Scoring Big Bucks: The Traveler
By: Brian Kightlinger
Whitetail deer have been known to travel far distances for food or to breed. I have read studies about bucks and how far they roam. Living in Northwest Pennsylvania amongst farmland and large wooded lots, I have seen bucks travel between large parcels. One buck I first saw in the summer of 2018 changed my thoughts about how far deer will roam.
Most hunters run multiple cameras on different properties throughout the year to inventory the deer. I am no different and run cameras on two properties. After pulling the camera card from my Spypoint camera, I was surprised to see a beautiful 3.5-year-old eight-point buck on camera. This buck had the potential to make Pope and Young if he could make it to 4.5 years old. I had dozens of pictures of this buck on the 100-acre farm that I hunt, and I was hoping to see him during the season.
During the 2018 season, I continued getting pictures of this buck. My neighbors also had many sightings and trail camera pictures. This young eight-point seemed to be traveling through three different properties and covering some ground. I started to refer to the buck as “Traveler”!
After the 2018 gun season was over, I saw Traveler on multiple occasions. I saw him on the 100-acres two times, and the third time I saw him about 2 miles away from my house. Stopping my truck and looking through my binoculars, I knew right away that the buck was Traveler. Seeing him that far away from the 100 acres made me question how far he was traveling.
As spring turned into summer, I was hoping to get more pictures of Traveler to see how much bone he added to his rack. I checked my cameras, but I did not have any images of the buck. One of my neighbors was lucky enough to get pictures of Traveler during the first week of August. He sent me the photos, and my jaw hit the floor.
Still in full velvet, Traveler had put on quite a bit of mass, and his tine length was incredible. Each of his G2’s and G3’s had to be at least ten inches long. With that kind of height on his tines and his long main beams, I estimated him to be 130 to 140 inches. He would be a fantastic trophy, and I was hoping I could put my tag on his ear.
One evening during the last week of October, Abby and I were perched in a treestand overlooking a soybean field. We watched as does began coming into the beans. Smaller bucks followed the does and chased them around. I caught movement in the far corner of the field, picked up my binoculars, and knew right away that it was Traveler. Abby could not see the big eight until he crested the hill. She began to shake and hoped that Traveler would walk close enough for a shot. Majestically Traveler slowly walked through the bean field, checking each doe. The smaller bucks watched as the tall tined eight took ownership of the area.
As the sun sank lower in the western sky Abby stopped shaking and was still hoping Traveler would come closer. I watched Traveler push a doe towards the corner he first appeared. He disappeared with his doe into the thicket. Abby and I watched as the sun dropped behind the horizon, and darkness slowly covered the field.
The first week of November arrived, and buck movement was spectacular. A friend of mine, Nathan Walczyk, sent me pictures of Traveler on his property, almost three miles away. Nathan already filled his tag but was excited to see this magnum eight on his property. He was hoping the buck would stay on his property and take up residence. I knew that was not going to happen!
During the second week of November a fresh coating of snow covered the ground and bucks were still chasing after hot does. On the morning of November 8th Nathan sent me two pictures of Traveler. The deer was leaving his property and heading for the woods across the road. Traveler was on the move again and I hoped he would come looking for does near me.
On Saturday, November 9th I was excited to spend time in one of my favorite stands. I ate a small breakfast, dressed for the day, and headed out the door. The weather was perfect, with temps in the low 30s and little to no wind. I was looking forward to an exciting morning archery hunting.
Later that morning, my phone vibrated, and the text was from Nathan. There were no words in the text, just a few pictures of Traveler, and he was dead. I texted him back to see who had killed him, and he said it was a hunter named Josh Furry. I asked if he had a number for the hunter, and he said, No! Nathan then proceeded to tell me how Josh had hit the buck on the evening of the 8th, and Traveler ended up coming back to his property.
Josh tracked the wounded buck to Nathan’s property then called him to get permission to keep looking for the monster eight. Nathan permitted him, and Josh was able to finish the hunt. I was sad that the buck I called Traveler was dead, but I was hoping to get in contact with the hunter so I could score the buck.
Leaving the stand, I went home to take Abby’s buck to the processor. When I arrived at Martin’s Smokehouse, I pulled up to the back door to drop off the buck before heading inside. As I pulled Abby’s deer out of my truck and dragged him into the cooler, I saw Traveler out of the corner of my eye.
Going around to the front door, I met one of the owners. I talked with the owner about my daughter’s buck and then asked if she had any information on the big eight in the cooler. She had the name and number of the hunter, but said it was in her best interest not to share that information with me. I asked if she would give my name and phone number to the hunter when he came to pick up his cape, and she agreed to pass along the information.
During Christmas break, I received a phone call. A gentleman introduced himself as Josh Furry and said that he had killed a big eight-point. He informed me that he had picked up the mount, and wanted the buck scored. We chatted for a while, and I told him that I had trail camera pictures of his buck from 2018 and 2019. Josh was excited about having Traveler scored, but he still had to wait until the 60 day drying period expired. The drying period would be over on January 10th, so we planned to meet that day.
Friday, January 10th, arrived, and I was excited to get home from work to meet Josh and see Traveler. Josh came with a gorgeous mount, and we went into my basement to score the trophy. Josh filled out paperwork as I scored the buck. He told me about the evening he shot Traveler and all the people who helped him. Josh’s father, Dave Furry, his eight-year-old son Mason and a good buddy Josh Delp helped track the buck that evening. With snow on the ground and the cold temperatures, they felt it best to let the deer go for the night and pick up the trail in the morning.
The next morning, Josh and a good friend, Trevor Jimerson, continued to track the giant buck. The blood trail took Josh through many properties that he had permission to cross. As Josh and Trevor got to an open pasture, they saw the blood trail go across the large field, and the buck had crossed a major road. With doubt starting to creep in, the two of them crossed the pasture and picked up the trail on the other side of the road. This property belonged to my friend Nathan. Josh found Nathan’s number and called to ask permission to go after his buck. Nathan agreed as long as he could be there to help.
After waiting for Nathan to arrive, the three of them set out to find the buck. It didn’t take long for them to sneak up on the bedded buck. Josh was able to find an opening and slip another arrow into Traveler. The search was over, and Josh was finally able to put his tag on the massive eight-point.
Josh waited patiently for me to finish adding up all the numbers. The deer was his biggest archery buck, and the suspense was killing him. I went over the score with Josh, and he was impressed that Traveler scored 136 ⅞ inches. Not only would Traveler make the NBBC record book, but he was also big enough to make the Pennsylvania Big Game Records as well.
Traveler was the first buck I had ever seen travel so far through two seasons. I am not quite sure exactly where his home range was. A few other people I talked with said they had pictures of the stud eight, and those people live over 5 miles away from me. He indeed was a traveler and went anywhere he wanted to look for love.
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