VA Swamp Buck Recovered Via Drone
By Patrick Dunning
Micky Bracey’s Virginia swamp buck from December 2023 is the state’s fourth largest typical in BTR’s shotgun category. With a two-inch irregular point coming directly off its base, the 10-pointer from Southampton County measured 171 7/8 inches for Buckmasters Trophy Records.
“This year I bow hunted him all season but never could get in front of him. On the first day of shotgun he was in the swamp with a doe,” Micky told Buckmasters. “I waded out into the swamp in my waders and missed him clean at 70 yards; knew I didn’t touch him.”
On December the 12th, Micky’s boss, who is also an avid outdoorsman, called and said he observed the mainframe 9-pointer in a cut peanut field with a doe on the backside of the pond. Like any good employer, he let Micky take off work early at 2 p.m. for an afternoon sit on his target buck.
“By the time I got to the house, my boss called me back and said, ‘he’s in the field again, you got no chance of killing him now,’” Micky recalled. “I drove my truck to the next field, walked across that entire field as easy as I could, and got in that draw of timber next to the field my boss had seen him that morning.”
Laying flat on his stomach, Micky watched as the buck picked up and dropped this doe by its rear several times.
“He was trying to get on her but she wouldn’t let him,” he said. “I shot at him laying on my belly at 150 yards and he picked his head up then followed that doe into the woods, unbothered. I’ve made that shot a million times so I was basically cussing myself.”
Fifteen minutes later that doe wandered back into the field and not far behind was the friend-zoned 10-pointer, refusing to take no for an answer.
“I was on my knees and shot him at 50 yards but didn’t know where I hit him. All I could see was horns and hide through the scope. I was shaking so bad,” the 47-year-old said.
Micky tracked consistent blood for 100 yards when he came to a spot where the deer had bedded down momentarily. He didn’t want to risk pushing the deer into the swamp, so he called a couple of his buddies for advice.
His taxidermist recommended contacting a drone recovery guy he’d heard about through word of mouth. Skeptical at first, Micky is now a firm believer.
“I marked the last spot of blood I found on my phone, he met me in the morning and 40 yards past the last piece of blood he found him on the edge of the swamp,” Micky said. “It took him 4 minutes and 29 seconds, I was counting. I wasn’t a believer at first. I was against it, either, but didn’t know what these drones are capable of. It’s effective.”
Buckmasters scorer Anders Blixt measured 153 5/8 total inches of antler and an 18 2/8 inch inside spread on this tall-tined wall ornament.
The rack has matching 15-inch P2s and 10-inch P3s and sweeping 26- and 27-inch main beams.