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Most of the articles I have written over the years have covered recent harvests, but this Big Virginia Buck story from almost a half century ago needed to be dusted off and brought to the forefront and told for the first time!
Hays Lantz Jr was born in 1946 and raised in the Bergton area of Rockingham County Virginia. Hays is the oldest of 4 children and the family lived very rurally and raised and sold chickens and turkeys. He developed a love for hunting very early on as he began squirrel hunting alongside his father at age 6, and deer hunting followed a few years later.
When Hays was 10 years old his life took a tragic turn. As he was walking the dirt road home from his small mountain community church in the Fulks Run area he overheard some of the local folks talking about a fatal car accident that happened that morning. He also recognized the name of the deceased as Hays Lantz Sr his father.
"That was a day that will always be etched into my memory"
As you can Imagine this threw the family a real curve ball and Hays had to grow up fast, but now without his father. Some of his most cherished memories were those when in the woods with his father hunting, so the next hunting season he joined up with a local group of men who did organized deer drives in the area and they quickly took Hays under their wing, and he continued hunting with this group till he was 16 years old.
Also, during this time period Hays was introduced to Archery at the Bergton Fair, and he would often shoot his best friend Frankie Emswiler's bow. He and Frankie would use archery equipment to rabbit hunt with a pack of beagles as teenagers, and although they often missed their target this activity really broadened Hays hunting passion!
In 1962 the family moved to Broadway Virginia and Hays graduated from Broadway High school in 1964. He then went on to graduate from Madison College (now recognized as JMU) in 1969 with a bachelor of science degree in biology and minor in education. Soon after graduating from college Hays took a teaching position at Orange County High school where he taught until 1973. Hays's desire to succeed led him to become the Ecology Director of K-12th grades as he was working with a special grant from the Virginia Department of Education. He remained in Orange County until 1978, when he left that position to take yet another step up the professional ladder as director of the Howard B. Owens Science Center in Greenbelt Maryland. Hays had one more professional position that he had his eye on and in 2003 he became the Superintendent for STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) Education in Baltimore County Maryland where he was responsible for designing, writing , and implementing all STEM curricula in grades K-12 (About 160,000 students), this also included hiring STEM teachers and supervising them. During this time, he earned his MS in Biology/ Botany from JMU and a PHD from UVA.
As Hays reflected back on his childhood as I was interviewing him, he said "my mom was a true force in my life I learned about tenacity, fortitude and resilience from her which I carry till this very day"!
As I was listening intently to every word that this man was saying it became very apparent that he had covered a lot of ground since leaving the hills of rural Virginia, but his passion for hunting is something he always found time to tap into.
Well folks, this brings us to a cold, rainy and overcast November morning in 1976 in the Buck Island area of Albemarle County Virginia. It was the opening day of rifle season 11/15/1976 and Hays and his younger brother Leonard sat out on an early morning deer hunt on Westvaco property. Both brothers were very familiar with this area as they had hunted this vast 4000-acre property over the years. Actually, one-month prior Hays had bow hunted a particular ridge and had spotted a real nice buck with a tremendously big body but the thick foliage sheltered its headgear from plain sight, the area was also fresh with many horned trees.
The brothers parked their 2wd cherry red Chevy pickup alongside the dirt road that cut through the property, and they split off in different directions with a plan of meeting back up around lunch time. Hays scaled up the ridge where he had encountered the buck a month prior and found a big oak tree where he cleared out a nice spot, placed a piece of plastic on the ground and took a seat and awaited daybreak. The light rain that fell along with the overcast conditions held back first light a bit, but when Hays could finally see well, he discovered that his line of sight was much better than in bow season. Only a short amount of time had passed when a gray squirrel came running over the ridge and right by him. Hays thought this odd, and assumed that either a predator or another hunter was approaching from the other side of the ridge.
Moments later like a ghost off the mountainside, the biggest buck that Hays had ever laid eyes on appeared. The huge buck was slipping along quietly in the wet leaves as if on a mission, and as fortune would have it the buck's path of travel gave Hays a 30-yard broadside shot and he quickly raised his .243 model 70 Winchester rifle and pulled the trigger. The Virginia giant dropped immediately and Hays sat there completely stunned, asking himself "did this really just happen"!
A big log was partially blocking a clear view of the buck, but Hays could see its body and after a few moments of the buck lying motionless Hays got to his feet, legs shaking and covered the short distance. As he stood over the buck the reality of the situation began to truly set in.
"This is the biggest buck I have ever seen in my life"
Hays knelt down beside the buck and said a prayer for its life, then just sat in awe for another 10 minutes while the light rain fell upon them. Knowing that his brother was hunting, Hays decided to go ahead and field dress the buck. He had finished and just began to drag, when he heard a nearby gunshot. Hays decided he would leave his buck and walk toward where he believed his brothers shot came from. Soon he found Leonard and a real nice 6 pointer that he was dressing out. The brothers drug Leonard's buck back to the truck, then they both climbed the hillside to where Hays buck lay.
During the interim Hays had tried to describe to his brother just how big his buck was, and as they approached Leonard looked at the buck and was speechless. The brothers stood there for a bit exchanging pleasantries about the hunt and the true amazement of just how big Hays's deer really was. Again, the brothers went to dragging, and when they finally got to the truck and layed the buck in the truck bed beside Leonard's 6 pointer they immediately recognized the tremendous size difference. Hays said it looked like "David and Goliath"!
The brothers jumped in the Chevy pickup and drove straight to "Rebel Sporting Goods" in Orange County Virginia to get the bucks checked in. As the bucks were being checked, a fairly large gathering began to form and chins started hitting the ground and the questions began to fly....where? when? how? etc.....Hays's buck began going "Viral" before the word was even created for non-existent social media!
Hays's amazing Virginia giant whitetail weighed 220lbs dressed and was estimated to be over 250lbs live weight. This buck was truly a remarkable animal of its environment, no food plots, and all the hype that goes with growing big bucks, just an acorn munching genetically gifted Virginia Whitetail scoring 190.5 Buckmasters score that was measured by Anders Blixt 2/24/2021. Hays is a true Virginia gentleman and has done a lot of good for himself as well as for others in his time here, and he has hunted in many other states as well most notably Texas, Iowa, Ohio, West Virginia, Missouri , New Mexico and Maryland.
Each Big VA Buck story that I have had the honor to write, and each hunter that I have had the blessing to talk to always brings me back to the same priceless place....Our great state Of Virginia is truly a sportsman's paradise, and your opportunity to harvest a great VA whitetail is not only real but just might happen on your next hunt this fall!
Jeff Phillips
5/28/21
Most of the articles I have written over the years have covered recent harvests, but this Big Virginia Buck story from almost a half century ago needed to be dusted off and brought to the forefront and told for the first time!
Hays Lantz Jr was born in 1946 and raised in the Bergton area of Rockingham County Virginia. Hays is the oldest of 4 children and the family lived very rurally and raised and sold chickens and turkeys. He developed a love for hunting very early on as he began squirrel hunting alongside his father at age 6, and deer hunting followed a few years later.
When Hays was 10 years old his life took a tragic turn. As he was walking the dirt road home from his small mountain community church in the Fulks Run area he overheard some of the local folks talking about a fatal car accident that happened that morning. He also recognized the name of the deceased as Hays Lantz Sr his father.
"That was a day that will always be etched into my memory"
As you can Imagine this threw the family a real curve ball and Hays had to grow up fast, but now without his father. Some of his most cherished memories were those when in the woods with his father hunting, so the next hunting season he joined up with a local group of men who did organized deer drives in the area and they quickly took Hays under their wing, and he continued hunting with this group till he was 16 years old.
Also, during this time period Hays was introduced to Archery at the Bergton Fair, and he would often shoot his best friend Frankie Emswiler's bow. He and Frankie would use archery equipment to rabbit hunt with a pack of beagles as teenagers, and although they often missed their target this activity really broadened Hays hunting passion!
In 1962 the family moved to Broadway Virginia and Hays graduated from Broadway High school in 1964. He then went on to graduate from Madison College (now recognized as JMU) in 1969 with a bachelor of science degree in biology and minor in education. Soon after graduating from college Hays took a teaching position at Orange County High school where he taught until 1973. Hays's desire to succeed led him to become the Ecology Director of K-12th grades as he was working with a special grant from the Virginia Department of Education. He remained in Orange County until 1978, when he left that position to take yet another step up the professional ladder as director of the Howard B. Owens Science Center in Greenbelt Maryland. Hays had one more professional position that he had his eye on and in 2003 he became the Superintendent for STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) Education in Baltimore County Maryland where he was responsible for designing, writing , and implementing all STEM curricula in grades K-12 (About 160,000 students), this also included hiring STEM teachers and supervising them. During this time, he earned his MS in Biology/ Botany from JMU and a PHD from UVA.
As Hays reflected back on his childhood as I was interviewing him, he said "my mom was a true force in my life I learned about tenacity, fortitude and resilience from her which I carry till this very day"!
As I was listening intently to every word that this man was saying it became very apparent that he had covered a lot of ground since leaving the hills of rural Virginia, but his passion for hunting is something he always found time to tap into.
Well folks, this brings us to a cold, rainy and overcast November morning in 1976 in the Buck Island area of Albemarle County Virginia. It was the opening day of rifle season 11/15/1976 and Hays and his younger brother Leonard sat out on an early morning deer hunt on Westvaco property. Both brothers were very familiar with this area as they had hunted this vast 4000-acre property over the years. Actually, one-month prior Hays had bow hunted a particular ridge and had spotted a real nice buck with a tremendously big body but the thick foliage sheltered its headgear from plain sight, the area was also fresh with many horned trees.
The brothers parked their 2wd cherry red Chevy pickup alongside the dirt road that cut through the property, and they split off in different directions with a plan of meeting back up around lunch time. Hays scaled up the ridge where he had encountered the buck a month prior and found a big oak tree where he cleared out a nice spot, placed a piece of plastic on the ground and took a seat and awaited daybreak. The light rain that fell along with the overcast conditions held back first light a bit, but when Hays could finally see well, he discovered that his line of sight was much better than in bow season. Only a short amount of time had passed when a gray squirrel came running over the ridge and right by him. Hays thought this odd, and assumed that either a predator or another hunter was approaching from the other side of the ridge.
Moments later like a ghost off the mountainside, the biggest buck that Hays had ever laid eyes on appeared. The huge buck was slipping along quietly in the wet leaves as if on a mission, and as fortune would have it the buck's path of travel gave Hays a 30-yard broadside shot and he quickly raised his .243 model 70 Winchester rifle and pulled the trigger. The Virginia giant dropped immediately and Hays sat there completely stunned, asking himself "did this really just happen"!
A big log was partially blocking a clear view of the buck, but Hays could see its body and after a few moments of the buck lying motionless Hays got to his feet, legs shaking and covered the short distance. As he stood over the buck the reality of the situation began to truly set in.
"This is the biggest buck I have ever seen in my life"
Hays knelt down beside the buck and said a prayer for its life, then just sat in awe for another 10 minutes while the light rain fell upon them. Knowing that his brother was hunting, Hays decided to go ahead and field dress the buck. He had finished and just began to drag, when he heard a nearby gunshot. Hays decided he would leave his buck and walk toward where he believed his brothers shot came from. Soon he found Leonard and a real nice 6 pointer that he was dressing out. The brothers drug Leonard's buck back to the truck, then they both climbed the hillside to where Hays buck lay.
During the interim Hays had tried to describe to his brother just how big his buck was, and as they approached Leonard looked at the buck and was speechless. The brothers stood there for a bit exchanging pleasantries about the hunt and the true amazement of just how big Hays's deer really was. Again, the brothers went to dragging, and when they finally got to the truck and layed the buck in the truck bed beside Leonard's 6 pointer they immediately recognized the tremendous size difference. Hays said it looked like "David and Goliath"!
The brothers jumped in the Chevy pickup and drove straight to "Rebel Sporting Goods" in Orange County Virginia to get the bucks checked in. As the bucks were being checked, a fairly large gathering began to form and chins started hitting the ground and the questions began to fly....where? when? how? etc.....Hays's buck began going "Viral" before the word was even created for non-existent social media!
Hays's amazing Virginia giant whitetail weighed 220lbs dressed and was estimated to be over 250lbs live weight. This buck was truly a remarkable animal of its environment, no food plots, and all the hype that goes with growing big bucks, just an acorn munching genetically gifted Virginia Whitetail scoring 190.5 Buckmasters score that was measured by Anders Blixt 2/24/2021. Hays is a true Virginia gentleman and has done a lot of good for himself as well as for others in his time here, and he has hunted in many other states as well most notably Texas, Iowa, Ohio, West Virginia, Missouri , New Mexico and Maryland.
Each Big VA Buck story that I have had the honor to write, and each hunter that I have had the blessing to talk to always brings me back to the same priceless place....Our great state Of Virginia is truly a sportsman's paradise, and your opportunity to harvest a great VA whitetail is not only real but just might happen on your next hunt this fall!
Jeff Phillips
5/28/21
Most of the articles I have written over the years have covered recent harvests, but this Big Virginia Buck story from almost a half century ago needed to be dusted off and brought to the forefront and told for the first time!
Hays Lantz Jr was born in 1946 and raised in the Bergton area of Rockingham County Virginia. Hays is the oldest of 4 children and the family lived very rurally and raised and sold chickens and turkeys. He developed a love for hunting very early on as he began squirrel hunting alongside his father at age 6, and deer hunting followed a few years later.
When Hays was 10 years old his life took a tragic turn. As he was walking the dirt road home from his small mountain community church in the Fulks Run area he overheard some of the local folks talking about a fatal car accident that happened that morning. He also recognized the name of the deceased as Hays Lantz Sr his father.
"That was a day that will always be etched into my memory"
As you can Imagine this threw the family a real curve ball and Hays had to grow up fast, but now without his father. Some of his most cherished memories were those when in the woods with his father hunting, so the next hunting season he joined up with a local group of men who did organized deer drives in the area and they quickly took Hays under their wing, and he continued hunting with this group till he was 16 years old.
Also, during this time period Hays was introduced to Archery at the Bergton Fair, and he would often shoot his best friend Frankie Emswiler's bow. He and Frankie would use archery equipment to rabbit hunt with a pack of beagles as teenagers, and although they often missed their target this activity really broadened Hays hunting passion!
In 1962 the family moved to Broadway Virginia and Hays graduated from Broadway High school in 1964. He then went on to graduate from Madison College (now recognized as JMU) in 1969 with a bachelor of science degree in biology and minor in education. Soon after graduating from college Hays took a teaching position at Orange County High school where he taught until 1973. Hays's desire to succeed led him to become the Ecology Director of K-12th grades as he was working with a special grant from the Virginia Department of Education. He remained in Orange County until 1978, when he left that position to take yet another step up the professional ladder as director of the Howard B. Owens Science Center in Greenbelt Maryland. Hays had one more professional position that he had his eye on and in 2003 he became the Superintendent for STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) Education in Baltimore County Maryland where he was responsible for designing, writing , and implementing all STEM curricula in grades K-12 (About 160,000 students), this also included hiring STEM teachers and supervising them. During this time, he earned his MS in Biology/ Botany from JMU and a PHD from UVA.
As Hays reflected back on his childhood as I was interviewing him, he said "my mom was a true force in my life I learned about tenacity, fortitude and resilience from her which I carry till this very day"!
As I was listening intently to every word that this man was saying it became very apparent that he had covered a lot of ground since leaving the hills of rural Virginia, but his passion for hunting is something he always found time to tap into.
Well folks, this brings us to a cold, rainy and overcast November morning in 1976 in the Buck Island area of Albemarle County Virginia. It was the opening day of rifle season 11/15/1976 and Hays and his younger brother Leonard sat out on an early morning deer hunt on Westvaco property. Both brothers were very familiar with this area as they had hunted this vast 4000-acre property over the years. Actually, one-month prior Hays had bow hunted a particular ridge and had spotted a real nice buck with a tremendously big body but the thick foliage sheltered its headgear from plain sight, the area was also fresh with many horned trees.
The brothers parked their 2wd cherry red Chevy pickup alongside the dirt road that cut through the property, and they split off in different directions with a plan of meeting back up around lunch time. Hays scaled up the ridge where he had encountered the buck a month prior and found a big oak tree where he cleared out a nice spot, placed a piece of plastic on the ground and took a seat and awaited daybreak. The light rain that fell along with the overcast conditions held back first light a bit, but when Hays could finally see well, he discovered that his line of sight was much better than in bow season. Only a short amount of time had passed when a gray squirrel came running over the ridge and right by him. Hays thought this odd, and assumed that either a predator or another hunter was approaching from the other side of the ridge.
Moments later like a ghost off the mountainside, the biggest buck that Hays had ever laid eyes on appeared. The huge buck was slipping along quietly in the wet leaves as if on a mission, and as fortune would have it the buck's path of travel gave Hays a 30-yard broadside shot and he quickly raised his .243 model 70 Winchester rifle and pulled the trigger. The Virginia giant dropped immediately and Hays sat there completely stunned, asking himself "did this really just happen"!
A big log was partially blocking a clear view of the buck, but Hays could see its body and after a few moments of the buck lying motionless Hays got to his feet, legs shaking and covered the short distance. As he stood over the buck the reality of the situation began to truly set in.
"This is the biggest buck I have ever seen in my life"
Hays knelt down beside the buck and said a prayer for its life, then just sat in awe for another 10 minutes while the light rain fell upon them. Knowing that his brother was hunting, Hays decided to go ahead and field dress the buck. He had finished and just began to drag, when he heard a nearby gunshot. Hays decided he would leave his buck and walk toward where he believed his brothers shot came from. Soon he found Leonard and a real nice 6 pointer that he was dressing out. The brothers drug Leonard's buck back to the truck, then they both climbed the hillside to where Hays buck lay.
During the interim Hays had tried to describe to his brother just how big his buck was, and as they approached Leonard looked at the buck and was speechless. The brothers stood there for a bit exchanging pleasantries about the hunt and the true amazement of just how big Hays's deer really was. Again, the brothers went to dragging, and when they finally got to the truck and layed the buck in the truck bed beside Leonard's 6 pointer they immediately recognized the tremendous size difference. Hays said it looked like "David and Goliath"!
The brothers jumped in the Chevy pickup and drove straight to "Rebel Sporting Goods" in Orange County Virginia to get the bucks checked in. As the bucks were being checked, a fairly large gathering began to form and chins started hitting the ground and the questions began to fly....where? when? how? etc.....Hays's buck began going "Viral" before the word was even created for non-existent social media!
Hays's amazing Virginia giant whitetail weighed 220lbs dressed and was estimated to be over 250lbs live weight. This buck was truly a remarkable animal of its environment, no food plots, and all the hype that goes with growing big bucks, just an acorn munching genetically gifted Virginia Whitetail scoring 190.5 Buckmasters score that was measured by Anders Blixt 2/24/2021. Hays is a true Virginia gentleman and has done a lot of good for himself as well as for others in his time here, and he has hunted in many other states as well most notably Texas, Iowa, Ohio, West Virginia, Missouri , New Mexico and Maryland.
Each Big VA Buck story that I have had the honor to write, and each hunter that I have had the blessing to talk to always brings me back to the same priceless place....Our great state Of Virginia is truly a sportsman's paradise, and your opportunity to harvest a great VA whitetail is not only real but just might happen on your next hunt this fall!
Jeff Phillips
5/28/21
Most of the articles I have written over the years have covered recent harvests, but this Big Virginia Buck story from almost a half century ago needed to be dusted off and brought to the forefront and told for the first time!
Hays Lantz Jr was born in 1946 and raised in the Bergton area of Rockingham County Virginia. Hays is the oldest of 4 children and the family lived very rurally and raised and sold chickens and turkeys. He developed a love for hunting very early on as he began squirrel hunting alongside his father at age 6, and deer hunting followed a few years later.
When Hays was 10 years old his life took a tragic turn. As he was walking the dirt road home from his small mountain community church in the Fulks Run area he overheard some of the local folks talking about a fatal car accident that happened that morning. He also recognized the name of the deceased as Hays Lantz Sr his father.
"That was a day that will always be etched into my memory"
As you can Imagine this threw the family a real curve ball and Hays had to grow up fast, but now without his father. Some of his most cherished memories were those when in the woods with his father hunting, so the next hunting season he joined up with a local group of men who did organized deer drives in the area and they quickly took Hays under their wing, and he continued hunting with this group till he was 16 years old.
Also, during this time period Hays was introduced to Archery at the Bergton Fair, and he would often shoot his best friend Frankie Emswiler's bow. He and Frankie would use archery equipment to rabbit hunt with a pack of beagles as teenagers, and although they often missed their target this activity really broadened Hays hunting passion!
In 1962 the family moved to Broadway Virginia and Hays graduated from Broadway High school in 1964. He then went on to graduate from Madison College (now recognized as JMU) in 1969 with a bachelor of science degree in biology and minor in education. Soon after graduating from college Hays took a teaching position at Orange County High school where he taught until 1973. Hays's desire to succeed led him to become the Ecology Director of K-12th grades as he was working with a special grant from the Virginia Department of Education. He remained in Orange County until 1978, when he left that position to take yet another step up the professional ladder as director of the Howard B. Owens Science Center in Greenbelt Maryland. Hays had one more professional position that he had his eye on and in 2003 he became the Superintendent for STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) Education in Baltimore County Maryland where he was responsible for designing, writing , and implementing all STEM curricula in grades K-12 (About 160,000 students), this also included hiring STEM teachers and supervising them. During this time, he earned his MS in Biology/ Botany from JMU and a PHD from UVA.
As Hays reflected back on his childhood as I was interviewing him, he said "my mom was a true force in my life I learned about tenacity, fortitude and resilience from her which I carry till this very day"!
As I was listening intently to every word that this man was saying it became very apparent that he had covered a lot of ground since leaving the hills of rural Virginia, but his passion for hunting is something he always found time to tap into.
Well folks, this brings us to a cold, rainy and overcast November morning in 1976 in the Buck Island area of Albemarle County Virginia. It was the opening day of rifle season 11/15/1976 and Hays and his younger brother Leonard sat out on an early morning deer hunt on Westvaco property. Both brothers were very familiar with this area as they had hunted this vast 4000-acre property over the years. Actually, one-month prior Hays had bow hunted a particular ridge and had spotted a real nice buck with a tremendously big body but the thick foliage sheltered its headgear from plain sight, the area was also fresh with many horned trees.
The brothers parked their 2wd cherry red Chevy pickup alongside the dirt road that cut through the property, and they split off in different directions with a plan of meeting back up around lunch time. Hays scaled up the ridge where he had encountered the buck a month prior and found a big oak tree where he cleared out a nice spot, placed a piece of plastic on the ground and took a seat and awaited daybreak. The light rain that fell along with the overcast conditions held back first light a bit, but when Hays could finally see well, he discovered that his line of sight was much better than in bow season. Only a short amount of time had passed when a gray squirrel came running over the ridge and right by him. Hays thought this odd, and assumed that either a predator or another hunter was approaching from the other side of the ridge.
Moments later like a ghost off the mountainside, the biggest buck that Hays had ever laid eyes on appeared. The huge buck was slipping along quietly in the wet leaves as if on a mission, and as fortune would have it the buck's path of travel gave Hays a 30-yard broadside shot and he quickly raised his .243 model 70 Winchester rifle and pulled the trigger. The Virginia giant dropped immediately and Hays sat there completely stunned, asking himself "did this really just happen"!
A big log was partially blocking a clear view of the buck, but Hays could see its body and after a few moments of the buck lying motionless Hays got to his feet, legs shaking and covered the short distance. As he stood over the buck the reality of the situation began to truly set in.
"This is the biggest buck I have ever seen in my life"
Hays knelt down beside the buck and said a prayer for its life, then just sat in awe for another 10 minutes while the light rain fell upon them. Knowing that his brother was hunting, Hays decided to go ahead and field dress the buck. He had finished and just began to drag, when he heard a nearby gunshot. Hays decided he would leave his buck and walk toward where he believed his brothers shot came from. Soon he found Leonard and a real nice 6 pointer that he was dressing out. The brothers drug Leonard's buck back to the truck, then they both climbed the hillside to where Hays buck lay.
During the interim Hays had tried to describe to his brother just how big his buck was, and as they approached Leonard looked at the buck and was speechless. The brothers stood there for a bit exchanging pleasantries about the hunt and the true amazement of just how big Hays's deer really was. Again, the brothers went to dragging, and when they finally got to the truck and layed the buck in the truck bed beside Leonard's 6 pointer they immediately recognized the tremendous size difference. Hays said it looked like "David and Goliath"!
The brothers jumped in the Chevy pickup and drove straight to "Rebel Sporting Goods" in Orange County Virginia to get the bucks checked in. As the bucks were being checked, a fairly large gathering began to form and chins started hitting the ground and the questions began to fly....where? when? how? etc.....Hays's buck began going "Viral" before the word was even created for non-existent social media!
Hays's amazing Virginia giant whitetail weighed 220lbs dressed and was estimated to be over 250lbs live weight. This buck was truly a remarkable animal of its environment, no food plots, and all the hype that goes with growing big bucks, just an acorn munching genetically gifted Virginia Whitetail scoring 190.5 Buckmasters score that was measured by Anders Blixt 2/24/2021. Hays is a true Virginia gentleman and has done a lot of good for himself as well as for others in his time here, and he has hunted in many other states as well most notably Texas, Iowa, Ohio, West Virginia, Missouri , New Mexico and Maryland.
Each Big VA Buck story that I have had the honor to write, and each hunter that I have had the blessing to talk to always brings me back to the same priceless place....Our great state Of Virginia is truly a sportsman's paradise, and your opportunity to harvest a great VA whitetail is not only real but just might happen on your next hunt this fall!
Jeff Phillips
5/28/21
Most of the articles I have written over the years have covered recent harvests, but this Big Virginia Buck story from almost a half century ago needed to be dusted off and brought to the forefront and told for the first time!
Hays Lantz Jr was born in 1946 and raised in the Bergton area of Rockingham County Virginia. Hays is the oldest of 4 children and the family lived very rurally and raised and sold chickens and turkeys. He developed a love for hunting very early on as he began squirrel hunting alongside his father at age 6, and deer hunting followed a few years later.
When Hays was 10 years old his life took a tragic turn. As he was walking the dirt road home from his small mountain community church in the Fulks Run area he overheard some of the local folks talking about a fatal car accident that happened that morning. He also recognized the name of the deceased as Hays Lantz Sr his father.
"That was a day that will always be etched into my memory"
As you can Imagine this threw the family a real curve ball and Hays had to grow up fast, but now without his father. Some of his most cherished memories were those when in the woods with his father hunting, so the next hunting season he joined up with a local group of men who did organized deer drives in the area and they quickly took Hays under their wing, and he continued hunting with this group till he was 16 years old.
Also, during this time period Hays was introduced to Archery at the Bergton Fair, and he would often shoot his best friend Frankie Emswiler's bow. He and Frankie would use archery equipment to rabbit hunt with a pack of beagles as teenagers, and although they often missed their target this activity really broadened Hays hunting passion!
In 1962 the family moved to Broadway Virginia and Hays graduated from Broadway High school in 1964. He then went on to graduate from Madison College (now recognized as JMU) in 1969 with a bachelor of science degree in biology and minor in education. Soon after graduating from college Hays took a teaching position at Orange County High school where he taught until 1973. Hays's desire to succeed led him to become the Ecology Director of K-12th grades as he was working with a special grant from the Virginia Department of Education. He remained in Orange County until 1978, when he left that position to take yet another step up the professional ladder as director of the Howard B. Owens Science Center in Greenbelt Maryland. Hays had one more professional position that he had his eye on and in 2003 he became the Superintendent for STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) Education in Baltimore County Maryland where he was responsible for designing, writing , and implementing all STEM curricula in grades K-12 (About 160,000 students), this also included hiring STEM teachers and supervising them. During this time, he earned his MS in Biology/ Botany from JMU and a PHD from UVA.
As Hays reflected back on his childhood as I was interviewing him, he said "my mom was a true force in my life I learned about tenacity, fortitude and resilience from her which I carry till this very day"!
As I was listening intently to every word that this man was saying it became very apparent that he had covered a lot of ground since leaving the hills of rural Virginia, but his passion for hunting is something he always found time to tap into.
Well folks, this brings us to a cold, rainy and overcast November morning in 1976 in the Buck Island area of Albemarle County Virginia. It was the opening day of rifle season 11/15/1976 and Hays and his younger brother Leonard sat out on an early morning deer hunt on Westvaco property. Both brothers were very familiar with this area as they had hunted this vast 4000-acre property over the years. Actually, one-month prior Hays had bow hunted a particular ridge and had spotted a real nice buck with a tremendously big body but the thick foliage sheltered its headgear from plain sight, the area was also fresh with many horned trees.
The brothers parked their 2wd cherry red Chevy pickup alongside the dirt road that cut through the property, and they split off in different directions with a plan of meeting back up around lunch time. Hays scaled up the ridge where he had encountered the buck a month prior and found a big oak tree where he cleared out a nice spot, placed a piece of plastic on the ground and took a seat and awaited daybreak. The light rain that fell along with the overcast conditions held back first light a bit, but when Hays could finally see well, he discovered that his line of sight was much better than in bow season. Only a short amount of time had passed when a gray squirrel came running over the ridge and right by him. Hays thought this odd, and assumed that either a predator or another hunter was approaching from the other side of the ridge.
Moments later like a ghost off the mountainside, the biggest buck that Hays had ever laid eyes on appeared. The huge buck was slipping along quietly in the wet leaves as if on a mission, and as fortune would have it the buck's path of travel gave Hays a 30-yard broadside shot and he quickly raised his .243 model 70 Winchester rifle and pulled the trigger. The Virginia giant dropped immediately and Hays sat there completely stunned, asking himself "did this really just happen"!
A big log was partially blocking a clear view of the buck, but Hays could see its body and after a few moments of the buck lying motionless Hays got to his feet, legs shaking and covered the short distance. As he stood over the buck the reality of the situation began to truly set in.
"This is the biggest buck I have ever seen in my life"
Hays knelt down beside the buck and said a prayer for its life, then just sat in awe for another 10 minutes while the light rain fell upon them. Knowing that his brother was hunting, Hays decided to go ahead and field dress the buck. He had finished and just began to drag, when he heard a nearby gunshot. Hays decided he would leave his buck and walk toward where he believed his brothers shot came from. Soon he found Leonard and a real nice 6 pointer that he was dressing out. The brothers drug Leonard's buck back to the truck, then they both climbed the hillside to where Hays buck lay.
During the interim Hays had tried to describe to his brother just how big his buck was, and as they approached Leonard looked at the buck and was speechless. The brothers stood there for a bit exchanging pleasantries about the hunt and the true amazement of just how big Hays's deer really was. Again, the brothers went to dragging, and when they finally got to the truck and layed the buck in the truck bed beside Leonard's 6 pointer they immediately recognized the tremendous size difference. Hays said it looked like "David and Goliath"!
The brothers jumped in the Chevy pickup and drove straight to "Rebel Sporting Goods" in Orange County Virginia to get the bucks checked in. As the bucks were being checked, a fairly large gathering began to form and chins started hitting the ground and the questions began to fly....where? when? how? etc.....Hays's buck began going "Viral" before the word was even created for non-existent social media!
Hays's amazing Virginia giant whitetail weighed 220lbs dressed and was estimated to be over 250lbs live weight. This buck was truly a remarkable animal of its environment, no food plots, and all the hype that goes with growing big bucks, just an acorn munching genetically gifted Virginia Whitetail scoring 190.5 Buckmasters score that was measured by Anders Blixt 2/24/2021. Hays is a true Virginia gentleman and has done a lot of good for himself as well as for others in his time here, and he has hunted in many other states as well most notably Texas, Iowa, Ohio, West Virginia, Missouri , New Mexico and Maryland.
Each Big VA Buck story that I have had the honor to write, and each hunter that I have had the blessing to talk to always brings me back to the same priceless place....Our great state Of Virginia is truly a sportsman's paradise, and your opportunity to harvest a great VA whitetail is not only real but just might happen on your next hunt this fall!
Jeff Phillips
5/28/21
Most of the articles I have written over the years have covered recent harvests, but this Big Virginia Buck story from almost a half century ago needed to be dusted off and brought to the forefront and told for the first time!
Hays Lantz Jr was born in 1946 and raised in the Bergton area of Rockingham County Virginia. Hays is the oldest of 4 children and the family lived very rurally and raised and sold chickens and turkeys. He developed a love for hunting very early on as he began squirrel hunting alongside his father at age 6, and deer hunting followed a few years later.
When Hays was 10 years old his life took a tragic turn. As he was walking the dirt road home from his small mountain community church in the Fulks Run area he overheard some of the local folks talking about a fatal car accident that happened that morning. He also recognized the name of the deceased as Hays Lantz Sr his father.
"That was a day that will always be etched into my memory"
As you can Imagine this threw the family a real curve ball and Hays had to grow up fast, but now without his father. Some of his most cherished memories were those when in the woods with his father hunting, so the next hunting season he joined up with a local group of men who did organized deer drives in the area and they quickly took Hays under their wing, and he continued hunting with this group till he was 16 years old.
Also, during this time period Hays was introduced to Archery at the Bergton Fair, and he would often shoot his best friend Frankie Emswiler's bow. He and Frankie would use archery equipment to rabbit hunt with a pack of beagles as teenagers, and although they often missed their target this activity really broadened Hays hunting passion!
In 1962 the family moved to Broadway Virginia and Hays graduated from Broadway High school in 1964. He then went on to graduate from Madison College (now recognized as JMU) in 1969 with a bachelor of science degree in biology and minor in education. Soon after graduating from college Hays took a teaching position at Orange County High school where he taught until 1973. Hays's desire to succeed led him to become the Ecology Director of K-12th grades as he was working with a special grant from the Virginia Department of Education. He remained in Orange County until 1978, when he left that position to take yet another step up the professional ladder as director of the Howard B. Owens Science Center in Greenbelt Maryland. Hays had one more professional position that he had his eye on and in 2003 he became the Superintendent for STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) Education in Baltimore County Maryland where he was responsible for designing, writing , and implementing all STEM curricula in grades K-12 (About 160,000 students), this also included hiring STEM teachers and supervising them. During this time, he earned his MS in Biology/ Botany from JMU and a PHD from UVA.
As Hays reflected back on his childhood as I was interviewing him, he said "my mom was a true force in my life I learned about tenacity, fortitude and resilience from her which I carry till this very day"!
As I was listening intently to every word that this man was saying it became very apparent that he had covered a lot of ground since leaving the hills of rural Virginia, but his passion for hunting is something he always found time to tap into.
Well folks, this brings us to a cold, rainy and overcast November morning in 1976 in the Buck Island area of Albemarle County Virginia. It was the opening day of rifle season 11/15/1976 and Hays and his younger brother Leonard sat out on an early morning deer hunt on Westvaco property. Both brothers were very familiar with this area as they had hunted this vast 4000-acre property over the years. Actually, one-month prior Hays had bow hunted a particular ridge and had spotted a real nice buck with a tremendously big body but the thick foliage sheltered its headgear from plain sight, the area was also fresh with many horned trees.
The brothers parked their 2wd cherry red Chevy pickup alongside the dirt road that cut through the property, and they split off in different directions with a plan of meeting back up around lunch time. Hays scaled up the ridge where he had encountered the buck a month prior and found a big oak tree where he cleared out a nice spot, placed a piece of plastic on the ground and took a seat and awaited daybreak. The light rain that fell along with the overcast conditions held back first light a bit, but when Hays could finally see well, he discovered that his line of sight was much better than in bow season. Only a short amount of time had passed when a gray squirrel came running over the ridge and right by him. Hays thought this odd, and assumed that either a predator or another hunter was approaching from the other side of the ridge.
Moments later like a ghost off the mountainside, the biggest buck that Hays had ever laid eyes on appeared. The huge buck was slipping along quietly in the wet leaves as if on a mission, and as fortune would have it the buck's path of travel gave Hays a 30-yard broadside shot and he quickly raised his .243 model 70 Winchester rifle and pulled the trigger. The Virginia giant dropped immediately and Hays sat there completely stunned, asking himself "did this really just happen"!
A big log was partially blocking a clear view of the buck, but Hays could see its body and after a few moments of the buck lying motionless Hays got to his feet, legs shaking and covered the short distance. As he stood over the buck the reality of the situation began to truly set in.
"This is the biggest buck I have ever seen in my life"
Hays knelt down beside the buck and said a prayer for its life, then just sat in awe for another 10 minutes while the light rain fell upon them. Knowing that his brother was hunting, Hays decided to go ahead and field dress the buck. He had finished and just began to drag, when he heard a nearby gunshot. Hays decided he would leave his buck and walk toward where he believed his brothers shot came from. Soon he found Leonard and a real nice 6 pointer that he was dressing out. The brothers drug Leonard's buck back to the truck, then they both climbed the hillside to where Hays buck lay.
During the interim Hays had tried to describe to his brother just how big his buck was, and as they approached Leonard looked at the buck and was speechless. The brothers stood there for a bit exchanging pleasantries about the hunt and the true amazement of just how big Hays's deer really was. Again, the brothers went to dragging, and when they finally got to the truck and layed the buck in the truck bed beside Leonard's 6 pointer they immediately recognized the tremendous size difference. Hays said it looked like "David and Goliath"!
The brothers jumped in the Chevy pickup and drove straight to "Rebel Sporting Goods" in Orange County Virginia to get the bucks checked in. As the bucks were being checked, a fairly large gathering began to form and chins started hitting the ground and the questions began to fly....where? when? how? etc.....Hays's buck began going "Viral" before the word was even created for non-existent social media!
Hays's amazing Virginia giant whitetail weighed 220lbs dressed and was estimated to be over 250lbs live weight. This buck was truly a remarkable animal of its environment, no food plots, and all the hype that goes with growing big bucks, just an acorn munching genetically gifted Virginia Whitetail scoring 190.5 Buckmasters score that was measured by Anders Blixt 2/24/2021. Hays is a true Virginia gentleman and has done a lot of good for himself as well as for others in his time here, and he has hunted in many other states as well most notably Texas, Iowa, Ohio, West Virginia, Missouri , New Mexico and Maryland.
Each Big VA Buck story that I have had the honor to write, and each hunter that I have had the blessing to talk to always brings me back to the same priceless place....Our great state Of Virginia is truly a sportsman's paradise, and your opportunity to harvest a great VA whitetail is not only real but just might happen on your next hunt this fall!
Jeff Phillips
5/28/21
Most of the articles I have written over the years have covered recent harvests, but this Big Virginia Buck story from almost a half century ago needed to be dusted off and brought to the forefront and told for the first time!
Hays Lantz Jr was born in 1946 and raised in the Bergton area of Rockingham County Virginia. Hays is the oldest of 4 children and the family lived very rurally and raised and sold chickens and turkeys. He developed a love for hunting very early on as he began squirrel hunting alongside his father at age 6, and deer hunting followed a few years later.
When Hays was 10 years old his life took a tragic turn. As he was walking the dirt road home from his small mountain community church in the Fulks Run area he overheard some of the local folks talking about a fatal car accident that happened that morning. He also recognized the name of the deceased as Hays Lantz Sr his father.
"That was a day that will always be etched into my memory"
As you can Imagine this threw the family a real curve ball and Hays had to grow up fast, but now without his father. Some of his most cherished memories were those when in the woods with his father hunting, so the next hunting season he joined up with a local group of men who did organized deer drives in the area and they quickly took Hays under their wing, and he continued hunting with this group till he was 16 years old.
Also, during this time period Hays was introduced to Archery at the Bergton Fair, and he would often shoot his best friend Frankie Emswiler's bow. He and Frankie would use archery equipment to rabbit hunt with a pack of beagles as teenagers, and although they often missed their target this activity really broadened Hays hunting passion!
In 1962 the family moved to Broadway Virginia and Hays graduated from Broadway High school in 1964. He then went on to graduate from Madison College (now recognized as JMU) in 1969 with a bachelor of science degree in biology and minor in education. Soon after graduating from college Hays took a teaching position at Orange County High school where he taught until 1973. Hays's desire to succeed led him to become the Ecology Director of K-12th grades as he was working with a special grant from the Virginia Department of Education. He remained in Orange County until 1978, when he left that position to take yet another step up the professional ladder as director of the Howard B. Owens Science Center in Greenbelt Maryland. Hays had one more professional position that he had his eye on and in 2003 he became the Superintendent for STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) Education in Baltimore County Maryland where he was responsible for designing, writing , and implementing all STEM curricula in grades K-12 (About 160,000 students), this also included hiring STEM teachers and supervising them. During this time, he earned his MS in Biology/ Botany from JMU and a PHD from UVA.
As Hays reflected back on his childhood as I was interviewing him, he said "my mom was a true force in my life I learned about tenacity, fortitude and resilience from her which I carry till this very day"!
As I was listening intently to every word that this man was saying it became very apparent that he had covered a lot of ground since leaving the hills of rural Virginia, but his passion for hunting is something he always found time to tap into.
Well folks, this brings us to a cold, rainy and overcast November morning in 1976 in the Buck Island area of Albemarle County Virginia. It was the opening day of rifle season 11/15/1976 and Hays and his younger brother Leonard sat out on an early morning deer hunt on Westvaco property. Both brothers were very familiar with this area as they had hunted this vast 4000-acre property over the years. Actually, one-month prior Hays had bow hunted a particular ridge and had spotted a real nice buck with a tremendously big body but the thick foliage sheltered its headgear from plain sight, the area was also fresh with many horned trees.
The brothers parked their 2wd cherry red Chevy pickup alongside the dirt road that cut through the property, and they split off in different directions with a plan of meeting back up around lunch time. Hays scaled up the ridge where he had encountered the buck a month prior and found a big oak tree where he cleared out a nice spot, placed a piece of plastic on the ground and took a seat and awaited daybreak. The light rain that fell along with the overcast conditions held back first light a bit, but when Hays could finally see well, he discovered that his line of sight was much better than in bow season. Only a short amount of time had passed when a gray squirrel came running over the ridge and right by him. Hays thought this odd, and assumed that either a predator or another hunter was approaching from the other side of the ridge.
Moments later like a ghost off the mountainside, the biggest buck that Hays had ever laid eyes on appeared. The huge buck was slipping along quietly in the wet leaves as if on a mission, and as fortune would have it the buck's path of travel gave Hays a 30-yard broadside shot and he quickly raised his .243 model 70 Winchester rifle and pulled the trigger. The Virginia giant dropped immediately and Hays sat there completely stunned, asking himself "did this really just happen"!
A big log was partially blocking a clear view of the buck, but Hays could see its body and after a few moments of the buck lying motionless Hays got to his feet, legs shaking and covered the short distance. As he stood over the buck the reality of the situation began to truly set in.
"This is the biggest buck I have ever seen in my life"
Hays knelt down beside the buck and said a prayer for its life, then just sat in awe for another 10 minutes while the light rain fell upon them. Knowing that his brother was hunting, Hays decided to go ahead and field dress the buck. He had finished and just began to drag, when he heard a nearby gunshot. Hays decided he would leave his buck and walk toward where he believed his brothers shot came from. Soon he found Leonard and a real nice 6 pointer that he was dressing out. The brothers drug Leonard's buck back to the truck, then they both climbed the hillside to where Hays buck lay.
During the interim Hays had tried to describe to his brother just how big his buck was, and as they approached Leonard looked at the buck and was speechless. The brothers stood there for a bit exchanging pleasantries about the hunt and the true amazement of just how big Hays's deer really was. Again, the brothers went to dragging, and when they finally got to the truck and layed the buck in the truck bed beside Leonard's 6 pointer they immediately recognized the tremendous size difference. Hays said it looked like "David and Goliath"!
The brothers jumped in the Chevy pickup and drove straight to "Rebel Sporting Goods" in Orange County Virginia to get the bucks checked in. As the bucks were being checked, a fairly large gathering began to form and chins started hitting the ground and the questions began to fly....where? when? how? etc.....Hays's buck began going "Viral" before the word was even created for non-existent social media!
Hays's amazing Virginia giant whitetail weighed 220lbs dressed and was estimated to be over 250lbs live weight. This buck was truly a remarkable animal of its environment, no food plots, and all the hype that goes with growing big bucks, just an acorn munching genetically gifted Virginia Whitetail scoring 190.5 Buckmasters score that was measured by Anders Blixt 2/24/2021. Hays is a true Virginia gentleman and has done a lot of good for himself as well as for others in his time here, and he has hunted in many other states as well most notably Texas, Iowa, Ohio, West Virginia, Missouri , New Mexico and Maryland.
Each Big VA Buck story that I have had the honor to write, and each hunter that I have had the blessing to talk to always brings me back to the same priceless place....Our great state Of Virginia is truly a sportsman's paradise, and your opportunity to harvest a great VA whitetail is not only real but just might happen on your next hunt this fall!
Jeff Phillips
5/28/21
Most of the articles I have written over the years have covered recent harvests, but this Big Virginia Buck story from almost a half century ago needed to be dusted off and brought to the forefront and told for the first time!
Hays Lantz Jr was born in 1946 and raised in the Bergton area of Rockingham County Virginia. Hays is the oldest of 4 children and the family lived very rurally and raised and sold chickens and turkeys. He developed a love for hunting very early on as he began squirrel hunting alongside his father at age 6, and deer hunting followed a few years later.
When Hays was 10 years old his life took a tragic turn. As he was walking the dirt road home from his small mountain community church in the Fulks Run area he overheard some of the local folks talking about a fatal car accident that happened that morning. He also recognized the name of the deceased as Hays Lantz Sr his father.
"That was a day that will always be etched into my memory"
As you can Imagine this threw the family a real curve ball and Hays had to grow up fast, but now without his father. Some of his most cherished memories were those when in the woods with his father hunting, so the next hunting season he joined up with a local group of men who did organized deer drives in the area and they quickly took Hays under their wing, and he continued hunting with this group till he was 16 years old.
Also, during this time period Hays was introduced to Archery at the Bergton Fair, and he would often shoot his best friend Frankie Emswiler's bow. He and Frankie would use archery equipment to rabbit hunt with a pack of beagles as teenagers, and although they often missed their target this activity really broadened Hays hunting passion!
In 1962 the family moved to Broadway Virginia and Hays graduated from Broadway High school in 1964. He then went on to graduate from Madison College (now recognized as JMU) in 1969 with a bachelor of science degree in biology and minor in education. Soon after graduating from college Hays took a teaching position at Orange County High school where he taught until 1973. Hays's desire to succeed led him to become the Ecology Director of K-12th grades as he was working with a special grant from the Virginia Department of Education. He remained in Orange County until 1978, when he left that position to take yet another step up the professional ladder as director of the Howard B. Owens Science Center in Greenbelt Maryland. Hays had one more professional position that he had his eye on and in 2003 he became the Superintendent for STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) Education in Baltimore County Maryland where he was responsible for designing, writing , and implementing all STEM curricula in grades K-12 (About 160,000 students), this also included hiring STEM teachers and supervising them. During this time, he earned his MS in Biology/ Botany from JMU and a PHD from UVA.
As Hays reflected back on his childhood as I was interviewing him, he said "my mom was a true force in my life I learned about tenacity, fortitude and resilience from her which I carry till this very day"!
As I was listening intently to every word that this man was saying it became very apparent that he had covered a lot of ground since leaving the hills of rural Virginia, but his passion for hunting is something he always found time to tap into.
Well folks, this brings us to a cold, rainy and overcast November morning in 1976 in the Buck Island area of Albemarle County Virginia. It was the opening day of rifle season 11/15/1976 and Hays and his younger brother Leonard sat out on an early morning deer hunt on Westvaco property. Both brothers were very familiar with this area as they had hunted this vast 4000-acre property over the years. Actually, one-month prior Hays had bow hunted a particular ridge and had spotted a real nice buck with a tremendously big body but the thick foliage sheltered its headgear from plain sight, the area was also fresh with many horned trees.
The brothers parked their 2wd cherry red Chevy pickup alongside the dirt road that cut through the property, and they split off in different directions with a plan of meeting back up around lunch time. Hays scaled up the ridge where he had encountered the buck a month prior and found a big oak tree where he cleared out a nice spot, placed a piece of plastic on the ground and took a seat and awaited daybreak. The light rain that fell along with the overcast conditions held back first light a bit, but when Hays could finally see well, he discovered that his line of sight was much better than in bow season. Only a short amount of time had passed when a gray squirrel came running over the ridge and right by him. Hays thought this odd, and assumed that either a predator or another hunter was approaching from the other side of the ridge.
Moments later like a ghost off the mountainside, the biggest buck that Hays had ever laid eyes on appeared. The huge buck was slipping along quietly in the wet leaves as if on a mission, and as fortune would have it the buck's path of travel gave Hays a 30-yard broadside shot and he quickly raised his .243 model 70 Winchester rifle and pulled the trigger. The Virginia giant dropped immediately and Hays sat there completely stunned, asking himself "did this really just happen"!
A big log was partially blocking a clear view of the buck, but Hays could see its body and after a few moments of the buck lying motionless Hays got to his feet, legs shaking and covered the short distance. As he stood over the buck the reality of the situation began to truly set in.
"This is the biggest buck I have ever seen in my life"
Hays knelt down beside the buck and said a prayer for its life, then just sat in awe for another 10 minutes while the light rain fell upon them. Knowing that his brother was hunting, Hays decided to go ahead and field dress the buck. He had finished and just began to drag, when he heard a nearby gunshot. Hays decided he would leave his buck and walk toward where he believed his brothers shot came from. Soon he found Leonard and a real nice 6 pointer that he was dressing out. The brothers drug Leonard's buck back to the truck, then they both climbed the hillside to where Hays buck lay.
During the interim Hays had tried to describe to his brother just how big his buck was, and as they approached Leonard looked at the buck and was speechless. The brothers stood there for a bit exchanging pleasantries about the hunt and the true amazement of just how big Hays's deer really was. Again, the brothers went to dragging, and when they finally got to the truck and layed the buck in the truck bed beside Leonard's 6 pointer they immediately recognized the tremendous size difference. Hays said it looked like "David and Goliath"!
The brothers jumped in the Chevy pickup and drove straight to "Rebel Sporting Goods" in Orange County Virginia to get the bucks checked in. As the bucks were being checked, a fairly large gathering began to form and chins started hitting the ground and the questions began to fly....where? when? how? etc.....Hays's buck began going "Viral" before the word was even created for non-existent social media!
Hays's amazing Virginia giant whitetail weighed 220lbs dressed and was estimated to be over 250lbs live weight. This buck was truly a remarkable animal of its environment, no food plots, and all the hype that goes with growing big bucks, just an acorn munching genetically gifted Virginia Whitetail scoring 190.5 Buckmasters score that was measured by Anders Blixt 2/24/2021. Hays is a true Virginia gentleman and has done a lot of good for himself as well as for others in his time here, and he has hunted in many other states as well most notably Texas, Iowa, Ohio, West Virginia, Missouri , New Mexico and Maryland.
Each Big VA Buck story that I have had the honor to write, and each hunter that I have had the blessing to talk to always brings me back to the same priceless place....Our great state Of Virginia is truly a sportsman's paradise, and your opportunity to harvest a great VA whitetail is not only real but just might happen on your next hunt this fall!
Jeff Phillips
5/28/21
Most of the articles I have written over the years have covered recent harvests, but this Big Virginia Buck story from almost a half century ago needed to be dusted off and brought to the forefront and told for the first time!
Hays Lantz Jr was born in 1946 and raised in the Bergton area of Rockingham County Virginia. Hays is the oldest of 4 children and the family lived very rurally and raised and sold chickens and turkeys. He developed a love for hunting very early on as he began squirrel hunting alongside his father at age 6, and deer hunting followed a few years later.
When Hays was 10 years old his life took a tragic turn. As he was walking the dirt road home from his small mountain community church in the Fulks Run area he overheard some of the local folks talking about a fatal car accident that happened that morning. He also recognized the name of the deceased as Hays Lantz Sr his father.
"That was a day that will always be etched into my memory"
As you can Imagine this threw the family a real curve ball and Hays had to grow up fast, but now without his father. Some of his most cherished memories were those when in the woods with his father hunting, so the next hunting season he joined up with a local group of men who did organized deer drives in the area and they quickly took Hays under their wing, and he continued hunting with this group till he was 16 years old.
Also, during this time period Hays was introduced to Archery at the Bergton Fair, and he would often shoot his best friend Frankie Emswiler's bow. He and Frankie would use archery equipment to rabbit hunt with a pack of beagles as teenagers, and although they often missed their target this activity really broadened Hays hunting passion!
In 1962 the family moved to Broadway Virginia and Hays graduated from Broadway High school in 1964. He then went on to graduate from Madison College (now recognized as JMU) in 1969 with a bachelor of science degree in biology and minor in education. Soon after graduating from college Hays took a teaching position at Orange County High school where he taught until 1973. Hays's desire to succeed led him to become the Ecology Director of K-12th grades as he was working with a special grant from the Virginia Department of Education. He remained in Orange County until 1978, when he left that position to take yet another step up the professional ladder as director of the Howard B. Owens Science Center in Greenbelt Maryland. Hays had one more professional position that he had his eye on and in 2003 he became the Superintendent for STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) Education in Baltimore County Maryland where he was responsible for designing, writing , and implementing all STEM curricula in grades K-12 (About 160,000 students), this also included hiring STEM teachers and supervising them. During this time, he earned his MS in Biology/ Botany from JMU and a PHD from UVA.
As Hays reflected back on his childhood as I was interviewing him, he said "my mom was a true force in my life I learned about tenacity, fortitude and resilience from her which I carry till this very day"!
As I was listening intently to every word that this man was saying it became very apparent that he had covered a lot of ground since leaving the hills of rural Virginia, but his passion for hunting is something he always found time to tap into.
Well folks, this brings us to a cold, rainy and overcast November morning in 1976 in the Buck Island area of Albemarle County Virginia. It was the opening day of rifle season 11/15/1976 and Hays and his younger brother Leonard sat out on an early morning deer hunt on Westvaco property. Both brothers were very familiar with this area as they had hunted this vast 4000-acre property over the years. Actually, one-month prior Hays had bow hunted a particular ridge and had spotted a real nice buck with a tremendously big body but the thick foliage sheltered its headgear from plain sight, the area was also fresh with many horned trees.
The brothers parked their 2wd cherry red Chevy pickup alongside the dirt road that cut through the property, and they split off in different directions with a plan of meeting back up around lunch time. Hays scaled up the ridge where he had encountered the buck a month prior and found a big oak tree where he cleared out a nice spot, placed a piece of plastic on the ground and took a seat and awaited daybreak. The light rain that fell along with the overcast conditions held back first light a bit, but when Hays could finally see well, he discovered that his line of sight was much better than in bow season. Only a short amount of time had passed when a gray squirrel came running over the ridge and right by him. Hays thought this odd, and assumed that either a predator or another hunter was approaching from the other side of the ridge.
Moments later like a ghost off the mountainside, the biggest buck that Hays had ever laid eyes on appeared. The huge buck was slipping along quietly in the wet leaves as if on a mission, and as fortune would have it the buck's path of travel gave Hays a 30-yard broadside shot and he quickly raised his .243 model 70 Winchester rifle and pulled the trigger. The Virginia giant dropped immediately and Hays sat there completely stunned, asking himself "did this really just happen"!
A big log was partially blocking a clear view of the buck, but Hays could see its body and after a few moments of the buck lying motionless Hays got to his feet, legs shaking and covered the short distance. As he stood over the buck the reality of the situation began to truly set in.
"This is the biggest buck I have ever seen in my life"
Hays knelt down beside the buck and said a prayer for its life, then just sat in awe for another 10 minutes while the light rain fell upon them. Knowing that his brother was hunting, Hays decided to go ahead and field dress the buck. He had finished and just began to drag, when he heard a nearby gunshot. Hays decided he would leave his buck and walk toward where he believed his brothers shot came from. Soon he found Leonard and a real nice 6 pointer that he was dressing out. The brothers drug Leonard's buck back to the truck, then they both climbed the hillside to where Hays buck lay.
During the interim Hays had tried to describe to his brother just how big his buck was, and as they approached Leonard looked at the buck and was speechless. The brothers stood there for a bit exchanging pleasantries about the hunt and the true amazement of just how big Hays's deer really was. Again, the brothers went to dragging, and when they finally got to the truck and layed the buck in the truck bed beside Leonard's 6 pointer they immediately recognized the tremendous size difference. Hays said it looked like "David and Goliath"!
The brothers jumped in the Chevy pickup and drove straight to "Rebel Sporting Goods" in Orange County Virginia to get the bucks checked in. As the bucks were being checked, a fairly large gathering began to form and chins started hitting the ground and the questions began to fly....where? when? how? etc.....Hays's buck began going "Viral" before the word was even created for non-existent social media!
Hays's amazing Virginia giant whitetail weighed 220lbs dressed and was estimated to be over 250lbs live weight. This buck was truly a remarkable animal of its environment, no food plots, and all the hype that goes with growing big bucks, just an acorn munching genetically gifted Virginia Whitetail scoring 190.5 Buckmasters score that was measured by Anders Blixt 2/24/2021. Hays is a true Virginia gentleman and has done a lot of good for himself as well as for others in his time here, and he has hunted in many other states as well most notably Texas, Iowa, Ohio, West Virginia, Missouri , New Mexico and Maryland.
Each Big VA Buck story that I have had the honor to write, and each hunter that I have had the blessing to talk to always brings me back to the same priceless place....Our great state Of Virginia is truly a sportsman's paradise, and your opportunity to harvest a great VA whitetail is not only real but just might happen on your next hunt this fall!
Jeff Phillips
5/28/21
Most of the articles I have written over the years have covered recent harvests, but this Big Virginia Buck story from almost a half century ago needed to be dusted off and brought to the forefront and told for the first time!
Hays Lantz Jr was born in 1946 and raised in the Bergton area of Rockingham County Virginia. Hays is the oldest of 4 children and the family lived very rurally and raised and sold chickens and turkeys. He developed a love for hunting very early on as he began squirrel hunting alongside his father at age 6, and deer hunting followed a few years later.
When Hays was 10 years old his life took a tragic turn. As he was walking the dirt road home from his small mountain community church in the Fulks Run area he overheard some of the local folks talking about a fatal car accident that happened that morning. He also recognized the name of the deceased as Hays Lantz Sr his father.
"That was a day that will always be etched into my memory"
As you can Imagine this threw the family a real curve ball and Hays had to grow up fast, but now without his father. Some of his most cherished memories were those when in the woods with his father hunting, so the next hunting season he joined up with a local group of men who did organized deer drives in the area and they quickly took Hays under their wing, and he continued hunting with this group till he was 16 years old.
Also, during this time period Hays was introduced to Archery at the Bergton Fair, and he would often shoot his best friend Frankie Emswiler's bow. He and Frankie would use archery equipment to rabbit hunt with a pack of beagles as teenagers, and although they often missed their target this activity really broadened Hays hunting passion!
In 1962 the family moved to Broadway Virginia and Hays graduated from Broadway High school in 1964. He then went on to graduate from Madison College (now recognized as JMU) in 1969 with a bachelor of science degree in biology and minor in education. Soon after graduating from college Hays took a teaching position at Orange County High school where he taught until 1973. Hays's desire to succeed led him to become the Ecology Director of K-12th grades as he was working with a special grant from the Virginia Department of Education. He remained in Orange County until 1978, when he left that position to take yet another step up the professional ladder as director of the Howard B. Owens Science Center in Greenbelt Maryland. Hays had one more professional position that he had his eye on and in 2003 he became the Superintendent for STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) Education in Baltimore County Maryland where he was responsible for designing, writing , and implementing all STEM curricula in grades K-12 (About 160,000 students), this also included hiring STEM teachers and supervising them. During this time, he earned his MS in Biology/ Botany from JMU and a PHD from UVA.
As Hays reflected back on his childhood as I was interviewing him, he said "my mom was a true force in my life I learned about tenacity, fortitude and resilience from her which I carry till this very day"!
As I was listening intently to every word that this man was saying it became very apparent that he had covered a lot of ground since leaving the hills of rural Virginia, but his passion for hunting is something he always found time to tap into.
Well folks, this brings us to a cold, rainy and overcast November morning in 1976 in the Buck Island area of Albemarle County Virginia. It was the opening day of rifle season 11/15/1976 and Hays and his younger brother Leonard sat out on an early morning deer hunt on Westvaco property. Both brothers were very familiar with this area as they had hunted this vast 4000-acre property over the years. Actually, one-month prior Hays had bow hunted a particular ridge and had spotted a real nice buck with a tremendously big body but the thick foliage sheltered its headgear from plain sight, the area was also fresh with many horned trees.
The brothers parked their 2wd cherry red Chevy pickup alongside the dirt road that cut through the property, and they split off in different directions with a plan of meeting back up around lunch time. Hays scaled up the ridge where he had encountered the buck a month prior and found a big oak tree where he cleared out a nice spot, placed a piece of plastic on the ground and took a seat and awaited daybreak. The light rain that fell along with the overcast conditions held back first light a bit, but when Hays could finally see well, he discovered that his line of sight was much better than in bow season. Only a short amount of time had passed when a gray squirrel came running over the ridge and right by him. Hays thought this odd, and assumed that either a predator or another hunter was approaching from the other side of the ridge.
Moments later like a ghost off the mountainside, the biggest buck that Hays had ever laid eyes on appeared. The huge buck was slipping along quietly in the wet leaves as if on a mission, and as fortune would have it the buck's path of travel gave Hays a 30-yard broadside shot and he quickly raised his .243 model 70 Winchester rifle and pulled the trigger. The Virginia giant dropped immediately and Hays sat there completely stunned, asking himself "did this really just happen"!
A big log was partially blocking a clear view of the buck, but Hays could see its body and after a few moments of the buck lying motionless Hays got to his feet, legs shaking and covered the short distance. As he stood over the buck the reality of the situation began to truly set in.
"This is the biggest buck I have ever seen in my life"
Hays knelt down beside the buck and said a prayer for its life, then just sat in awe for another 10 minutes while the light rain fell upon them. Knowing that his brother was hunting, Hays decided to go ahead and field dress the buck. He had finished and just began to drag, when he heard a nearby gunshot. Hays decided he would leave his buck and walk toward where he believed his brothers shot came from. Soon he found Leonard and a real nice 6 pointer that he was dressing out. The brothers drug Leonard's buck back to the truck, then they both climbed the hillside to where Hays buck lay.
During the interim Hays had tried to describe to his brother just how big his buck was, and as they approached Leonard looked at the buck and was speechless. The brothers stood there for a bit exchanging pleasantries about the hunt and the true amazement of just how big Hays's deer really was. Again, the brothers went to dragging, and when they finally got to the truck and layed the buck in the truck bed beside Leonard's 6 pointer they immediately recognized the tremendous size difference. Hays said it looked like "David and Goliath"!
The brothers jumped in the Chevy pickup and drove straight to "Rebel Sporting Goods" in Orange County Virginia to get the bucks checked in. As the bucks were being checked, a fairly large gathering began to form and chins started hitting the ground and the questions began to fly....where? when? how? etc.....Hays's buck began going "Viral" before the word was even created for non-existent social media!
Hays's amazing Virginia giant whitetail weighed 220lbs dressed and was estimated to be over 250lbs live weight. This buck was truly a remarkable animal of its environment, no food plots, and all the hype that goes with growing big bucks, just an acorn munching genetically gifted Virginia Whitetail scoring 190.5 Buckmasters score that was measured by Anders Blixt 2/24/2021. Hays is a true Virginia gentleman and has done a lot of good for himself as well as for others in his time here, and he has hunted in many other states as well most notably Texas, Iowa, Ohio, West Virginia, Missouri , New Mexico and Maryland.
Each Big VA Buck story that I have had the honor to write, and each hunter that I have had the blessing to talk to always brings me back to the same priceless place....Our great state Of Virginia is truly a sportsman's paradise, and your opportunity to harvest a great VA whitetail is not only real but just might happen on your next hunt this fall!
Jeff Phillips
5/28/21
Most of the articles I have written over the years have covered recent harvests, but this Big Virginia Buck story from almost a half century ago needed to be dusted off and brought to the forefront and told for the first time!
Hays Lantz Jr was born in 1946 and raised in the Bergton area of Rockingham County Virginia. Hays is the oldest of 4 children and the family lived very rurally and raised and sold chickens and turkeys. He developed a love for hunting very early on as he began squirrel hunting alongside his father at age 6, and deer hunting followed a few years later.
When Hays was 10 years old his life took a tragic turn. As he was walking the dirt road home from his small mountain community church in the Fulks Run area he overheard some of the local folks talking about a fatal car accident that happened that morning. He also recognized the name of the deceased as Hays Lantz Sr his father.
"That was a day that will always be etched into my memory"
As you can Imagine this threw the family a real curve ball and Hays had to grow up fast, but now without his father. Some of his most cherished memories were those when in the woods with his father hunting, so the next hunting season he joined up with a local group of men who did organized deer drives in the area and they quickly took Hays under their wing, and he continued hunting with this group till he was 16 years old.
Also, during this time period Hays was introduced to Archery at the Bergton Fair, and he would often shoot his best friend Frankie Emswiler's bow. He and Frankie would use archery equipment to rabbit hunt with a pack of beagles as teenagers, and although they often missed their target this activity really broadened Hays hunting passion!
In 1962 the family moved to Broadway Virginia and Hays graduated from Broadway High school in 1964. He then went on to graduate from Madison College (now recognized as JMU) in 1969 with a bachelor of science degree in biology and minor in education. Soon after graduating from college Hays took a teaching position at Orange County High school where he taught until 1973. Hays's desire to succeed led him to become the Ecology Director of K-12th grades as he was working with a special grant from the Virginia Department of Education. He remained in Orange County until 1978, when he left that position to take yet another step up the professional ladder as director of the Howard B. Owens Science Center in Greenbelt Maryland. Hays had one more professional position that he had his eye on and in 2003 he became the Superintendent for STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) Education in Baltimore County Maryland where he was responsible for designing, writing , and implementing all STEM curricula in grades K-12 (About 160,000 students), this also included hiring STEM teachers and supervising them. During this time, he earned his MS in Biology/ Botany from JMU and a PHD from UVA.
As Hays reflected back on his childhood as I was interviewing him, he said "my mom was a true force in my life I learned about tenacity, fortitude and resilience from her which I carry till this very day"!
As I was listening intently to every word that this man was saying it became very apparent that he had covered a lot of ground since leaving the hills of rural Virginia, but his passion for hunting is something he always found time to tap into.
Well folks, this brings us to a cold, rainy and overcast November morning in 1976 in the Buck Island area of Albemarle County Virginia. It was the opening day of rifle season 11/15/1976 and Hays and his younger brother Leonard sat out on an early morning deer hunt on Westvaco property. Both brothers were very familiar with this area as they had hunted this vast 4000-acre property over the years. Actually, one-month prior Hays had bow hunted a particular ridge and had spotted a real nice buck with a tremendously big body but the thick foliage sheltered its headgear from plain sight, the area was also fresh with many horned trees.
The brothers parked their 2wd cherry red Chevy pickup alongside the dirt road that cut through the property, and they split off in different directions with a plan of meeting back up around lunch time. Hays scaled up the ridge where he had encountered the buck a month prior and found a big oak tree where he cleared out a nice spot, placed a piece of plastic on the ground and took a seat and awaited daybreak. The light rain that fell along with the overcast conditions held back first light a bit, but when Hays could finally see well, he discovered that his line of sight was much better than in bow season. Only a short amount of time had passed when a gray squirrel came running over the ridge and right by him. Hays thought this odd, and assumed that either a predator or another hunter was approaching from the other side of the ridge.
Moments later like a ghost off the mountainside, the biggest buck that Hays had ever laid eyes on appeared. The huge buck was slipping along quietly in the wet leaves as if on a mission, and as fortune would have it the buck's path of travel gave Hays a 30-yard broadside shot and he quickly raised his .243 model 70 Winchester rifle and pulled the trigger. The Virginia giant dropped immediately and Hays sat there completely stunned, asking himself "did this really just happen"!
A big log was partially blocking a clear view of the buck, but Hays could see its body and after a few moments of the buck lying motionless Hays got to his feet, legs shaking and covered the short distance. As he stood over the buck the reality of the situation began to truly set in.
"This is the biggest buck I have ever seen in my life"
Hays knelt down beside the buck and said a prayer for its life, then just sat in awe for another 10 minutes while the light rain fell upon them. Knowing that his brother was hunting, Hays decided to go ahead and field dress the buck. He had finished and just began to drag, when he heard a nearby gunshot. Hays decided he would leave his buck and walk toward where he believed his brothers shot came from. Soon he found Leonard and a real nice 6 pointer that he was dressing out. The brothers drug Leonard's buck back to the truck, then they both climbed the hillside to where Hays buck lay.
During the interim Hays had tried to describe to his brother just how big his buck was, and as they approached Leonard looked at the buck and was speechless. The brothers stood there for a bit exchanging pleasantries about the hunt and the true amazement of just how big Hays's deer really was. Again, the brothers went to dragging, and when they finally got to the truck and layed the buck in the truck bed beside Leonard's 6 pointer they immediately recognized the tremendous size difference. Hays said it looked like "David and Goliath"!
The brothers jumped in the Chevy pickup and drove straight to "Rebel Sporting Goods" in Orange County Virginia to get the bucks checked in. As the bucks were being checked, a fairly large gathering began to form and chins started hitting the ground and the questions began to fly....where? when? how? etc.....Hays's buck began going "Viral" before the word was even created for non-existent social media!
Hays's amazing Virginia giant whitetail weighed 220lbs dressed and was estimated to be over 250lbs live weight. This buck was truly a remarkable animal of its environment, no food plots, and all the hype that goes with growing big bucks, just an acorn munching genetically gifted Virginia Whitetail scoring 190.5 Buckmasters score that was measured by Anders Blixt 2/24/2021. Hays is a true Virginia gentleman and has done a lot of good for himself as well as for others in his time here, and he has hunted in many other states as well most notably Texas, Iowa, Ohio, West Virginia, Missouri , New Mexico and Maryland.
Each Big VA Buck story that I have had the honor to write, and each hunter that I have had the blessing to talk to always brings me back to the same priceless place....Our great state Of Virginia is truly a sportsman's paradise, and your opportunity to harvest a great VA whitetail is not only real but just might happen on your next hunt this fall!
Jeff Phillips
5/28/21
