A great story out of Oklahoma today about a record buck and the wounded warrior who got him.
From this press release from the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation, via the Outdoor Wire:
For Quinton Picone, 23, a native of nearby Panola, first times seem to be the charm. At least first-time hunting trips, that is. On his first deer hunt Oct. 12 on the 45,000-acre McAlester Army Ammunition Plant, Picone harvested a nine-point buck that weighed just shy of 200 pounds on the hoof and dressed out at 175 pounds. The buck set a new base record for the heaviest deer taken on the property, and Picone’s name now will appear first on that list. “It was crazy. It was pretty exciting,” said Picone, who was deer hunting through the Wounded Warriors in Action program along with two other Army buddies from Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio.
This was the fourth year that Army and Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation staff members have hosted a group of Wounded Warriors at the controlled deer hunt. Picone’s fellow Army buddies Stephen Peterson and Roger Benton also took nice bucks over the weekend. And Picone was able to take a doe on the second day of the hunt. Picone and Peterson are both undergoing rehabilitation after being wounded while serving in Afghanistan. Picone lost both his lower legs and suffered wounds to his right hand due to an Improvised Explosive Device in 2011, while Peterson lost one leg to an IED in 2010. Benton is their platoon sergeant and was awarded a Purple Heart for wounds he suffered in his Army service.
Congratulations to Quinton and everyone else who took part in the hunt. The McAlester Army Ammunition Depot is one of the military’s primary explosives-making factories, but the 45,000-acre base is also home to one of the best draw-in trophy deer hunts in the nation.