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Montgomery County taxidermist Jeff Acord spends most of his time preserving trophy bucks for other hunters. This year he got a chance to mount a big deer for himself.

Acord shot the buck directly above his head with a crossbow on his own property during the early archery season. The deer's unofficial score under the Virginia system is 157. The other buck in the picture is one Acord shot in 2000, while the doe was killed by his daughter when she was 10.

We're down to the bitter end for deer hunting in Virginia. Pressure isn't anything like it was in November, but quite a few people will get out there this week for a couple of final hunts. I won't get the chance for a few days as we're in South Georgia at my father-in-law's for a few days. We hit one of his farm ponds yesterday for an hour or so and the bass fishing was unreal. My girls were just ripping them and must have caught two-dozen between them. I stayed so busy helping them and my visually-impaired father-in-law that I really didn't fish. But that was fine because I was still having a blast.

I got out yesterday afternoon for a couple hours and had a fun hunt at a spot in Bedford County.

I haven't killed a doe there this season. And since I have killed a buck (even though it was in Botetourt County) my next Bedford deer needs to be antlerless due to the earn-a-buck regulation in Bedford.

So what happens when I'm walking to my stand? I walk right up on an antlerless deer standing about 50 yards away, feeding in a field.

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In August, Dwayne Hale sent me a couple trail cam shots of some nice bucks on his Bedford County hunting spot. One of the deer was a great 10-pointer that Hale decided to focus his hunting efforts on this year.

As this picture shows, the effort paid off. Hale said he didn't see the buck during bow season, missed him with a muzzleloader, then didn't see him during the rifle season. The big buck showed himself again on Dec. 13 and this time Hale didn't miss. What an awesome deer.

After taking a couple weeks off I'm going to get back out there this afternoon. I wouldn't be surprised if a deer like this walks by me at 20 yards. Why? Because I'm hunting in Bedford County, where my limited hunting efforts in early archery season failed to produce a doe. Having killed a buck (even though it was in Botetourt County) I now must kill a doe in Bedford to earn a shot at a second buck. I'm more than happy to shoot a doe. I just hope I see one in range before something like this walks by.

Well, folks, we have some resolution on the Michael Allen seven-pointer story and it's not what I was hoping for.

Conservation police officer Greg Funkhouser called me on Friday morning and told me that he had just written Allen two citations regarding his killing a third buck in Roanoke County and checking it in as a Franklin County kill.

Funkhouser said Allen told him the truth from the outset and was cooperative. That helped as Funkhouser didn't go as hard on him as he could have. Allen got hit with a $281 pre-payable fine and had to forfeit the seven-pointer (which Funkhouser said was a really nice buck).

We all know that this kind of stuff happens out there. People violate fish and game laws, and some get caught. (I always say that if you're a regular violator, it's not a matter of if you'll get caught, but when you'll get caught.) Anyway, unfortunately for Allen, it's happening in public view.

We also know that a fine and and a lost buck are the least of Allen's "punishments." The real blow in fish and game violations is to a person's reputation. Sure, some people don't care. For those who do, recovering from something like this isn't easy.  To his credit, Allen is doing the right thing now and facing this. He just sent me this e-mail and asked me to post it:

"MARK HEY MAN FIRST OF ALL I WANT TO REALLY EXPRESS HOW SORRY I AM FOR LIEING TO YOU AND ALL OF THE VIEWERS OF THIS WEBSITE. I REALLY REGRET DOING WHAT I DID IN TAKING THE DEER AND EXCEEDING THE LIMIT. I DO HUNT A PLACE IN FERRUM AND AFTER ALL THE STUFF WAS SAID AND DONE I PANICKED AND WAS LIKE WELL HECK I CAN JUST TELL THEM I KILLED IT IN FERRUM SINCE I CHECKED IT IN THERE. I TALKED TO A FEW BUDDIES AND THEY WERE LIKE WHAT IS THE ODDS OF 1 OUT OF 200,000 DEER HUNTERS IN VIRGINIA GETTING CAUGHT AND WELL LOOK IT DOES HAPPEN AND IT IS NOT WORTH ALL THE EMBARRASSMENT THAT GOES ALONG. AND NOT TO MENTION LOSING THE DEER OF A LIFETIME AND A FINE.
    ME AND THE GAME WARDEN HAD A LONG TALK ABOUT WHAT HAPPENED AND I TOLD HIM THAT I HAVE ONLY BEEN HUNTING FIVE YEARS AND THE FIRST THREE YEARS I WENT I NEVER SAW A DEER ONE IN THE WOODS. LAST YEAR I KILLED MY FIRST DEER WITH A MUZZLELOADER. AND THIS YEAR I DONT KNOW WHAT I AM DOING DIFFERENT BUT I HAVE HAD DEER ALL OVER ME. THAT DAY WHEN I WENT OUT I HAD EVERY INTENTION OF TAGGING MY LAST DOE AND BEING DONE FOR THE YEAR. I TOLD GREG THAT WHEN THE BUCK CAME OUT I GRABBED MY BOW AND SHOT NOT THINKING. ME AND GREG CONTINUED TO TALK ABOUT IT THAT DAY AND HE ASKED ME DID I BAIT DEER AND "NO" I DONT. I KNOW I'VE DONE WRONG TAKING THE DEER AND EXCEEDING THE LIMIT BUT ALL MY DEER HAVE CAME FROM LONG TIMES SITTING IN THE WOODS THIS PAST SUMMER AND FALL WITH A VIDEO CAMERA AND TRAIL CAMERAS WATCHING THE DEERS EVERYMOVE. I HAVE NEVER BAITED ANY KIND OF ANIMAL WITH ANY KIND OF STUFF AND HE ASKED ME IF HE WAS TO GO LOOK AT MY STAND SPOTS WOULD HE FIND ANY I VOLUNTEERED THAT SECOND TO RIDE WITH HIM TO EVERY SPOT AND SHOW HIM MY STAND AND ANY PLACE I HUNTED TO SHOW HIM THAT I DO NOT BAIT DEER OR ANY OTHER KIND OF ANIMAL. I KNOW I SCREWED UP KILLING ONE TO MANY BUT I HAVE NEVER TAKING AN ANIMAL OVER BAIT.
    WELL MARK I WANT TO APOLIGIZE TO YOU AGAIN AND THE VIEWERS OF THIS SITE. I HAVE DEFINALTEY LEARNED MY LESSON AND WILL NOT DO ANYTHING THAT STUPID AGAIN. I MADE A MISTAKE AND I AM SORRY. IF YOU WANT U CAN POST THIS ON THE BLOG SO EVERYONE CAN SEE WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU DO WRONG IT DOES COME BACK TO GET YOU AN IT WILL HAPPEN SO AGAIN SORRY FOR ALL THE TROUBLE AND I HAVE DEFINATLEY LEARNED MY LESSON."

Craig Eckstein of Covington killed this muley in September during a muzzleloader hunt out West. Here's what he wrote about the hunt:

"I had a two-hour hike every morning up to the Continental Divide. On the 3rd morning, this buck was standing at the very top, sky-lined with two other big bucks, right at dawn.   had a split second to decide and shoot, and he was the widest rack and largest body. He did end up being wide, but to my surprise, he was only a 2x2 buck!  Yes, as luck would have it, as the other bucks ran offf, I saw lots and lots of points sticking up!  That's OK!  It was my first velvet buck - he's going on the wall."

Not only is this a nice buck, but that view behind him looks pretty nice, huh?

Daryl Taylor of Moneta sent in this shot of a nice bear he killed in Franklin County on Dec. 13. He said the brute weighed 300 pounds, and by the looks of that head I don't think there's any reason to doubt that number. Nice!

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Gary Arrington killed this awesome eight-pointer in early December in Halifax County. Arrington was participating in a special hunt that had been donated for the Hunters for the Hungry banquet auction held earlier this year in Salem. Arrington was the top bidder on the hunt.

It's great to see Gary kill a deer like this, the biggest buck of his life. He's the special projects manager for Hunters for the Hungry, and works his heart out for that great, worthy charity -- and the many needy people it serves.

This is such a busy time of year for Hunters for the Hungry that Gary's hunting time is fairly limited. When he did have time to get out, often his focus was on helping his wife, Angela, get her first deer. And, as you can see in the previous entry, he was successful on that end, too.

Those of you who attend outdoors conservation fundraisers and events in Central and Western Virginia probably recognize this woman. It's Angela Arrington. She's got a beautiful singing voice and often sings the national anthem at such events, which she attends with her husband, Gary Arrington, who is the special projects coordinator for Hunters for the Hungry.

Angela has been hunting a few years with a bow (and had some close calls) before she started gun hunting this year. During early muzzleloader season she killed her first deer, a button buck, then topped that during rifle season when she killed this six-pointer. 

I actually saw this deer get shot. I was hunting about 400 yards away in the same big field with my brother-in-law when we spotted this guy follow a few does into the field. Angela made a perfect shot and he dropped like a stone. She was smiling like this two hours later.

Here's a shot of Michael Allen's third buck of the year, a great seven-pointer.

Here's what he wrote about the hunt:

"Short story on it I was set up in the same stand I killed my eight and ten out of. Was in stand for less than 15 minutes and had does surrounding me. Not too long after that bucks began to move chasing the few does that were under my stand. I passed on all of them cause to get the big boys you got to let the little ones go and it wasnt to long after things calmed down when this hog daddy stepped out and needless to say my Muzzy four blade done eating and put him down. I would also like to thank my hunting buddies and best friends Allen "Moe" Lazenby, JR Mitchell, and Mark for all of the advice and help throughout my previous hunting years."

(Note added by Mark Taylor on Dec. 18. As is noted in comments below, there have been some questions about where this buck was killed. Michael Allen says his girlfriend wrote the above submission and mistakenly assumed he shot it in Roanoke County, where he shot the first two bucks. Allen says it was shot in Franklin County, where the season limit on bucks is three. He assures me everything is/was legal. Based on the number of people I've heard from on this, and the tone of some of the comments, I wouldn't be surprised if Allen hears from a conservation police officer and gets a chance to officially clear up any confusion.)

Picture submissions typically slow down once we hit December and this year has been no different. Some folks are still out there hunting, but pressure has significantly dropped off. I expect there to be a little bump over the next couple of weeks as people do some late muzzleloader hunting over the holidays. That season always produces a few nice bucks but the real focus for many hunters, myself included, is to put another doe or maybe even two in the freezer.

Eight-year-old Brody Crockett isn't just deadly with a crossbow. He shot this spike at 67 yards with his youth model .243 while hunting on private land in Wythe County.

He was hunting with his dad, Danny Crockett.