Five Seasons Later, A 191-Inch Buck Walked In At 25 Yards
The buck, the why, and the gear
Five Seasons Later, A 191-Inch Buck Walked In At 25 Yards.
Graham Smith had been crossing paths with the same North Carolina buck for five seasons. A shed, a few distant sightings, and years of trail-camera history kept confirming the same thing: the deer he called King Kong was still there, still old, and still hard to kill.
By late summer 2026, the buck was using a regular food source consistently and carrying more antler than Graham expected from such an old deer. Then the velvet came off, the camera pattern got erratic, and opening weekend turned into a test of whether Graham would trust the history or chase the latest picture. Let’s dive in.
The Buck
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North Carolina whitetail · Bowhunting · Five-season target buck · September 27, 2026
5
SEASONS
25
YARD SHOT
191 5/8
ROUGH
Graham’s first encounter with the buck came years earlier on Halloween, when a good deer cruised past out of range. In 2024 he found the right-side shed, and the rack would have pushed the 150-inch mark with a matching side. The buck’s odd beams and extra character made him easy to identify. Graham named him King Kong and kept following the story.
In 2025, Graham saw Kong twice but never inside bow range. One encounter came after legal shooting light and another at roughly 100 yards. Over the summer of 2026, the deer was showing consistently again and had put on an unexpected amount of antler. When the buck shed velvet in late August, the clean summer pattern disappeared and his camera appearances became unpredictable.
Opening morning, Kong appeared at the food source just after daylight while Graham was hunting a friend’s property. Graham came back that afternoon and saw plenty of deer, but not the one he wanted. The next afternoon, two does fed until about 7:30 p.m. As the light slipped away, Graham picked up his bow and spotted two big-bodied deer approaching. Kong came to 25 yards, Graham sent a broadhead through his chest, and the old buck fell within sight. The initial rough score was 191 5/8 inches.
𐂂 Field Fact
The 191 5/8-inch number is an initial rough score, not an official record-book measurement. The article also notes that very old bucks do not automatically keep adding antler, which is part of what made Kong’s 2026 growth so surprising.
The Woodsman’s Edge
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When an old buck changes after velvet, do not assume he left.
King Kong stopped acting like a summer buck as soon as the velvet came off. What kept Graham in the game was years of history showing where the deer liked to feed and when he was willing to use that area.
𐂂 Use long-term history to steady short-term doubt. One quiet camera day does not erase five seasons of sheds, sightings, and repeat use. Mature bucks change timing and routes, especially around the velvet-to-hard-antler shift.
𐂂 Separate presence from pattern. A photo tells you the buck was there. Repeated use of the same food or travel zone tells you where an actual opportunity may develop. Hunt the repeatable part, not the most recent timestamp.
𐂂 Keep pressure low around the place he still trusts. If a regular food source is legal where you hunt, use it as information rather than an excuse to walk in constantly. Cameras and careful observation should reduce intrusion, not create more of it.
Stay Comfortable Long Enough To See Him
Old bucks have a way of making a short sit turn into a long one. I like hunting clothes that stay comfortable as the temperature and activity level change, and Kings Camo is the kind of practical layering lineup I’d look at when I want to stay put through the last useful minutes.
The Field Call
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Would You Stay On The Pattern?
Opening weekend. Your target buck used the food source at daylight yesterday, then disappeared from cameras.
Tonight, does are already feeding there and legal light is slipping away. You have years of history showing the buck uses this same zone, but his post-velvet movement has become erratic.
What’s your move?
Tap your call to see why Dale trusts the history before chasing the latest camera gap.
Gear Bench
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Browning Defender Pro Scout Max HD Solar
$179.99
Dale’s note: If I’m trying to follow a mature buck without walking in more than I need to, I like a camera that can stay out a long time and keep sending clean updates. This Browning unit gives you dual-carrier cellular service, a built-in solar panel, 1080p HD images and video, a 0.2-second trigger speed, and a 100-foot detection range. The appeal is simple: leave it alone, keep tabs on the pattern, and save your boots for when it matters.
The Last Word
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Five seasons of history did not make King Kong predictable every day. It made Graham better at separating a temporary change from a real disappearance.
The buck shifted after shedding velvet, missed one afternoon completely, and still returned to the same general food pattern before dark. Graham did not need the deer to behave exactly like a summer camera sequence. He needed enough history to know where patience still made sense.
That is the advantage of scouting a mature buck for years. You stop treating every quiet camera as an emergency.
The buck shifted after shedding velvet, missed one afternoon completely, and still returned to the same general food pattern before dark. Graham did not need the deer to behave exactly like a summer camera sequence. He needed enough history to know where patience still made sense.
That is the advantage of scouting a mature buck for years. You stop treating every quiet camera as an emergency.
When a target buck suddenly goes quiet after shedding velvet, do you stay with the known pattern or start moving immediately? Reply and tell me.
History beats panic.
Dale Richey
Big Buck Journal
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