CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Archery hunting season runs until the end of the year, but hunter Allan McCormick of Boone County, for all intents and purposes, finished his season in eight days.
McCormick managed to take the West Virginia grand slam with his bow. He killed a wild boar, a nice whitetail buck, and black bear in an eight day stretch. He killed the boar and the buck on the same day.
“It’s unbelievable. You couldn’t fathom it happening that quick. You’ve got three months to do it, and to do it in eight days is a lot,” he laughed in an interview for West Virginia Outdoors.
He picked his spot after pre-season scouting. The Boone County oak flat had everything he was looking for and he felt like it was a promising place.
“We got a heavy mast of acorns this year. I got down there I found a pocket in a creek bed full of white oaks and black oaks. I said, man this is going to be a killer stand for something. You could see sign everywhere. I threw a camera up and started looking and I saw there were several big bucks in here and a bunch of hogs. I said, this is where I want to be,” he explained.
He got to his stand in the oak flat well ahead of shooting light on the opening day of archery season.
“I wanted to get in early because of the early season jitters. I heard something come in there 6:20 that morning almost an hour before shooting light and it scared the daylights out of me. He came in huffin’ and puffin’ and I thought there’s something down here in this acorn flat and I think I want whatever it is,” said McCormick.
He was right, he wanted it, but calming himself down took some time.
“The sun came up and I saw it was a pig and son buck fever hit. I had to wait about 15 minutes until I could get calmed down and put a good shot on him,” he explained.
The big boar dropped and the work began hauling him out. It wasn’t the only task of the day, his uncle killed a giant buck so he helped him on the drag. During the afternoon, McCormick headed to Kanawha County to the spot he had been spying a big buck. He hunted in the evening hours and had forgotten his light. He wanted to get out of the stand early without spooking any deer and knew they would roll in as soon as the darkness set in. He was just about to pack things up when he caught a glimpse of something.
“I started to zip my backpack up and turned and he was standing at 40 yards. I melted,” he said.
In a matter of 10-seconds McCormick managed to get an arrow knocked, drew back, and put a deadly shot on the massive buck. The buck didn’t make it easy and ran all the way to very bottom of the hollow where he died. Allan had killed two big game species in a single day.
“I got the boar at 7:25 in the morning and at 7:15 in the afternoon I got the buck,” he explained.
Not to be outdone, Allan hunted all week and tried to spend a lot of time with his dad. The following weekend the two were hunting together back in Boone County and a bear strolled in to within 15 yards, but never did present McCormick with a shot. So the next day, Sunday, he returned to the same spot which incidentally was the same stand where he killed the boar on opening day.
“Sure enough about the same time, he came in again and gave me an 11 yard shot and I was able to get him,” said McCormick.
The only thing left to do now is kill a turkey, but it won’t happen since McCormick tagged out on turkeys during the spring gobbler season. It’s already been a banner season and his mission now is to spend time with his dad and help get him onto a nice buck for the rest of his hunting season. But it’s already been a season for the record books.
“I’ve tried to do it for a few years, and I’d either bet a bear and not a boar or vice-versa, I could never get them together,” he laughed.