SHOOTING A MOSIN RIFLE - P.12
Drift for Winter Trout Story inside page 5
Ohio Valley
FR EE!
Outdoor Times
February 2015
pictures of him on their trail cameras,” The Malakia he says, “but I’d never encountered the buck in the woods before first day of gun I didn’t even have any pictures Hilton 20-pointer season. of it.”
OV Outdoor Times
Born and raised in Columbiana County, OH, Malakia Hilton, 24, has been hunting since he was 10years-old. His dad introduced him to the outdoors, often taking Hilton and By Ralph Scherder his two brothers Hunting Editor rabbit and squirrel hunting. Hilton killed his first deer when he was only 12, and has since taken at least one deer every year. When he was 17, Hilton killed a dandy 18-point buck with a unique rack. What made it unique was a double row of tines on each main beam. For every typical point on the main beams, another nontypical point jutted at an outward angle, and the rack scored an impressive 172 inches. That wouldn’t be Hilton’s last non-typical buck, though – or his last monster buck. On December 1, 2014, he killed a 20-point non-typical that could challenge the current Columbiana County record. Although Hilton knew the 20-point was in the area, he’d never actually laid eyes on it himself. “The neighbors had
This is amazing considering that Hilton keeps five trail cameras in operation year-round on several nearby properties. “After I killed this buck, I pulled the SD card from a camera I had in the creek bottom where I got the deer and had a picture of a huge buck. But even looking at the picture, it’s hard to tell if it was the same deer or not. Until that day, the buck had been a total ghost all season long.” On opening day of gun season, Hilton set up in the creek bottom an hour before daylight. Typically, Hilton experiences the most success in that spot when the wind is coming from the west. That morning, however, the wind was coming from the north, which was less than ideal. The morning dawned clear and wet, moisture dripping from the foliage, as Hilton decided on where to reposition himself. He has always had success hunting from the ground, no treestand or blind, so moving locations wasn’t a big deal. He decided to slowly make his way through the creek bottom toward the other side, which would be more favorable considering the north wind. “I was sneaking down an old logging road and Turn To 20-pt. Page 5
Ohio Valley Outdoors–Photo courtesy of Malakia Hilton
The opening day of Ohio’s latest gun season proved very successful for Malakia Hilton. The 24-year-old harvested a monster 20-point non-typical buck in Columbiana County.