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When Matt Daniels of Roanoke Virginia decided to enter his buck in the 75th annual Virginia Big Game Trophy Show he had no idea that it would take 1st place!
The final Virginia score on this buck's headgear is 230 10/16. Although the buck is a main frame 12 pointer, he has 18 scoreable points with stickers and character abound.
As I made my way through the displayed bucks at the show, I took the time to look at the county as well as the dates of harvest. It quickly became apparent to me that the vast majority of these fine bucks were taken in mid November, which was no big surprise given that I also have harvested most of my nice bucks around the same time period.
When I came upon Matt's 1st place buck not only did the tall symetrical rack with mass set it apart, but also the display tag read "ROANOKE". I quickly focused on the "check tag" and found that this was a bow kill and it was taken in early October of 2013.
Matt has been hunting a spot in SW Roanoke County for 7 years and although he has seen some nice bucks he had never seen this buck until last July when he showed up on his trail camera.
This buck quickly became Daniels focus as well as a familiar face in a red clover field on the property. Daniels told me that this field played a major role in his success last fall due to the lack of acorns in the woods.
As is often the case this buck became less visible on the trail camera as September was turning into October. With opening day of bow season just 2 days away, Matt decided to grab the SD card from his camera. As he drove into the property he saw the giant buck standing in the field and his hopes were at an all time high for the upcoming hunting season.
Opening day brought heavy fog to the area and as Matt crested the hill that opened into the clover field on the way to his stand 20 or more deer took off in every direction. Matt thought that he had blown his chances for the morning hunt, but continued another 100 yards and climbed into his tree stand.
Within 15 minutes of being in his stand the fog began to lift and magically the big star city whitetail stood in the field alone feeding as if nothing had happened with the sun silhoetting his headgear. The script seemed to have already been written for this hunter and big buck, because the buck was feeding directly toward Matt's stand. As the buck approached Matt put his head behind the tree that he was in so that he wouldn't focus on the buck's tremendous rack. He drew his bow and awaited his arrival. When the buck stepped into view he was 31 1/2 yards away and without hesitation Matt let the arrow fly.
The arrow found it's mark and the giant quickly took for the woods behind Matt's tree stand. The buck stood in the woods snorting and Daniels quickly nocked another arrow. Before he could get another shot off the buck took off through the woods. After a 45 minute wait Matt was joined by a friend and they followed the blood trail for about 225 yards to find this 1st place Virgina buck waiting on them.
As a fellow Roanoke County deer hunter I congratulate Matt on this great harvest and look forward to what he might come up with this year!
Jeff Phillips
When Matt Daniels of Roanoke Virginia decided to enter his buck in the 75th annual Virginia Big Game Trophy Show he had no idea that it would take 1st place!
The final Virginia score on this buck's headgear is 230 10/16. Although the buck is a main frame 12 pointer, he has 18 scoreable points with stickers and character abound.
As I made my way through the displayed bucks at the show, I took the time to look at the county as well as the dates of harvest. It quickly became apparent to me that the vast majority of these fine bucks were taken in mid November, which was no big surprise given that I also have harvested most of my nice bucks around the same time period.
When I came upon Matt's 1st place buck not only did the tall symetrical rack with mass set it apart, but also the display tag read "ROANOKE". I quickly focused on the "check tag" and found that this was a bow kill and it was taken in early October of 2013.
Matt has been hunting a spot in SW Roanoke County for 7 years and although he has seen some nice bucks he had never seen this buck until last July when he showed up on his trail camera.
This buck quickly became Daniels focus as well as a familiar face in a red clover field on the property. Daniels told me that this field played a major role in his success last fall due to the lack of acorns in the woods.
As is often the case this buck became less visible on the trail camera as September was turning into October. With opening day of bow season just 2 days away, Matt decided to grab the SD card from his camera. As he drove into the property he saw the giant buck standing in the field and his hopes were at an all time high for the upcoming hunting season.
Opening day brought heavy fog to the area and as Matt crested the hill that opened into the clover field on the way to his stand 20 or more deer took off in every direction. Matt thought that he had blown his chances for the morning hunt, but continued another 100 yards and climbed into his tree stand.
Within 15 minutes of being in his stand the fog began to lift and magically the big star city whitetail stood in the field alone feeding as if nothing had happened with the sun silhoetting his headgear. The script seemed to have already been written for this hunter and big buck, because the buck was feeding directly toward Matt's stand. As the buck approached Matt put his head behind the tree that he was in so that he wouldn't focus on the buck's tremendous rack. He drew his bow and awaited his arrival. When the buck stepped into view he was 31 1/2 yards away and without hesitation Matt let the arrow fly.
The arrow found it's mark and the giant quickly took for the woods behind Matt's tree stand. The buck stood in the woods snorting and Daniels quickly nocked another arrow. Before he could get another shot off the buck took off through the woods. After a 45 minute wait Matt was joined by a friend and they followed the blood trail for about 225 yards to find this 1st place Virgina buck waiting on them.
As a fellow Roanoke County deer hunter I congratulate Matt on this great harvest and look forward to what he might come up with this year!
Jeff Phillips
When Matt Daniels of Roanoke Virginia decided to enter his buck in the 75th annual Virginia Big Game Trophy Show he had no idea that it would take 1st place!
The final Virginia score on this buck's headgear is 230 10/16. Although the buck is a main frame 12 pointer, he has 18 scoreable points with stickers and character abound.
As I made my way through the displayed bucks at the show, I took the time to look at the county as well as the dates of harvest. It quickly became apparent to me that the vast majority of these fine bucks were taken in mid November, which was no big surprise given that I also have harvested most of my nice bucks around the same time period.
When I came upon Matt's 1st place buck not only did the tall symetrical rack with mass set it apart, but also the display tag read "ROANOKE". I quickly focused on the "check tag" and found that this was a bow kill and it was taken in early October of 2013.
Matt has been hunting a spot in SW Roanoke County for 7 years and although he has seen some nice bucks he had never seen this buck until last July when he showed up on his trail camera.
This buck quickly became Daniels focus as well as a familiar face in a red clover field on the property. Daniels told me that this field played a major role in his success last fall due to the lack of acorns in the woods.
As is often the case this buck became less visible on the trail camera as September was turning into October. With opening day of bow season just 2 days away, Matt decided to grab the SD card from his camera. As he drove into the property he saw the giant buck standing in the field and his hopes were at an all time high for the upcoming hunting season.
Opening day brought heavy fog to the area and as Matt crested the hill that opened into the clover field on the way to his stand 20 or more deer took off in every direction. Matt thought that he had blown his chances for the morning hunt, but continued another 100 yards and climbed into his tree stand.
Within 15 minutes of being in his stand the fog began to lift and magically the big star city whitetail stood in the field alone feeding as if nothing had happened with the sun silhoetting his headgear. The script seemed to have already been written for this hunter and big buck, because the buck was feeding directly toward Matt's stand. As the buck approached Matt put his head behind the tree that he was in so that he wouldn't focus on the buck's tremendous rack. He drew his bow and awaited his arrival. When the buck stepped into view he was 31 1/2 yards away and without hesitation Matt let the arrow fly.
The arrow found it's mark and the giant quickly took for the woods behind Matt's tree stand. The buck stood in the woods snorting and Daniels quickly nocked another arrow. Before he could get another shot off the buck took off through the woods. After a 45 minute wait Matt was joined by a friend and they followed the blood trail for about 225 yards to find this 1st place Virgina buck waiting on them.
As a fellow Roanoke County deer hunter I congratulate Matt on this great harvest and look forward to what he might come up with this year!
Jeff Phillips
When Matt Daniels of Roanoke Virginia decided to enter his buck in the 75th annual Virginia Big Game Trophy Show he had no idea that it would take 1st place!
The final Virginia score on this buck's headgear is 230 10/16. Although the buck is a main frame 12 pointer, he has 18 scoreable points with stickers and character abound.
As I made my way through the displayed bucks at the show, I took the time to look at the county as well as the dates of harvest. It quickly became apparent to me that the vast majority of these fine bucks were taken in mid November, which was no big surprise given that I also have harvested most of my nice bucks around the same time period.
When I came upon Matt's 1st place buck not only did the tall symetrical rack with mass set it apart, but also the display tag read "ROANOKE". I quickly focused on the "check tag" and found that this was a bow kill and it was taken in early October of 2013.
Matt has been hunting a spot in SW Roanoke County for 7 years and although he has seen some nice bucks he had never seen this buck until last July when he showed up on his trail camera.
This buck quickly became Daniels focus as well as a familiar face in a red clover field on the property. Daniels told me that this field played a major role in his success last fall due to the lack of acorns in the woods.
As is often the case this buck became less visible on the trail camera as September was turning into October. With opening day of bow season just 2 days away, Matt decided to grab the SD card from his camera. As he drove into the property he saw the giant buck standing in the field and his hopes were at an all time high for the upcoming hunting season.
Opening day brought heavy fog to the area and as Matt crested the hill that opened into the clover field on the way to his stand 20 or more deer took off in every direction. Matt thought that he had blown his chances for the morning hunt, but continued another 100 yards and climbed into his tree stand.
Within 15 minutes of being in his stand the fog began to lift and magically the big star city whitetail stood in the field alone feeding as if nothing had happened with the sun silhoetting his headgear. The script seemed to have already been written for this hunter and big buck, because the buck was feeding directly toward Matt's stand. As the buck approached Matt put his head behind the tree that he was in so that he wouldn't focus on the buck's tremendous rack. He drew his bow and awaited his arrival. When the buck stepped into view he was 31 1/2 yards away and without hesitation Matt let the arrow fly.
The arrow found it's mark and the giant quickly took for the woods behind Matt's tree stand. The buck stood in the woods snorting and Daniels quickly nocked another arrow. Before he could get another shot off the buck took off through the woods. After a 45 minute wait Matt was joined by a friend and they followed the blood trail for about 225 yards to find this 1st place Virgina buck waiting on them.
As a fellow Roanoke County deer hunter I congratulate Matt on this great harvest and look forward to what he might come up with this year!
Jeff Phillips
