RANDOLPH COUNTY, WV — A West Virginia hunter has invested approximately $8,000 in specialized equipment to outsmart a whitetail buck that routinely crosses a two-lane road in broad daylight directly in front of a Dollar General.
Thirty-nine-year-old Brandon Miller first noticed the deer in July while stopping to purchase batteries, beef jerky and a phone charger that stopped working before he reached home.
The buck was standing beside a drainage ditch eating weeds approximately 30 yards from the entrance.
“I knew immediately he was a smart one,” Miller said.
Since then, Miller has purchased four cellular trail cameras, a climbing stand, a ground blind, scent-blocking clothing, insulated boots, a rangefinder, new binoculars and a crossbow advertised as being quiet enough to “change the entire hunting experience.”
He also bought scent-free detergent, scent-eliminating body wash, scent-eliminating shampoo, scent-eliminating deodorant and a spray designed to make a human being smell like damp leaves.
Miller stores the clothing in an airtight plastic container and refuses to let his wife wash it with the family’s regular laundry.
Meanwhile, the buck has been photographed licking discarded nacho cheese from a paper tray behind the store.
“You can’t underestimate an old deer like that,” Miller explained while reviewing 214 nearly identical trail-camera photographs. “He didn’t get that big by being careless.”
Store employees said the deer appears most evenings between 6:15 and 6:30, usually crossing the road near the illuminated sign before standing beside the ditch.
“He just walks out there,” cashier Amanda Lewis said. “Cars stop for him. Sometimes he looks through the front window.”
Miller insists successfully hunting the buck will require flawless preparation.
He recently spent three weekends studying wind direction before moving his tree stand 14 feet farther east.
The buck responded by lying behind the store’s propane cage for nearly an hour.
Miller has also begun checking five different weather applications because no single forecast provides the precise combination of temperature, barometric pressure, wind speed and moon phase required for him to confidently enter the woods.
The deer appeared at Dollar General during a thunderstorm Tuesday.
Wildlife correspondent Dale Hatfield accompanied Miller during a scouting trip and immediately estimated the animal weighed between 190 and 360 pounds.
Wildlife biologists described that range as “not especially useful.”
Dale also concluded that the buck was at least seven years old based on antler mass, body shape and “the way he looked at traffic.”
Miller’s wife, Stephanie, supports the pursuit but questioned whether the growing equipment budget remains reasonable.
“We could have bought an entire cow,” she said. “At this point, every pound of deer meat is going to cost more than steak.”
Miller rejected that calculation.
“It isn’t about saving money,” he said while purchasing a $289 heated seat cushion. “It’s about providing for the family.”
Despite months of preparation, Miller has not seen the buck while hunting.
He has seen it nine times while driving to Dollar General.
At press time, Miller was ordering another trail camera after his newest one photographed the buck staring directly into the lens.
The deer was later seen crossing the road at 6:22 p.m.
Miller was at home spraying his boots.
The Holler Herald — West Virginia’s Least Reliable News Source
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