LAST UPDATED: May 1st, 2015
Author: Matt Spencer For: Bowhunting.com The Story of Mr. Famous
The story of Mr. Famous does not originate in the fertile farm country of Iowa, the lush soybean fields of Ohio, or even the dark woods of Canada. The giant non-typical framed 15 point called the mountains of Central West Virginia his home. Harvesting a deer of this caliber in Roane County West Virginia is something local bowhunters dream of but for Katelyn Bennet…..it became a reality. I have hunted with Katelyn and her dad Ritchie for years and we have always harvested beautiful Mountain State bucks but none that can compare to Mr. Famous.
Katelyn Bennet recently set her sights on this exceptionally large buck nicknamed Mr. Famous.
Katelyn’s quest began in the late summer of 2013 when she began to get trail cam pictures of the giant buck. Her dad mentioned to her that she should consider letting him buy her a bow in belief that archery season would be her best chance at seeing Mr. Famous in the daylight hours. Day’s later Katelyn was sending pink fletching wrapped arrows into a target with her Mission Craze bow. The preparation to actually place one of those arrows in Mr. Famous began by narrowing down where he was living. Ritchie selected an area that seemed perfect for catching the big deer on his way to and from his bedding area. Katelyn and Ritchie then brushed in a ground blind and posted another trail camera nearby. The camera showed Mr. Famous was using the area on a regular basis but was nearly nocturnal by the beginning of archery season.
As archery season kicked off the desire to chase Mr. Famous was almost more than Katelyn could control. Knowing there was a trophy buck living near her setup kept her up at night thinking of the possible scenarios that she prayed would come to reality. The month of October slipped by without one encounter with Mr. Famous. Katelyn’s hopes were beginning to diminish as she pondered over the fact that Mr. Famous was only showing up under the cover of darkness.
However, the month of November brought about hope as well as anxiety for Katelyn and Ritchie. They both understood the reality that the rut was fast approaching and that Mr. Famous may begin to wander outside of his home to find receptive does. Katelyn decided to go to extremes and hunt from dawn to dusk, as her schedule would allow. She was also working as a horse trainer and going to school wrapping up her degree and license as a registered Pharmacy Technician.
Hard work, determination and a steady shot resulted in arrowing this tremendous buck that, given the area it came from, is truly a “once-in-a-lifetime” event.
November 8th was the day her anxiety and sleeplessness lifted. After her 12 hour day in the blind she pulled a nearby trail cam to find three pictures of Mr. Famous all of which were in the middle of the day on November 7th. Nine long days passed without another sighting or even a daylight picture of the Mountain Monarch who filled her dreams every night. I was scheduled to be in West Virginia on the 17th of November to spend a couple weeks chasing whitetails in my hometown with Ritchie and Katelyn. That night we devised a game plan to hunt her blind the following afternoon as the wind would be perfect for the setup.
The evening of November 18th would soon deliver a life-changing encounter that neither of us will ever forget. We arrived at the property early in the afternoon in order for us to sneak in as quiet as possible and get situated for the evening hunt. We covered ourselves in scent eliminator, gathered our gear, and made the journey to the blind for what would be the most riveting, adrenaline filled, emotional hunt we would ever experience to date.
The evening started slow with a small spike visiting the area to rub down a couple trees and make a new scrape. This gave us hope knowing the deer were up and moving on this cold November day. I can remember the moment glancing to my left and seeing that giant non-typical frame slipping through the woods making his way toward our setup. As I filmed the legendary buck take each step I whispered to Katelyn, “Here comes Mr. Famous”. Her eyes grew large as she looked at me and said, “stop messing around”. I then whispered the words, “Don’t look at his horns just shoot him.” She knew I was serious then as she caught movement coming down the trail that would bring Mr. Famous to his final fate.
Katelyn and her father Ritchie pose with her very first whitetail taken with a bow.
While Mr. Famous performed a series of grunts Katelyn reached for the cold composite grip of her Mission Craze bow, the pink fletching of her arrow nervously shaking on the string. This was it, the culmination of hard work and the reality that her dreams were playing out in the majestic timber of West Virginia. The studying of trail cam pictures, the days spent in the freezing cold, the countless arrows sent into her practice target all would come down to one shot, one opportunity for this first time bowhunter. I can still hear the draw of the bow in my head as I followed the giant buck with the camera. What seemed like forever I’m sure was only seconds as she waited for Mr. Famous to turn broadside. I will never forget the moment he lifted his head in an almost scripted fashion as Katelyn’s arrow connected behind the shoulder.
The moments after the shot were filled with disbelief of what had just taken place. The arrow had found it’s mark, Katelyn’s eyes began to flow with tears of joy. The emotion and pure passion for hunting she expressed was priceless. We slipped out of the blind and decided to meet up with Ritchie to review the footage. Since we did not see Mr. Famous crash and we could not see exactly where the arrow exited the giant buck we made the toughest decision in hunting. Wait until morning.
A second angle shows off the unique rack that Mr. Famous carried during the 2013 bow season.
The next morning at daybreak we picked up the blood trail immediately and followed it to what would be the largest whitetail buck either of us had ever witnessed in the wild. Again tears flowed as she ran up to wrap her hands around the massive antlers of Mr. Famous. After a long celebration and a prayer of thanks we realized what a special circumstance surrounded this elusive whitetail. The buck was a mainframe nine point with six kickers coming off of the G2’s and scored 158” non-typical. Not bad for Katelyn’s first archery buck.
The story of Mr. Famous is one that will forever be discussed in that small town of Spencer, West Virginia. How could a girl who has never harvested anything with a bow take down such a magnificent whitetail buck? My friend that is what bowhunting is all about. What an amazing sport and better yet what an amazing creature we archers get to experience. I was proud to be a part of the adventure and can only hope to arrow my own Mr. Famous in the years to come.
