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Peter Sutphin of Halifax County, Virginia and a Virginia Tech graduate considers himself blessed to have been the hunter to harvest the biggest whitetail buck in the county's history.
The buck earned the name "Willie Chappell" from having shed his antlers in two areas on a 2,400 acre property owned by Peter's cousin, these areas are known as "Willie's Woods" and "Chappell Strip". Sheds from this great Virginia buck were found by Peter and his cousins over the past 3 seasons and all were within a 800 yard radius.
The bucks existence became known in the summer of 2014 by way of trail camera pictures on the 2,400 acre property. At that point Willie was sporting a 10 point rack with several kickers and looked to be about 150" and they guessed him to be 4.5 years old. Excitement began to grow quickly and more than a few folks had their eye on Willie hoping to get a crack at him in the upcoming season.
Although Willie's home range was primarily on his cousin's 2,400 acre farm, the only live sightings were by Peter on his 60 acre plot on the edge of town 2.5 miles away. Peter calls his 60 acre property a "Sanctuary" because it has the key elements that deer love, quality cover, water, a food plot and the hunting pressure is very low.
Willie's only true fault was his love for the ladies. Each year as the rut began he would travel to town so to speak, crossing over 5 farms to Peter's sanctuary for a rut revival. Peter is primarily a bow hunter and had two live sightings of Willie during the 2014 hunting season, but on both occasions Willie was out of bow range.
Over 2015 Willie was only seen on trail camera and no live sightings, and in 2016 there were no sightings or pictures, but fortunately his sheds were found each year which kept the legend alive and growing literally to an estimated 165".
The summer of 2017 was ending and again they had no pictures of Willie. Then as fall crept into play a magnificent trail cam picture revealed that now at an estimated age of 7.5 years old Willie's rack had really put on mass and added additional kickers to make him a true Va giant!
Between Peter and his cousins all hunters were on high alert for this buck just hoping to have an encounter with the legend.
Peter is an avid videographer and on the evening of Halloween 2017 he took a bow hunting friend on a hunt at the sanctuary and was hoping to capture some harvest footage of his buddy. Not long into the hunt guess who showed up, yep it was Willie. Both hunters were amazed at just how big and beautiful he was. As fate would have it the big buck stayed out of bow range again, but Peter was able to gather the first live footage of Willie. The big buck was at the sanctuary for a reason and it was the ladies, Willie was corralling 4 different does and continuously had his eye on all of them.
Over the next few weeks Peter had one mission and that was putting an arrow in Willie Chappell. He knew he was on a time clock with this giant, because Willie only visited the sanctuary for a short period of time before heading back to his home range. Over the two weeks he hunted only when the wind was right, never back to back and never from the same stand. After exhausting much effort over two weeks of hunting without any sign of Willie he thought his window had closed and he decided to sleep in and give it a break.
After getting up and having coffee he let his dogs out for a bit and when he went to let the dogs back in like out of a picture auctioned off at an outdoor show there stood Willie Chappell some 85 yards away with the sun glistening off his majestic rack. Peter was awestruck for a moment then quickly fetched his dated 50 caliber Knight muzzleloader that he has fortunately sighted in just a week
prior.
When he returned with gun in tow Willie had disappeared and Peter really kicked himself for not hunting that morning. He decided to at least creep out the door and position himself behind the picket fence that surrounded the yard just in case Willie appeared. All kinds of thoughts entered Peter's mind at this point but most were of disappointment thinking Willie had again escaped.
What Peter described felt like and hour before Willie re-emerged again from the woods, were only moments. About 140 yards away this time and moving briskly with his nose tight to the ground was Willie. This distance was a challenge for the dated Knight muzzleloader, but Peter wasted no time in steadying the gun. He yelled "hey" in hopes that Willie would pause for a shot. The big buck froze and as soon as he got the cross hairs focused he gently squeezed the trigger. When the smoke cleared the legendary Halifax buck known as Willie Chappell lay there motionless, and for a moment Peter sat there in amazement of what just happened. Willie's official Boone and Crockett score is 190 3/8.
As in all of the stories that I have been fortunate enough to write about, I enjoy living vicariously through the hunter and really love finding out the intricacies of the hunt...the hunter and the animal. As I spoke to Peter over the phone I asked his age and when he replied "I'm 25" it dawned on me just how lucky we all are to be able to carry on our hunting traditions. Our great sport of hunting has no age limits as many sports do and each time out we have that chance to harvest a deer that changes our life!
In closing I asked Peter what meant the most to him about harvesting this great Virginia whitetail and his reply was...
"The real trophy was seeing this deer mature and evolve into a giant"
Jeff Phillips
3/25/18
Peter Sutphin of Halifax County, Virginia and a Virginia Tech graduate considers himself blessed to have been the hunter to harvest the biggest whitetail buck in the county's history.
The buck earned the name "Willie Chappell" from having shed his antlers in two areas on a 2,400 acre property owned by Peter's cousin, these areas are known as "Willie's Woods" and "Chappell Strip". Sheds from this great Virginia buck were found by Peter and his cousins over the past 3 seasons and all were within a 800 yard radius.
The bucks existence became known in the summer of 2014 by way of trail camera pictures on the 2,400 acre property. At that point Willie was sporting a 10 point rack with several kickers and looked to be about 150" and they guessed him to be 4.5 years old. Excitement began to grow quickly and more than a few folks had their eye on Willie hoping to get a crack at him in the upcoming season.
Although Willie's home range was primarily on his cousin's 2,400 acre farm, the only live sightings were by Peter on his 60 acre plot on the edge of town 2.5 miles away. Peter calls his 60 acre property a "Sanctuary" because it has the key elements that deer love, quality cover, water, a food plot and the hunting pressure is very low.
Willie's only true fault was his love for the ladies. Each year as the rut began he would travel to town so to speak, crossing over 5 farms to Peter's sanctuary for a rut revival. Peter is primarily a bow hunter and had two live sightings of Willie during the 2014 hunting season, but on both occasions Willie was out of bow range.
Over 2015 Willie was only seen on trail camera and no live sightings, and in 2016 there were no sightings or pictures, but fortunately his sheds were found each year which kept the legend alive and growing literally to an estimated 165".
The summer of 2017 was ending and again they had no pictures of Willie. Then as fall crept into play a magnificent trail cam picture revealed that now at an estimated age of 7.5 years old Willie's rack had really put on mass and added additional kickers to make him a true Va giant!
Between Peter and his cousins all hunters were on high alert for this buck just hoping to have an encounter with the legend.
Peter is an avid videographer and on the evening of Halloween 2017 he took a bow hunting friend on a hunt at the sanctuary and was hoping to capture some harvest footage of his buddy. Not long into the hunt guess who showed up, yep it was Willie. Both hunters were amazed at just how big and beautiful he was. As fate would have it the big buck stayed out of bow range again, but Peter was able to gather the first live footage of Willie. The big buck was at the sanctuary for a reason and it was the ladies, Willie was corralling 4 different does and continuously had his eye on all of them.
Over the next few weeks Peter had one mission and that was putting an arrow in Willie Chappell. He knew he was on a time clock with this giant, because Willie only visited the sanctuary for a short period of time before heading back to his home range. Over the two weeks he hunted only when the wind was right, never back to back and never from the same stand. After exhausting much effort over two weeks of hunting without any sign of Willie he thought his window had closed and he decided to sleep in and give it a break.
After getting up and having coffee he let his dogs out for a bit and when he went to let the dogs back in like out of a picture auctioned off at an outdoor show there stood Willie Chappell some 85 yards away with the sun glistening off his majestic rack. Peter was awestruck for a moment then quickly fetched his dated 50 caliber Knight muzzleloader that he has fortunately sighted in just a week
prior.
When he returned with gun in tow Willie had disappeared and Peter really kicked himself for not hunting that morning. He decided to at least creep out the door and position himself behind the picket fence that surrounded the yard just in case Willie appeared. All kinds of thoughts entered Peter's mind at this point but most were of disappointment thinking Willie had again escaped.
What Peter described felt like and hour before Willie re-emerged again from the woods, were only moments. About 140 yards away this time and moving briskly with his nose tight to the ground was Willie. This distance was a challenge for the dated Knight muzzleloader, but Peter wasted no time in steadying the gun. He yelled "hey" in hopes that Willie would pause for a shot. The big buck froze and as soon as he got the cross hairs focused he gently squeezed the trigger. When the smoke cleared the legendary Halifax buck known as Willie Chappell lay there motionless, and for a moment Peter sat there in amazement of what just happened. Willie's official Boone and Crockett score is 190 3/8.
As in all of the stories that I have been fortunate enough to write about, I enjoy living vicariously through the hunter and really love finding out the intricacies of the hunt...the hunter and the animal. As I spoke to Peter over the phone I asked his age and when he replied "I'm 25" it dawned on me just how lucky we all are to be able to carry on our hunting traditions. Our great sport of hunting has no age limits as many sports do and each time out we have that chance to harvest a deer that changes our life!
In closing I asked Peter what meant the most to him about harvesting this great Virginia whitetail and his reply was...
"The real trophy was seeing this deer mature and evolve into a giant"
Jeff Phillips
3/25/18
Peter Sutphin of Halifax County, Virginia and a Virginia Tech graduate considers himself blessed to have been the hunter to harvest the biggest whitetail buck in the county's history.
The buck earned the name "Willie Chappell" from having shed his antlers in two areas on a 2,400 acre property owned by Peter's cousin, these areas are known as "Willie's Woods" and "Chappell Strip". Sheds from this great Virginia buck were found by Peter and his cousins over the past 3 seasons and all were within a 800 yard radius.
The bucks existence became known in the summer of 2014 by way of trail camera pictures on the 2,400 acre property. At that point Willie was sporting a 10 point rack with several kickers and looked to be about 150" and they guessed him to be 4.5 years old. Excitement began to grow quickly and more than a few folks had their eye on Willie hoping to get a crack at him in the upcoming season.
Although Willie's home range was primarily on his cousin's 2,400 acre farm, the only live sightings were by Peter on his 60 acre plot on the edge of town 2.5 miles away. Peter calls his 60 acre property a "Sanctuary" because it has the key elements that deer love, quality cover, water, a food plot and the hunting pressure is very low.
Willie's only true fault was his love for the ladies. Each year as the rut began he would travel to town so to speak, crossing over 5 farms to Peter's sanctuary for a rut revival. Peter is primarily a bow hunter and had two live sightings of Willie during the 2014 hunting season, but on both occasions Willie was out of bow range.
Over 2015 Willie was only seen on trail camera and no live sightings, and in 2016 there were no sightings or pictures, but fortunately his sheds were found each year which kept the legend alive and growing literally to an estimated 165".
The summer of 2017 was ending and again they had no pictures of Willie. Then as fall crept into play a magnificent trail cam picture revealed that now at an estimated age of 7.5 years old Willie's rack had really put on mass and added additional kickers to make him a true Va giant!
Between Peter and his cousins all hunters were on high alert for this buck just hoping to have an encounter with the legend.
Peter is an avid videographer and on the evening of Halloween 2017 he took a bow hunting friend on a hunt at the sanctuary and was hoping to capture some harvest footage of his buddy. Not long into the hunt guess who showed up, yep it was Willie. Both hunters were amazed at just how big and beautiful he was. As fate would have it the big buck stayed out of bow range again, but Peter was able to gather the first live footage of Willie. The big buck was at the sanctuary for a reason and it was the ladies, Willie was corralling 4 different does and continuously had his eye on all of them.
Over the next few weeks Peter had one mission and that was putting an arrow in Willie Chappell. He knew he was on a time clock with this giant, because Willie only visited the sanctuary for a short period of time before heading back to his home range. Over the two weeks he hunted only when the wind was right, never back to back and never from the same stand. After exhausting much effort over two weeks of hunting without any sign of Willie he thought his window had closed and he decided to sleep in and give it a break.
After getting up and having coffee he let his dogs out for a bit and when he went to let the dogs back in like out of a picture auctioned off at an outdoor show there stood Willie Chappell some 85 yards away with the sun glistening off his majestic rack. Peter was awestruck for a moment then quickly fetched his dated 50 caliber Knight muzzleloader that he has fortunately sighted in just a week
prior.
When he returned with gun in tow Willie had disappeared and Peter really kicked himself for not hunting that morning. He decided to at least creep out the door and position himself behind the picket fence that surrounded the yard just in case Willie appeared. All kinds of thoughts entered Peter's mind at this point but most were of disappointment thinking Willie had again escaped.
What Peter described felt like and hour before Willie re-emerged again from the woods, were only moments. About 140 yards away this time and moving briskly with his nose tight to the ground was Willie. This distance was a challenge for the dated Knight muzzleloader, but Peter wasted no time in steadying the gun. He yelled "hey" in hopes that Willie would pause for a shot. The big buck froze and as soon as he got the cross hairs focused he gently squeezed the trigger. When the smoke cleared the legendary Halifax buck known as Willie Chappell lay there motionless, and for a moment Peter sat there in amazement of what just happened. Willie's official Boone and Crockett score is 190 3/8.
As in all of the stories that I have been fortunate enough to write about, I enjoy living vicariously through the hunter and really love finding out the intricacies of the hunt...the hunter and the animal. As I spoke to Peter over the phone I asked his age and when he replied "I'm 25" it dawned on me just how lucky we all are to be able to carry on our hunting traditions. Our great sport of hunting has no age limits as many sports do and each time out we have that chance to harvest a deer that changes our life!
In closing I asked Peter what meant the most to him about harvesting this great Virginia whitetail and his reply was...
"The real trophy was seeing this deer mature and evolve into a giant"
Jeff Phillips
3/25/18
Peter Sutphin of Halifax County, Virginia and a Virginia Tech graduate considers himself blessed to have been the hunter to harvest the biggest whitetail buck in the county's history.
The buck earned the name "Willie Chappell" from having shed his antlers in two areas on a 2,400 acre property owned by Peter's cousin, these areas are known as "Willie's Woods" and "Chappell Strip". Sheds from this great Virginia buck were found by Peter and his cousins over the past 3 seasons and all were within a 800 yard radius.
The bucks existence became known in the summer of 2014 by way of trail camera pictures on the 2,400 acre property. At that point Willie was sporting a 10 point rack with several kickers and looked to be about 150" and they guessed him to be 4.5 years old. Excitement began to grow quickly and more than a few folks had their eye on Willie hoping to get a crack at him in the upcoming season.
Although Willie's home range was primarily on his cousin's 2,400 acre farm, the only live sightings were by Peter on his 60 acre plot on the edge of town 2.5 miles away. Peter calls his 60 acre property a "Sanctuary" because it has the key elements that deer love, quality cover, water, a food plot and the hunting pressure is very low.
Willie's only true fault was his love for the ladies. Each year as the rut began he would travel to town so to speak, crossing over 5 farms to Peter's sanctuary for a rut revival. Peter is primarily a bow hunter and had two live sightings of Willie during the 2014 hunting season, but on both occasions Willie was out of bow range.
Over 2015 Willie was only seen on trail camera and no live sightings, and in 2016 there were no sightings or pictures, but fortunately his sheds were found each year which kept the legend alive and growing literally to an estimated 165".
The summer of 2017 was ending and again they had no pictures of Willie. Then as fall crept into play a magnificent trail cam picture revealed that now at an estimated age of 7.5 years old Willie's rack had really put on mass and added additional kickers to make him a true Va giant!
Between Peter and his cousins all hunters were on high alert for this buck just hoping to have an encounter with the legend.
Peter is an avid videographer and on the evening of Halloween 2017 he took a bow hunting friend on a hunt at the sanctuary and was hoping to capture some harvest footage of his buddy. Not long into the hunt guess who showed up, yep it was Willie. Both hunters were amazed at just how big and beautiful he was. As fate would have it the big buck stayed out of bow range again, but Peter was able to gather the first live footage of Willie. The big buck was at the sanctuary for a reason and it was the ladies, Willie was corralling 4 different does and continuously had his eye on all of them.
Over the next few weeks Peter had one mission and that was putting an arrow in Willie Chappell. He knew he was on a time clock with this giant, because Willie only visited the sanctuary for a short period of time before heading back to his home range. Over the two weeks he hunted only when the wind was right, never back to back and never from the same stand. After exhausting much effort over two weeks of hunting without any sign of Willie he thought his window had closed and he decided to sleep in and give it a break.
After getting up and having coffee he let his dogs out for a bit and when he went to let the dogs back in like out of a picture auctioned off at an outdoor show there stood Willie Chappell some 85 yards away with the sun glistening off his majestic rack. Peter was awestruck for a moment then quickly fetched his dated 50 caliber Knight muzzleloader that he has fortunately sighted in just a week
prior.
When he returned with gun in tow Willie had disappeared and Peter really kicked himself for not hunting that morning. He decided to at least creep out the door and position himself behind the picket fence that surrounded the yard just in case Willie appeared. All kinds of thoughts entered Peter's mind at this point but most were of disappointment thinking Willie had again escaped.
What Peter described felt like and hour before Willie re-emerged again from the woods, were only moments. About 140 yards away this time and moving briskly with his nose tight to the ground was Willie. This distance was a challenge for the dated Knight muzzleloader, but Peter wasted no time in steadying the gun. He yelled "hey" in hopes that Willie would pause for a shot. The big buck froze and as soon as he got the cross hairs focused he gently squeezed the trigger. When the smoke cleared the legendary Halifax buck known as Willie Chappell lay there motionless, and for a moment Peter sat there in amazement of what just happened. Willie's official Boone and Crockett score is 190 3/8.
As in all of the stories that I have been fortunate enough to write about, I enjoy living vicariously through the hunter and really love finding out the intricacies of the hunt...the hunter and the animal. As I spoke to Peter over the phone I asked his age and when he replied "I'm 25" it dawned on me just how lucky we all are to be able to carry on our hunting traditions. Our great sport of hunting has no age limits as many sports do and each time out we have that chance to harvest a deer that changes our life!
In closing I asked Peter what meant the most to him about harvesting this great Virginia whitetail and his reply was...
"The real trophy was seeing this deer mature and evolve into a giant"
Jeff Phillips
3/25/18
Peter Sutphin of Halifax County, Virginia and a Virginia Tech graduate considers himself blessed to have been the hunter to harvest the biggest whitetail buck in the county's history.
The buck earned the name "Willie Chappell" from having shed his antlers in two areas on a 2,400 acre property owned by Peter's cousin, these areas are known as "Willie's Woods" and "Chappell Strip". Sheds from this great Virginia buck were found by Peter and his cousins over the past 3 seasons and all were within a 800 yard radius.
The bucks existence became known in the summer of 2014 by way of trail camera pictures on the 2,400 acre property. At that point Willie was sporting a 10 point rack with several kickers and looked to be about 150" and they guessed him to be 4.5 years old. Excitement began to grow quickly and more than a few folks had their eye on Willie hoping to get a crack at him in the upcoming season.
Although Willie's home range was primarily on his cousin's 2,400 acre farm, the only live sightings were by Peter on his 60 acre plot on the edge of town 2.5 miles away. Peter calls his 60 acre property a "Sanctuary" because it has the key elements that deer love, quality cover, water, a food plot and the hunting pressure is very low.
Willie's only true fault was his love for the ladies. Each year as the rut began he would travel to town so to speak, crossing over 5 farms to Peter's sanctuary for a rut revival. Peter is primarily a bow hunter and had two live sightings of Willie during the 2014 hunting season, but on both occasions Willie was out of bow range.
Over 2015 Willie was only seen on trail camera and no live sightings, and in 2016 there were no sightings or pictures, but fortunately his sheds were found each year which kept the legend alive and growing literally to an estimated 165".
The summer of 2017 was ending and again they had no pictures of Willie. Then as fall crept into play a magnificent trail cam picture revealed that now at an estimated age of 7.5 years old Willie's rack had really put on mass and added additional kickers to make him a true Va giant!
Between Peter and his cousins all hunters were on high alert for this buck just hoping to have an encounter with the legend.
Peter is an avid videographer and on the evening of Halloween 2017 he took a bow hunting friend on a hunt at the sanctuary and was hoping to capture some harvest footage of his buddy. Not long into the hunt guess who showed up, yep it was Willie. Both hunters were amazed at just how big and beautiful he was. As fate would have it the big buck stayed out of bow range again, but Peter was able to gather the first live footage of Willie. The big buck was at the sanctuary for a reason and it was the ladies, Willie was corralling 4 different does and continuously had his eye on all of them.
Over the next few weeks Peter had one mission and that was putting an arrow in Willie Chappell. He knew he was on a time clock with this giant, because Willie only visited the sanctuary for a short period of time before heading back to his home range. Over the two weeks he hunted only when the wind was right, never back to back and never from the same stand. After exhausting much effort over two weeks of hunting without any sign of Willie he thought his window had closed and he decided to sleep in and give it a break.
After getting up and having coffee he let his dogs out for a bit and when he went to let the dogs back in like out of a picture auctioned off at an outdoor show there stood Willie Chappell some 85 yards away with the sun glistening off his majestic rack. Peter was awestruck for a moment then quickly fetched his dated 50 caliber Knight muzzleloader that he has fortunately sighted in just a week
prior.
When he returned with gun in tow Willie had disappeared and Peter really kicked himself for not hunting that morning. He decided to at least creep out the door and position himself behind the picket fence that surrounded the yard just in case Willie appeared. All kinds of thoughts entered Peter's mind at this point but most were of disappointment thinking Willie had again escaped.
What Peter described felt like and hour before Willie re-emerged again from the woods, were only moments. About 140 yards away this time and moving briskly with his nose tight to the ground was Willie. This distance was a challenge for the dated Knight muzzleloader, but Peter wasted no time in steadying the gun. He yelled "hey" in hopes that Willie would pause for a shot. The big buck froze and as soon as he got the cross hairs focused he gently squeezed the trigger. When the smoke cleared the legendary Halifax buck known as Willie Chappell lay there motionless, and for a moment Peter sat there in amazement of what just happened. Willie's official Boone and Crockett score is 190 3/8.
As in all of the stories that I have been fortunate enough to write about, I enjoy living vicariously through the hunter and really love finding out the intricacies of the hunt...the hunter and the animal. As I spoke to Peter over the phone I asked his age and when he replied "I'm 25" it dawned on me just how lucky we all are to be able to carry on our hunting traditions. Our great sport of hunting has no age limits as many sports do and each time out we have that chance to harvest a deer that changes our life!
In closing I asked Peter what meant the most to him about harvesting this great Virginia whitetail and his reply was...
"The real trophy was seeing this deer mature and evolve into a giant"
Jeff Phillips
3/25/18
Peter Sutphin of Halifax County, Virginia and a Virginia Tech graduate considers himself blessed to have been the hunter to harvest the biggest whitetail buck in the county's history.
The buck earned the name "Willie Chappell" from having shed his antlers in two areas on a 2,400 acre property owned by Peter's cousin, these areas are known as "Willie's Woods" and "Chappell Strip". Sheds from this great Virginia buck were found by Peter and his cousins over the past 3 seasons and all were within a 800 yard radius.
The bucks existence became known in the summer of 2014 by way of trail camera pictures on the 2,400 acre property. At that point Willie was sporting a 10 point rack with several kickers and looked to be about 150" and they guessed him to be 4.5 years old. Excitement began to grow quickly and more than a few folks had their eye on Willie hoping to get a crack at him in the upcoming season.
Although Willie's home range was primarily on his cousin's 2,400 acre farm, the only live sightings were by Peter on his 60 acre plot on the edge of town 2.5 miles away. Peter calls his 60 acre property a "Sanctuary" because it has the key elements that deer love, quality cover, water, a food plot and the hunting pressure is very low.
Willie's only true fault was his love for the ladies. Each year as the rut began he would travel to town so to speak, crossing over 5 farms to Peter's sanctuary for a rut revival. Peter is primarily a bow hunter and had two live sightings of Willie during the 2014 hunting season, but on both occasions Willie was out of bow range.
Over 2015 Willie was only seen on trail camera and no live sightings, and in 2016 there were no sightings or pictures, but fortunately his sheds were found each year which kept the legend alive and growing literally to an estimated 165".
The summer of 2017 was ending and again they had no pictures of Willie. Then as fall crept into play a magnificent trail cam picture revealed that now at an estimated age of 7.5 years old Willie's rack had really put on mass and added additional kickers to make him a true Va giant!
Between Peter and his cousins all hunters were on high alert for this buck just hoping to have an encounter with the legend.
Peter is an avid videographer and on the evening of Halloween 2017 he took a bow hunting friend on a hunt at the sanctuary and was hoping to capture some harvest footage of his buddy. Not long into the hunt guess who showed up, yep it was Willie. Both hunters were amazed at just how big and beautiful he was. As fate would have it the big buck stayed out of bow range again, but Peter was able to gather the first live footage of Willie. The big buck was at the sanctuary for a reason and it was the ladies, Willie was corralling 4 different does and continuously had his eye on all of them.
Over the next few weeks Peter had one mission and that was putting an arrow in Willie Chappell. He knew he was on a time clock with this giant, because Willie only visited the sanctuary for a short period of time before heading back to his home range. Over the two weeks he hunted only when the wind was right, never back to back and never from the same stand. After exhausting much effort over two weeks of hunting without any sign of Willie he thought his window had closed and he decided to sleep in and give it a break.
After getting up and having coffee he let his dogs out for a bit and when he went to let the dogs back in like out of a picture auctioned off at an outdoor show there stood Willie Chappell some 85 yards away with the sun glistening off his majestic rack. Peter was awestruck for a moment then quickly fetched his dated 50 caliber Knight muzzleloader that he has fortunately sighted in just a week
prior.
When he returned with gun in tow Willie had disappeared and Peter really kicked himself for not hunting that morning. He decided to at least creep out the door and position himself behind the picket fence that surrounded the yard just in case Willie appeared. All kinds of thoughts entered Peter's mind at this point but most were of disappointment thinking Willie had again escaped.
What Peter described felt like and hour before Willie re-emerged again from the woods, were only moments. About 140 yards away this time and moving briskly with his nose tight to the ground was Willie. This distance was a challenge for the dated Knight muzzleloader, but Peter wasted no time in steadying the gun. He yelled "hey" in hopes that Willie would pause for a shot. The big buck froze and as soon as he got the cross hairs focused he gently squeezed the trigger. When the smoke cleared the legendary Halifax buck known as Willie Chappell lay there motionless, and for a moment Peter sat there in amazement of what just happened. Willie's official Boone and Crockett score is 190 3/8.
As in all of the stories that I have been fortunate enough to write about, I enjoy living vicariously through the hunter and really love finding out the intricacies of the hunt...the hunter and the animal. As I spoke to Peter over the phone I asked his age and when he replied "I'm 25" it dawned on me just how lucky we all are to be able to carry on our hunting traditions. Our great sport of hunting has no age limits as many sports do and each time out we have that chance to harvest a deer that changes our life!
In closing I asked Peter what meant the most to him about harvesting this great Virginia whitetail and his reply was...
"The real trophy was seeing this deer mature and evolve into a giant"
Jeff Phillips
3/25/18
Peter Sutphin of Halifax County, Virginia and a Virginia Tech graduate considers himself blessed to have been the hunter to harvest the biggest whitetail buck in the county's history.
The buck earned the name "Willie Chappell" from having shed his antlers in two areas on a 2,400 acre property owned by Peter's cousin, these areas are known as "Willie's Woods" and "Chappell Strip". Sheds from this great Virginia buck were found by Peter and his cousins over the past 3 seasons and all were within a 800 yard radius.
The bucks existence became known in the summer of 2014 by way of trail camera pictures on the 2,400 acre property. At that point Willie was sporting a 10 point rack with several kickers and looked to be about 150" and they guessed him to be 4.5 years old. Excitement began to grow quickly and more than a few folks had their eye on Willie hoping to get a crack at him in the upcoming season.
Although Willie's home range was primarily on his cousin's 2,400 acre farm, the only live sightings were by Peter on his 60 acre plot on the edge of town 2.5 miles away. Peter calls his 60 acre property a "Sanctuary" because it has the key elements that deer love, quality cover, water, a food plot and the hunting pressure is very low.
Willie's only true fault was his love for the ladies. Each year as the rut began he would travel to town so to speak, crossing over 5 farms to Peter's sanctuary for a rut revival. Peter is primarily a bow hunter and had two live sightings of Willie during the 2014 hunting season, but on both occasions Willie was out of bow range.
Over 2015 Willie was only seen on trail camera and no live sightings, and in 2016 there were no sightings or pictures, but fortunately his sheds were found each year which kept the legend alive and growing literally to an estimated 165".
The summer of 2017 was ending and again they had no pictures of Willie. Then as fall crept into play a magnificent trail cam picture revealed that now at an estimated age of 7.5 years old Willie's rack had really put on mass and added additional kickers to make him a true Va giant!
Between Peter and his cousins all hunters were on high alert for this buck just hoping to have an encounter with the legend.
Peter is an avid videographer and on the evening of Halloween 2017 he took a bow hunting friend on a hunt at the sanctuary and was hoping to capture some harvest footage of his buddy. Not long into the hunt guess who showed up, yep it was Willie. Both hunters were amazed at just how big and beautiful he was. As fate would have it the big buck stayed out of bow range again, but Peter was able to gather the first live footage of Willie. The big buck was at the sanctuary for a reason and it was the ladies, Willie was corralling 4 different does and continuously had his eye on all of them.
Over the next few weeks Peter had one mission and that was putting an arrow in Willie Chappell. He knew he was on a time clock with this giant, because Willie only visited the sanctuary for a short period of time before heading back to his home range. Over the two weeks he hunted only when the wind was right, never back to back and never from the same stand. After exhausting much effort over two weeks of hunting without any sign of Willie he thought his window had closed and he decided to sleep in and give it a break.
After getting up and having coffee he let his dogs out for a bit and when he went to let the dogs back in like out of a picture auctioned off at an outdoor show there stood Willie Chappell some 85 yards away with the sun glistening off his majestic rack. Peter was awestruck for a moment then quickly fetched his dated 50 caliber Knight muzzleloader that he has fortunately sighted in just a week
prior.
When he returned with gun in tow Willie had disappeared and Peter really kicked himself for not hunting that morning. He decided to at least creep out the door and position himself behind the picket fence that surrounded the yard just in case Willie appeared. All kinds of thoughts entered Peter's mind at this point but most were of disappointment thinking Willie had again escaped.
What Peter described felt like and hour before Willie re-emerged again from the woods, were only moments. About 140 yards away this time and moving briskly with his nose tight to the ground was Willie. This distance was a challenge for the dated Knight muzzleloader, but Peter wasted no time in steadying the gun. He yelled "hey" in hopes that Willie would pause for a shot. The big buck froze and as soon as he got the cross hairs focused he gently squeezed the trigger. When the smoke cleared the legendary Halifax buck known as Willie Chappell lay there motionless, and for a moment Peter sat there in amazement of what just happened. Willie's official Boone and Crockett score is 190 3/8.
As in all of the stories that I have been fortunate enough to write about, I enjoy living vicariously through the hunter and really love finding out the intricacies of the hunt...the hunter and the animal. As I spoke to Peter over the phone I asked his age and when he replied "I'm 25" it dawned on me just how lucky we all are to be able to carry on our hunting traditions. Our great sport of hunting has no age limits as many sports do and each time out we have that chance to harvest a deer that changes our life!
In closing I asked Peter what meant the most to him about harvesting this great Virginia whitetail and his reply was...
"The real trophy was seeing this deer mature and evolve into a giant"
Jeff Phillips
3/25/18
Peter Sutphin of Halifax County, Virginia and a Virginia Tech graduate considers himself blessed to have been the hunter to harvest the biggest whitetail buck in the county's history.
The buck earned the name "Willie Chappell" from having shed his antlers in two areas on a 2,400 acre property owned by Peter's cousin, these areas are known as "Willie's Woods" and "Chappell Strip". Sheds from this great Virginia buck were found by Peter and his cousins over the past 3 seasons and all were within a 800 yard radius.
The bucks existence became known in the summer of 2014 by way of trail camera pictures on the 2,400 acre property. At that point Willie was sporting a 10 point rack with several kickers and looked to be about 150" and they guessed him to be 4.5 years old. Excitement began to grow quickly and more than a few folks had their eye on Willie hoping to get a crack at him in the upcoming season.
Although Willie's home range was primarily on his cousin's 2,400 acre farm, the only live sightings were by Peter on his 60 acre plot on the edge of town 2.5 miles away. Peter calls his 60 acre property a "Sanctuary" because it has the key elements that deer love, quality cover, water, a food plot and the hunting pressure is very low.
Willie's only true fault was his love for the ladies. Each year as the rut began he would travel to town so to speak, crossing over 5 farms to Peter's sanctuary for a rut revival. Peter is primarily a bow hunter and had two live sightings of Willie during the 2014 hunting season, but on both occasions Willie was out of bow range.
Over 2015 Willie was only seen on trail camera and no live sightings, and in 2016 there were no sightings or pictures, but fortunately his sheds were found each year which kept the legend alive and growing literally to an estimated 165".
The summer of 2017 was ending and again they had no pictures of Willie. Then as fall crept into play a magnificent trail cam picture revealed that now at an estimated age of 7.5 years old Willie's rack had really put on mass and added additional kickers to make him a true Va giant!
Between Peter and his cousins all hunters were on high alert for this buck just hoping to have an encounter with the legend.
Peter is an avid videographer and on the evening of Halloween 2017 he took a bow hunting friend on a hunt at the sanctuary and was hoping to capture some harvest footage of his buddy. Not long into the hunt guess who showed up, yep it was Willie. Both hunters were amazed at just how big and beautiful he was. As fate would have it the big buck stayed out of bow range again, but Peter was able to gather the first live footage of Willie. The big buck was at the sanctuary for a reason and it was the ladies, Willie was corralling 4 different does and continuously had his eye on all of them.
Over the next few weeks Peter had one mission and that was putting an arrow in Willie Chappell. He knew he was on a time clock with this giant, because Willie only visited the sanctuary for a short period of time before heading back to his home range. Over the two weeks he hunted only when the wind was right, never back to back and never from the same stand. After exhausting much effort over two weeks of hunting without any sign of Willie he thought his window had closed and he decided to sleep in and give it a break.
After getting up and having coffee he let his dogs out for a bit and when he went to let the dogs back in like out of a picture auctioned off at an outdoor show there stood Willie Chappell some 85 yards away with the sun glistening off his majestic rack. Peter was awestruck for a moment then quickly fetched his dated 50 caliber Knight muzzleloader that he has fortunately sighted in just a week
prior.
When he returned with gun in tow Willie had disappeared and Peter really kicked himself for not hunting that morning. He decided to at least creep out the door and position himself behind the picket fence that surrounded the yard just in case Willie appeared. All kinds of thoughts entered Peter's mind at this point but most were of disappointment thinking Willie had again escaped.
What Peter described felt like and hour before Willie re-emerged again from the woods, were only moments. About 140 yards away this time and moving briskly with his nose tight to the ground was Willie. This distance was a challenge for the dated Knight muzzleloader, but Peter wasted no time in steadying the gun. He yelled "hey" in hopes that Willie would pause for a shot. The big buck froze and as soon as he got the cross hairs focused he gently squeezed the trigger. When the smoke cleared the legendary Halifax buck known as Willie Chappell lay there motionless, and for a moment Peter sat there in amazement of what just happened. Willie's official Boone and Crockett score is 190 3/8.
As in all of the stories that I have been fortunate enough to write about, I enjoy living vicariously through the hunter and really love finding out the intricacies of the hunt...the hunter and the animal. As I spoke to Peter over the phone I asked his age and when he replied "I'm 25" it dawned on me just how lucky we all are to be able to carry on our hunting traditions. Our great sport of hunting has no age limits as many sports do and each time out we have that chance to harvest a deer that changes our life!
In closing I asked Peter what meant the most to him about harvesting this great Virginia whitetail and his reply was...
"The real trophy was seeing this deer mature and evolve into a giant"
Jeff Phillips
3/25/18
Peter Sutphin of Halifax County, Virginia and a Virginia Tech graduate considers himself blessed to have been the hunter to harvest the biggest whitetail buck in the county's history.
The buck earned the name "Willie Chappell" from having shed his antlers in two areas on a 2,400 acre property owned by Peter's cousin, these areas are known as "Willie's Woods" and "Chappell Strip". Sheds from this great Virginia buck were found by Peter and his cousins over the past 3 seasons and all were within a 800 yard radius.
The bucks existence became known in the summer of 2014 by way of trail camera pictures on the 2,400 acre property. At that point Willie was sporting a 10 point rack with several kickers and looked to be about 150" and they guessed him to be 4.5 years old. Excitement began to grow quickly and more than a few folks had their eye on Willie hoping to get a crack at him in the upcoming season.
Although Willie's home range was primarily on his cousin's 2,400 acre farm, the only live sightings were by Peter on his 60 acre plot on the edge of town 2.5 miles away. Peter calls his 60 acre property a "Sanctuary" because it has the key elements that deer love, quality cover, water, a food plot and the hunting pressure is very low.
Willie's only true fault was his love for the ladies. Each year as the rut began he would travel to town so to speak, crossing over 5 farms to Peter's sanctuary for a rut revival. Peter is primarily a bow hunter and had two live sightings of Willie during the 2014 hunting season, but on both occasions Willie was out of bow range.
Over 2015 Willie was only seen on trail camera and no live sightings, and in 2016 there were no sightings or pictures, but fortunately his sheds were found each year which kept the legend alive and growing literally to an estimated 165".
The summer of 2017 was ending and again they had no pictures of Willie. Then as fall crept into play a magnificent trail cam picture revealed that now at an estimated age of 7.5 years old Willie's rack had really put on mass and added additional kickers to make him a true Va giant!
Between Peter and his cousins all hunters were on high alert for this buck just hoping to have an encounter with the legend.
Peter is an avid videographer and on the evening of Halloween 2017 he took a bow hunting friend on a hunt at the sanctuary and was hoping to capture some harvest footage of his buddy. Not long into the hunt guess who showed up, yep it was Willie. Both hunters were amazed at just how big and beautiful he was. As fate would have it the big buck stayed out of bow range again, but Peter was able to gather the first live footage of Willie. The big buck was at the sanctuary for a reason and it was the ladies, Willie was corralling 4 different does and continuously had his eye on all of them.
Over the next few weeks Peter had one mission and that was putting an arrow in Willie Chappell. He knew he was on a time clock with this giant, because Willie only visited the sanctuary for a short period of time before heading back to his home range. Over the two weeks he hunted only when the wind was right, never back to back and never from the same stand. After exhausting much effort over two weeks of hunting without any sign of Willie he thought his window had closed and he decided to sleep in and give it a break.
After getting up and having coffee he let his dogs out for a bit and when he went to let the dogs back in like out of a picture auctioned off at an outdoor show there stood Willie Chappell some 85 yards away with the sun glistening off his majestic rack. Peter was awestruck for a moment then quickly fetched his dated 50 caliber Knight muzzleloader that he has fortunately sighted in just a week
prior.
When he returned with gun in tow Willie had disappeared and Peter really kicked himself for not hunting that morning. He decided to at least creep out the door and position himself behind the picket fence that surrounded the yard just in case Willie appeared. All kinds of thoughts entered Peter's mind at this point but most were of disappointment thinking Willie had again escaped.
What Peter described felt like and hour before Willie re-emerged again from the woods, were only moments. About 140 yards away this time and moving briskly with his nose tight to the ground was Willie. This distance was a challenge for the dated Knight muzzleloader, but Peter wasted no time in steadying the gun. He yelled "hey" in hopes that Willie would pause for a shot. The big buck froze and as soon as he got the cross hairs focused he gently squeezed the trigger. When the smoke cleared the legendary Halifax buck known as Willie Chappell lay there motionless, and for a moment Peter sat there in amazement of what just happened. Willie's official Boone and Crockett score is 190 3/8.
As in all of the stories that I have been fortunate enough to write about, I enjoy living vicariously through the hunter and really love finding out the intricacies of the hunt...the hunter and the animal. As I spoke to Peter over the phone I asked his age and when he replied "I'm 25" it dawned on me just how lucky we all are to be able to carry on our hunting traditions. Our great sport of hunting has no age limits as many sports do and each time out we have that chance to harvest a deer that changes our life!
In closing I asked Peter what meant the most to him about harvesting this great Virginia whitetail and his reply was...
"The real trophy was seeing this deer mature and evolve into a giant"
Jeff Phillips
3/25/18
Peter Sutphin of Halifax County, Virginia and a Virginia Tech graduate considers himself blessed to have been the hunter to harvest the biggest whitetail buck in the county's history.
The buck earned the name "Willie Chappell" from having shed his antlers in two areas on a 2,400 acre property owned by Peter's cousin, these areas are known as "Willie's Woods" and "Chappell Strip". Sheds from this great Virginia buck were found by Peter and his cousins over the past 3 seasons and all were within a 800 yard radius.
The bucks existence became known in the summer of 2014 by way of trail camera pictures on the 2,400 acre property. At that point Willie was sporting a 10 point rack with several kickers and looked to be about 150" and they guessed him to be 4.5 years old. Excitement began to grow quickly and more than a few folks had their eye on Willie hoping to get a crack at him in the upcoming season.
Although Willie's home range was primarily on his cousin's 2,400 acre farm, the only live sightings were by Peter on his 60 acre plot on the edge of town 2.5 miles away. Peter calls his 60 acre property a "Sanctuary" because it has the key elements that deer love, quality cover, water, a food plot and the hunting pressure is very low.
Willie's only true fault was his love for the ladies. Each year as the rut began he would travel to town so to speak, crossing over 5 farms to Peter's sanctuary for a rut revival. Peter is primarily a bow hunter and had two live sightings of Willie during the 2014 hunting season, but on both occasions Willie was out of bow range.
Over 2015 Willie was only seen on trail camera and no live sightings, and in 2016 there were no sightings or pictures, but fortunately his sheds were found each year which kept the legend alive and growing literally to an estimated 165".
The summer of 2017 was ending and again they had no pictures of Willie. Then as fall crept into play a magnificent trail cam picture revealed that now at an estimated age of 7.5 years old Willie's rack had really put on mass and added additional kickers to make him a true Va giant!
Between Peter and his cousins all hunters were on high alert for this buck just hoping to have an encounter with the legend.
Peter is an avid videographer and on the evening of Halloween 2017 he took a bow hunting friend on a hunt at the sanctuary and was hoping to capture some harvest footage of his buddy. Not long into the hunt guess who showed up, yep it was Willie. Both hunters were amazed at just how big and beautiful he was. As fate would have it the big buck stayed out of bow range again, but Peter was able to gather the first live footage of Willie. The big buck was at the sanctuary for a reason and it was the ladies, Willie was corralling 4 different does and continuously had his eye on all of them.
Over the next few weeks Peter had one mission and that was putting an arrow in Willie Chappell. He knew he was on a time clock with this giant, because Willie only visited the sanctuary for a short period of time before heading back to his home range. Over the two weeks he hunted only when the wind was right, never back to back and never from the same stand. After exhausting much effort over two weeks of hunting without any sign of Willie he thought his window had closed and he decided to sleep in and give it a break.
After getting up and having coffee he let his dogs out for a bit and when he went to let the dogs back in like out of a picture auctioned off at an outdoor show there stood Willie Chappell some 85 yards away with the sun glistening off his majestic rack. Peter was awestruck for a moment then quickly fetched his dated 50 caliber Knight muzzleloader that he has fortunately sighted in just a week
prior.
When he returned with gun in tow Willie had disappeared and Peter really kicked himself for not hunting that morning. He decided to at least creep out the door and position himself behind the picket fence that surrounded the yard just in case Willie appeared. All kinds of thoughts entered Peter's mind at this point but most were of disappointment thinking Willie had again escaped.
What Peter described felt like and hour before Willie re-emerged again from the woods, were only moments. About 140 yards away this time and moving briskly with his nose tight to the ground was Willie. This distance was a challenge for the dated Knight muzzleloader, but Peter wasted no time in steadying the gun. He yelled "hey" in hopes that Willie would pause for a shot. The big buck froze and as soon as he got the cross hairs focused he gently squeezed the trigger. When the smoke cleared the legendary Halifax buck known as Willie Chappell lay there motionless, and for a moment Peter sat there in amazement of what just happened. Willie's official Boone and Crockett score is 190 3/8.
As in all of the stories that I have been fortunate enough to write about, I enjoy living vicariously through the hunter and really love finding out the intricacies of the hunt...the hunter and the animal. As I spoke to Peter over the phone I asked his age and when he replied "I'm 25" it dawned on me just how lucky we all are to be able to carry on our hunting traditions. Our great sport of hunting has no age limits as many sports do and each time out we have that chance to harvest a deer that changes our life!
In closing I asked Peter what meant the most to him about harvesting this great Virginia whitetail and his reply was...
"The real trophy was seeing this deer mature and evolve into a giant"
Jeff Phillips
3/25/18
