On Sept. 14, Robbie Status tried to get his wife, Susie Status, to go with him for a workday at their deer camp near Utica, Mississippi. But Susie had other plans.
“I told him no, I was gonna hunt for ‘Big Boy,’ the buck I’d been watching since early July,” Susie tells Outdoor Life.
The Statuses live in the small community of Bovia in Warren County. They have a home on two acres in the country, and Susie says there’s plenty of undeveloped land around the property.
“There’s a lowland area behind our house and for 20 years I’ve seen deer regularly back there near oaks and brush,” she explains. “But last July I spotted a really large buck that was far bigger than the other 8-pointers he was hanging around.”
Photo courtesy Susie Status
Susie watched the buck often as it passed through their property and decided to buy an early-season velvet deer tag. The special three-day season began in 2022 and ran from Sept. 13 to Sept. 15 this year.
“I waited for ‘Big Boy’ all afternoon on opening day,” Susie says. “But he never showed. I was determined to hunt again the next day, but Robbie wanted me to go with him to our Utica hunt camp. I said, ‘Nope, you go right ahead, I’m hunting right here at home.’”
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Susie waited for the big velvet buck for most of the day.
“I just knew he was gonna show, and sure enough, at 6:20 p.m. he appeared,” Susie says. By that time, Robbie had returned from deer camp. He was asleep on a recliner nearby. “I told Robbie he better wake up and watch this.”
Her plan was to lean against the door frame to steady her crossbow. But when she took aim, a rocking chair on the porch was blocking her shot.
“I had to step off the porch and onto a sidewalk and make a freehand shot,” she explains. “The buck was eating some grass. He stopped, raised his head and looked at me. That’s when I took the shot. He was standing just 25 yards away, and the arrow when right through him.”
Robbie was looking out the window when she shot. They both knew the buck was hit well but decided to wait overnight.
Photo courtesy Susie Status
“Right after daylight we went after him and found him piled up behind our shed,” Susie said.
Susie says the buck weighed just over 300 pounds. It has 15 points, with four drop tines, including one that’s 5 inches long. The buck was rough scored at 213 inches, and Susie thinks the non-typical rack may score even higher. She says a state biologist and official scorer will come check out the rack after the 60-day drying period is up.
“Our taxidermist says the velvet is fully intact, no shredding off. So it’ll look great as a mount,” Susie says. “I want my Big Boy mount looking out to where he was shot. That way he can see his offspring walking around in the coming years.”