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Trophy buck shot in Hardin County
  
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By Martha Boothe
On Nov. 4, 2008, around 4:45 p.m., Curtis Bederka was in his deer stand on the West Nona Hunting Club Lease located nine miles west of Kountze, TX.
Bored and playing games on his cell phone, Bederka spotted deer legs in a thicket about 125 yards from where he was. He assumed it was a doe eating some of the corn he’d spread earlier, until that 10-point rack appeared.
Bederka sighted the large buck, and then fired, striking the animal in the neck behind the head – an instant kill shot.
After walking to the kill, Bederka was taken aback by the size of the animal. The buck’s neck measured 28 inches and the body was five feet long from nose to tail.
Charles Gandy, another hunter from the same club, heard Bederka shoot. It turns out Bederka had shot a pig the day before and Gandy had put in his order for another if Bederka again got the chance. Gandy drove over to Bederka’s stand hoping he had.
“Did you shoot me a pig,” quizzed Gandy.
“Yeah, but this one has horns,” replied Bederka who was so excited Gandy had to help tag the animal.
The two men loaded the deer into Gandy’s truck and drove to the Honey Island Store, where the owner is renowned for guessing deer weights and put this one’s at 190 to 200 pounds.
Gandy, who’s been on the lease for some 30 years stated it was the largest buck ever taken and possibly the largest shot in Hardin County.
Bederka, 68, born and raised in the East Gate community of Dayton, is now a Dayton resident. Hunting since the age of 12, this was definitely the largest buck he’d ever killed. Bederka has hunted in West Texas, Colorado, Kansas and other places.
Charles mentioned that some 10 years ago some large whitetails from South Texas had been imported into the lease and that this animal was most likely a product of that experiment. In any event, it will give Bederka stories to tell his grandchildren.
Bored and playing games on his cell phone, Bederka spotted deer legs in a thicket about 125 yards from where he was. He assumed it was a doe eating some of the corn he’d spread earlier, until that 10-point rack appeared.
Bederka sighted the large buck, and then fired, striking the animal in the neck behind the head – an instant kill shot.
After walking to the kill, Bederka was taken aback by the size of the animal. The buck’s neck measured 28 inches and the body was five feet long from nose to tail.
Charles Gandy, another hunter from the same club, heard Bederka shoot. It turns out Bederka had shot a pig the day before and Gandy had put in his order for another if Bederka again got the chance. Gandy drove over to Bederka’s stand hoping he had.
“Did you shoot me a pig,” quizzed Gandy.
“Yeah, but this one has horns,” replied Bederka who was so excited Gandy had to help tag the animal.
The two men loaded the deer into Gandy’s truck and drove to the Honey Island Store, where the owner is renowned for guessing deer weights and put this one’s at 190 to 200 pounds.
Gandy, who’s been on the lease for some 30 years stated it was the largest buck ever taken and possibly the largest shot in Hardin County.
Bederka, 68, born and raised in the East Gate community of Dayton, is now a Dayton resident. Hunting since the age of 12, this was definitely the largest buck he’d ever killed. Bederka has hunted in West Texas, Colorado, Kansas and other places.
Charles mentioned that some 10 years ago some large whitetails from South Texas had been imported into the lease and that this animal was most likely a product of that experiment. In any event, it will give Bederka stories to tell his grandchildren.
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