Some hunts can be completed in an afternoon and some take years to finish. A West Virginia hunter began an odyssey to hunt down and kill the School House Buck that lasted three years.
No, that’s not the name of some superhero or ’80s villain. It’s an almost flawless 14-point deer traversing the schoolyards of Road Branch Elementary and Middle School. The School House Buck became a sort of local legend in the Cyclone, West Virginia community.
Many hunters have tried to get the School House Buck. The animal wasn’t exactly hiding, given it didn’t seem afraid of people. But local hunter Doug Harvey ultimately took home the prize.
“Guys around here know this deer. He’s the School House Buck because this is the area he came from,” Harvey told West Virginia Outdoors. “Back in 2018, I got a bunch of trail cam pictures of him. And there’s been a few others after him too who had pictures.”
The Hunter Became Obsessed With the Buck
Harvey began a three-year obsession to find the animal. The School House Buck became his white whale in many cases. Harvey hunts on his father’s property, a strip of land where he’s set up several deer stands. He admits he doesn’t get to hunt that often due to responsibilities of taking care of his dad.
But over the past three hunting seasons, Harvey passed on killing 15 to 20 bucks because he wanted the School House Buck. He was also afraid some other hunter might beat him to it. But luck ultimately prevailed in Harvey’s favor.
“The night before I killed him a guy came down the road and actually saw the deer in my yard! I’ve got several stands up on the hill here. And I figured I might have a chance,” Harvey said.
“I was actually on my way to the stand when I spotted him,” he continued. “I heard a twig break behind me and I turned around and there he was about 15 or 20 yards away with his nose to the ground coming toward me. I took the shot and he ran about 25 yards and fell over. It happened so fast I didn’t have time to get nervous.”
The hunter couldn’t have been more excited for his kill. After all these years, he had finally caught the School House Buck.
