This is a recent, (yesterday afternoon), SS success story.
About 6 years ago, a good friend of my boys moved in with us while his parents worked their way through a very nasty divorce. Since then, he has become "one of the family." Like my sons, Jon is "eat up" with hunting. To date, he has killed several nice bucks, a few of which would qualify for P&Y, but until yesterday, no BBBC's. Jon set a goal this season of BBBC or nothing and it has been one roller coaster of a season.
In early November, Jon made a poor, (but deadly), hit on a 150" eight that we never recovered. We immediately hired the services of a gentleman and his tracking dog from Wilmington. The dog was able to stay on the track for almost 1/2 a mile 3 separate times but the scent eventually petered out. We continued to walk grids to no avail every day for the next 2 weeks as I am certain the buck is laying dead somewhere, but we just can't find him. The week before gun season, Jon got on a 150" ten point...that was killed Wednesday of gun week. Knowing how disappointed Jon was, a good friend of mine, who owns ground on the opposite end of our county, invited Jon out to hunt a "really" good buck he had seen on his place. With school and a part time job, Jon's time was limited. After 6 weeks of hunting every spare second, he finally encountered the deer.
This buck will net among the highest of any typicals in Athens Co history...5 tines over a foot with great mass.
Before yesterdays hunt, Jon commented that he was going to have to pick us up another mapp gas torch bottle as he had burnt through "another one" firing up that damn smoker. The big buck approached his stand from a drainage below and dead down wind. He said the buck paused once at 60 yards, looked around and continued on a path that took him 20 yards from the base of his tree!
My boys and I will not hunt without "smoking up." The SS is the single most important discovery that I have made in 34 years of hunting.