From my friend John who lives in western North Carolina and works for Remington:
This is one of my college friends, Jim Phillips, who lives in Avery Co., NC. Most people contend we can’t grow respectable deer in NC, particularly in the mountains where we have no agriculture. Jim proves pretty much every year that you can have good deer if you manage your does and let your bucks live to an age of 3 ½ plus.
Jim arrowed this deer the second day of bow season on a mixed white oak/red oak ridge. He believes the buck to be 4 ½ and will confirm when the jaw bone is delivered to the University of Tennessee.
First big velvet from NC that we’ve ever had on the blog, way to go Jim.
Great buck congrats! I firmly believe there are stud bucks in almost any area that has whitetails. It’s just a matter of letting them grow and finding the giants, most people were under the impression the south didn’t have big deer but the last 5 seasons there have been multiple booners shot in the southern states and multiple record breakers the last three seasons in both LA, and MS. I’ve seen many bucks go from looking like a deer that would never be a “trophy” to being a giant in literally one or two seasons. Many deer just never get the chance to reach their max potential durintg that age range of 4-6.
Nice buck!
I like him! Congratulations on a great early season hammer. Great way to start the year.
Gorgeous buck! Congrats.
i.e. above…according to Dr. James Kroll: “nutrition, nutrition, nutrition.”
A real beauty. But my opinion is w/out genetics- you have zero chance of a wall hanger. But in the great scheme of things- does it really matter. Great deer! Congrats.
Great buck, Jim! Congrats on getting it done opening week. That is a very nice deer for anywhere in NC
Age, genetics, and nutrition (in that order), make trophies. You really do have to have the first two though. Many bucks in NC, even if they make it to 4+ just don’t have the genetics to produce that type of deer. Some areas do, some don’t.