Scoring Big Bucks: Mystery of the Big 7 Solved
By: Brian Kightlinger
Hunting mature bucks can drive a hunter crazy. Seeing an exceptional buck for the first time can lead to an unhealthy addiction. In 2014 I passed a young seven-point during archery season. I saw him again before rifle season, and he was missing one antler. I figured he would make it through the season unscathed with half of his rack gone.
Early in the spring of 2015, I was fortunate enough to find the shed from the seven-point. Excited the buck made it through the season and looked forward to watching him grow through the summer. Lucky for me, the farmer planted soybeans in the field across from my house. The beans were the perfect food source that brought the deer into view each night.
Every evening I watched as bucks came out to eat the beans. By late August, two large bucks always came into the field together. One buck was a tall eight-point, and the other was a wide seven-point. I knew the wide seven-point was the buck I had passed in 2014. My children and I gave him the name Big 7!
During the 2015 archery season, I passed the Big 7 multiple times. I harvested a beautiful eight-point on the last day of archery season, and I hoped one of my children would get a chance at the Big 7. Neither of my children saw the wide buck during the gun season, so I wasn't sure if he was still alive.
The Big 7 had impressive mass and width.
While eating dinner one evening in February, the Big 7 came into my backyard to eat the clover. Using binoculars, the kids and I took turns watching him eat. My goal was to try and find his sheds after he dropped them. That dream came true, and I was able to find the Big 7's matching set. I now had two years of antlers from the buck, and I knew he would blow up in 2016.
I felt confident that I could set up my trail cameras to capture pictures of the Big 7. Finally, in late August, I got a picture of the Big 7, and he was HUGE! The buck had long brow tines, tall G 2's, and grew many non-typical points. I believed that the Big 7 was 4.5 years old, and I wanted to hunt him exclusively. My tag was reserved for him!
During the first week of November, I took a day off to hunt the Big 7. I had a gut feeling the buck was searching for receptive does on a small property I had permission to hunt. During the morning hunt, I saw three beautiful bucks, and I passed them all up. Maybe I had lost my mind! Two of the bucks were pushing 130 inches. Before leaving for lunch, I relocated my climber to a pinch point for the evening hunt.
The evening hunt didn't go as planned. Instead of hunting out of my climber, I was seated on the ground hunting with my daughter. Dad has a hard time telling his daughter “no”! As fate would have it, the Big 7 walked through the pinch point and stopped twenty yards from my stand. My daughter and I watched as he fed forty yards away from where we were sitting. Had I been in my climber, I would have had an easy shot at the Big 7.
My daughter and I were thrilled that we saw the enormous buck. That would be the last time anyone in my family would see him. As the gun season ended, I didn't hear any news about anyone harvesting the buck. I was hoping the Big 7 would show himself in 2017.
I was anxious to set cameras in 2017. No matter where I placed my cameras, I couldn't locate the Big 7. As the archery season crept closer, I lost hope that the Big 7 was going to show up. At this point, I wanted to rename the buck Keyser Soze. Like Kevin Spacey's character in The Usual Suspects, the Big 7 had vanished.
During the pandemic, many hunters contacted me about having deer scored. One evening I received a phone call from a gentleman named Joseph Podnar Jr. Joseph told me he was from Gibsonia and wanted to have two deer scored. As we talked, Joseph asked where I lived, and I told him that my home was in Venango. Joseph was silent for a few seconds before he told me he killed both of his bucks at his aunt's property in Venango.
Joe Podnar Jr. with his typical 8 point that scored 144 6/8.
Joseph informed me he killed his bucks in 2011 and 2016, and my heart began to race. I asked Joseph if he could text me pictures of both deer, and he agreed. My phone signaled the images had arrived. I put Joseph on speakerphone and opened the first text message. The buck I saw in the picture was an enormous eight-point that had a small growth on the right G2. Immediately, I recognized the deer from trail camera pictures I had from 2011.
When I told Joseph that I had trail camera pictures of that deer, he was excited. We talked about that big eight-point for a few minutes, and Joseph told me he shot it with his crossbow. I promised Joseph I would send him trail camera pictures of his buck, and then I opened the second picture.
I almost fell out of my chair when I saw the picture. There on my screen was a picture of the Big 7! I congratulated Joseph on the tremendous buck and then shared all of my encounters with the deer. Joseph told me the story about the day he harvested the buck. He killed the Big 7 on the first day of the Pennsylvania rifle season in 2016. Joseph and I made plans to score the two bucks when the pandemic slowed down.
Joe with the Big 7 and the sheds from the previous year.
On July 10th, 2021, I would have the chance to see the Big 7. Joseph brought his two bucks to a scoring event. The enormous 8 point that Joseph killed with his crossbow in 2011 had a gross score of 144 6/8 with a net score of 140 3/8. The Big 7 had 12 scorable points and a gross score of 141 2/8 with a net score of 136 4/8, Non-Typical. I knew the Big 7 had grown significantly, but I was shocked that he scored over 140 inches.
Joe Podnar”s 8-point score sheet.
The Big 7’s score sheet.
After scoring the two bucks, I invited Joseph back to my house. I wanted to give Joseph the sheds that I had found from the Big 7. Joseph was the one who harvested the Big 7, so I felt he should have the sheds I found. Speechless, he thanked me profusely for the sheds before he left. I thought it was the right thing to do since the mystery of the Big 7 was finally solved.
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