Rye's Trophy Whitetail

Several has requested the details behind this hunt and we have delivered!!!! Alabama Bankhead National Forest Giant!

This hunt is sponsored by Walker Farmers Co-op

Your agriculture deer farming partner.

Steven Moody

Winston County, Al.

160lb 

13 scorable points

170 2/8 " Official Whitetail Records! Scored by Larry Manning.

ATH has been long-life friends with Mr. Moody following several trophies he has been blessed with harvesting. Mr. Moody and ATH Pro Staff Kenneth Powell had already been talking earlier in the year and learned that Mr. Moody had been watching a target trophy. On December 13, 2024, Mr. Moody hit the woods like any other hunt but had no idea what was going to be in store for him. Mr. Moody was on  Bankhead National Forest public land and chose to hunt this spot since he had a south wind the night before. At last light, Mr. Moody had a deer come out of a bedding area down to the bottom of the holler after using can call. Mr. Moody never seen the deer and it never left when he walked out. Mr. Moody felt like it was a buck just by how it came in and stayed in the bottom and did not leave even when he walked out. Mr. Moody planned on coming back the next morning with the thought that he might get a shot at a trophy coming through the area.  The night before, Mr. Moody prepared for the next morning hunt by washing all of his gear in scent killer dead downwind last night. Mr. Moody woke up the next morning and took a shower in scent-away products and headed out at about 5:30 am. Mr. Moody arrived at the location of the hunt and sprayed everything down and started walking in around 6:00 am. Mr. Moody decided to go further down the holler towards where the deer came in from the night before in hopes of it coming by going to bed for the day. Around 7:00 am or 7:15 am, Mr. Moody did a really aggressive rattling sequence banging the antlers, stomping the ground, thrashing the brushes, and grunting aggressively. Mr. Moody laid everything down and picked up his Radical Firearms AR-10 chambered in .308 at about 7:20 am. Mr. Moody heard the buck running up the back side of the ridge to his west. Mr. Moody positioned himself to be able to get on him as soon as he crested the ridge. "When he came across, my first look at him I thought 110-120” deer and made the decision I was shooting him." - Mr. Moody. He was moving along the side of the ridge with his ears laid back looking for a fight. Mr. Moody got on him and he stopped. Mr. Moody shot one time. The trophy 13-point turned and ran down the ridge into the holler. That’s when Mr. Moody first realized he was a much bigger deer than he thought. He made it about 40 yards and pilled up on the ground. At this point, Mr. Moody was looking at his massive antlers and knew he had just harvested something special. Mr. Moody then shot him again to make sure he would not get back up. Mr. Moody described walking up on him as breathtaking, as he came to the realization that he had just killed a public land giant. Mr. Moody spent some time in prayer thanking God for giving me such a magnificent animal to be able to harvest. As Mr. Moody finished his prayer, he called a good friend and his father to help recover him.

In an interview, Mr. Moody told ATH,

 "I had no idea there was a buck of this caliber in the area. The trophies are out there, you just have to get out there and find them and have fun. Every hunt is not always about killing the biggest rack or biggest deer, but when it does happen that way, that's just the cherry on top."  - Steven Moody.

Congratulations Mr. Moody!!!! Mr. Moody is a lifelong friend of ATH and when we say he is the most humble passionate individual we know, we mean that. Mr. Moody is just a normal guy hunting the same public land as the rest of us do. This is definitely one for the books and hunt you'll never forget!  -ATH

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