The Huff Buck: The Inside Story of the Second Biggest Typical Whitetail

The Huff Buck: The Inside Story of the Second Biggest Typical Whitetail

Author: Boone and Crockett Club
Published: October 14, 2022

While Dustin Huff sat in his treestand last November, all he was hoping to do was kill a deer big enough to beat his personal record of 134 inches. He’s been hunting the same 185-acre hog farm since he killed his first squirrel there when he was 10. He’s 27 now and grew up just about a mile down the road. While hunting the farm with his 7-year-old nephew earlier in the 2021 season, Huff killed a doe and his nephew got a five-pointer.

As a kid, Huff helped vaccinate hogs on the farm and baled hay. When he was 15, he started writing country songs. Three months after graduating high school, he moved to Nashville where he still wrote songs on the side while working for UPS. After three years, he said goodbye to the big brown delivery truck and started touring full-time, playing in a different state every weekend. Today, Huff is a bonafide singer/songwriter, and he travels back to Nashville from his Indiana home at least once a month for work.

When the last week of October and first week of November roll around, he takes some time off for hunting. On November 4, 2021, the Indiana woods on the farm had been very quiet. As evening settled in, Huff was about to call it a day when he saw movement down in the creek bottom about 70 yards away. A big buck had his nose to the forest floor, and for a second, Huff honestly thought it was a moose. Gaining his senses, he watched as the buck started to come his way.

It stopped at 40 yards. Huff reached for his crossbow, which three years ago he bought used for $300. He made a perfect shot, and the mechanical broadhead did its job. Huff watched the deer stumble and go down. A few months later, in an interview with Michael Waddell, Huff was asked what “history” he had with the buck. Had Huff been watching it grow over the years on his trail cam? Huff replied his history with the buck was all of about two minutes.

In his mind, Huff thought he’d killed a solid 170-inch deer. Once the landowner saw it, he disagreed and said it might score a high 160—maybe. It took six guys to drag the buck out of the woods to the truck, and Huff snapped a couple of photos. Rightfully proud of the deer, Huff sent those photos to some friends. Around 2 a.m., things started to blow up.”

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Photo Credit: Original Author


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