Photo Submitted: Rick Friend of St. Albans with a 10 point and 12 point buck he killed in Clay County in two days.
By: Chris Lawrence | Posted: Jan. 12, 2018 at 3:04 p.m. | Source: WV MetroNews
CLAY, W.Va. — When Rick Friend of St. Albans headed to his hunting camp in Clay County for the 2017 buck season, he was optimistic and yet also realistic.
“I had seen a few bucks on trail cams, but the chances of seeing them was slim to none,” he explained. “They were very evasive and mostly moved after dark. Clay County bucks are usually pretty average in size.”
Rick Friend with his opening day 10 pint buck killed with his late father’s .35 Remington GameMaster Rifle
But Rick had already killed a small buck and a doe during archery season and wanted to just enjoy the opportunity to be in the woods. He was hunting with his late father’s rifle, a .35 Remington Gamemaster, which added to the intrigue of his story, but we’ll come back to that in a little while.
Opening day, Rick sat on his stand and spied two bucks chasing a doe. They were too far away and moving to quickly for a shot. But the encounter proved the rut was still on, so he moved down the hill a little to be closer to the point they crossed. Sure enough, his adjustment was rewarded a few hours later.
“About 1:00 one of the bucks, a ten point, came in and he offered me a 40 yard broadside shot,” Rick explained. “I shot the deer and knew I had gotten a good hit on it I was going for a heart shot.” (more…)
