article I may leave my mason jar at home and definitely use my grunt call this fall*
Folks make sure you check out Randy's buck at the Southampton State show September 23 & 24, 2017.
Randy also gives great credit to Chris Benton of "Bentons Taxidermy" for the unbelievable pedestal mount!
Jeff Phillips 9/3/2017
