WESTON, W.Va. — It didn’t take young Gavin James long to tag his 2026 archery buck, but the monster which hit the ground on the opening day of the season was actually a buck the 11-year old had been hunting for the past three years.
Gavin and his dad Todd James of Buckhannon had spotted the big buck three years ago while hunting their property in Lewis County.
“Three years ago my brother passed him up,” Gavin explained in a conversation on West Virginia Outdoors.
His dad added the buck at that time was a ten-point when the older brother decided to let him walk. A year later, during the 2025 season, Gavin was fixed on killing the massive buck.
“Gavin never got the opportunity to shoot the buck last year, the kid passed over 30 bucks waiting on that deer,” explained Todd.
The youngster finally killed a 10 pointer during the muzzleloader season. The big brute lived another season.
As the 2026 season approached Gavin and his dad were watching the same deer again with a larger body and more massive rack. It looked like the evening of opening day might be the time.
“We had pictures of him and on Friday he came in at 6:27 and we killed him Saturday at 6:30,” said Gavin.
“Prior to Friday he didn’t daylight for six days. Then when he came out in the daylight on Friday, I just had a feeling he would be there on Saturday,” explained Todd.
The two were in their blind by 3 p.m. on opening day. As the sun started to set, the deer started moving into the field, including the big bruiser they were after.
“I was down on one knee in the blind trying to calm him down because that buck was dwarfing everything in the field,” Todd laughed.
Gavin calmed himself, adjusted his shooting point, and waited for the monster buck to slowly make his way into range. Finally at 24 yards, Gavin let it fly and put a perfect double-lung shot on the big buck which dashed off into the woods.
“It was the hardest 30 minutes of my life sitting there with an 11-year old kid just wondering if that deer is down,” dad laughed.
Finally after the half hour, they left the blind and began to track blood. Todd held back and let Gavin handle all of the work. It didn’t take long before Gavin spotted the tell tale white belly and his massive buck was on the ground. Gavin’s fingers wouldn’t reach all the way around the massive base of the antlers.
“It wasn’t hard to find him,” Gavin explained, oblivious to the possibility the deer might still be alive and could jump up and take off. “I knew he was dead.”
The deer wound up running about 100 yards before dropping over.
“It was one of the most rewarding things as a father that you could get. Watching your son with three years of history on a deer at his age, then walking up on this deer with your son is a moment I’ll never forget,” Todd said.