Virginia hunting tale: Jarvis the drone spots Slaybaugh's 13-point buck in five minutes
SURRY — There is a new Slaybaugh family tale to tell. The last one took place in August 2019 when four family members each decked a beautiful King Mackerel in the Outer Banks on the same day.
Parker Slaybaugh shared another magnificent memory on how his dad David "Dave" Slaybaugh Sr. recently used technology to locate a 13-point buck that went down in Surry County. To find his harvest, Dave called in a thermal drone with an infrared camera.
"My dad laid down a Surry County 13-point hammer," Parker excitedly posted on Facebook. "I'm a big believer in 'you reap what you sow,' and I don't know anyone who plants more seeds of honesty, selflessness and hard work than him."
On a wishful Saturday evening in the woods, Slaybaugh Sr. of Colonial Heights was blessed with the season of a lifetime. For the Slaybaughs, hunting has never been about killing a trophy, rather more about the story and work that led up to it such as food plots, tree stands, shooting lanes, etc.
Virginia hunting adventure: Slaybaugh family
On November 11, four Slaybaughs, Dave, his sons David Jr. and Parker as well as his brother Brad, spread out across Sussex and Surry. There mission was simple: spend quality, family time together on a sport they each love.
The story begins with the sudden appearance of a giant buck on a trail camera 300 yards from the box blind Dave was hunting in. For the rest of the Slaybaughs, their hunts turned secondary to wait on word if he got a shot.
Parker utilized their group text to provide a play-by-play of the hunt as the excitement unfolded on Cypress Hunt Club land:
Dad’s first message - “I think I missed his ass”
We respond a collective - “DAMNIT”
Dad - “Found one drop of blood”
"We backed out, let him lay, a sleepless night and Captured Media drone search later," Parker posted. "Man, the excitement in Dad's voice will be forever engrained."
"He returned from the hunt extremely excited," Jackie Slaybaugh, Dave's wife, shared with me at the 70th annual Christmas parade in Colonial Heights. "I didn't sleep much," Dave recalled, six days after he took the shot with his black powder rifle.
The following day around 7 a.m., the four hunters returned to the scene. Dave's friend Dave "Wimpy" Shields and daughter Madison Slaybaugh Elliott joined them to see if the white-tailed deer could be discovered via Jarvis, Jut Updyke's search and rescue drone.
Updyke named his drone after the fictional character in the "Iron Man" movies. J.A.R.V.I.S. is said to be an acronym for — Just A Rather Very Intelligent System. "I'm a Marvel fan," Updyke, owner of Captured Media, shared.
Jarvis and Updyke did not waste any time. Within minutes, they spotted the non-typical, white-tailed buck. What does non-typical mean? The buck's rack did not look normal with matching antler points in usual locations on both sides with all points reaching up.
"Well Jarvis just found his new biggest of the season! Based on the blood, they felt like it didn't hit its mark," Updyke posted on Instagram. "They had heard about Captured Media and Jarvis and decided to back off and give us a shot. Five minutes was all it took!"
In Virginia, if a hunter's shot does not put an animal down immediately, thermal drones may be used to locate it. However, hunters should check first to see if the state they opt to hunt in has restrictions on drone use in hunting.
The Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources defines a drone as an unmanned aerial vehicle, aircraft or similar device guided by remote control or onboard computers. The dwr.virginia.gov website states the following: it is unlawful to hunt or assist another to hunt during any open season on the same calendar day and the same property where a drone was used to locate or scout for any wild animal.
"Utilizing thermal technology, I go to a comfortable height clearing the treetops and begin to look for anything emitting a heat source," Updyke said. From Slaybaugh's directions, Updyke knew which corner of the field that the deer had exited.
"It was definitely the area I wanted to search thoroughly. Once I reached that corner of the field at an altitude of 250 feet, it was almost obvious," Updyke described. "I could see the heat signature in the middle of the cutover. Upon switching to zoom lens, there was no mistaking we had found the monster buck."
According to Parker, his dad's buck was discovered 400 yards from where it was shot.
"I would definitely recommend the drone. In two or three minutes, he was on the deer. In less than half an hour, we were dragging him out," Dave said. "If a bunch of us had gone in there at night looking for the deer, there probably would have only been a 50-50 chance of finding him and we would have destroyed the woods a lot."
On Wednesday, December 6, Anders Blixt, a Buckmasters official scorer, congratulated Dave on his great buck and thanked him for bringing it by to "get the tape."
Buckmasters score: Dave Slaybaugh's Surry County giant
21”+ beams
Brow tines to 9 3/8”
18” inside spread
35”+ mass
Total BTR score - 160
Visit buckmasters.com to learn more about BTR [Buckmasters Whitetail Trophy Records] scoring system adopted in the mid-1990s. The website states it is based on the method of evaluating white-tailed deer antlers developed by Russell Thornberry, who recognized that other scoring systems’ symmetry-based formulas often were like shaving square pegs to fit round holes. The full-credit scoring system abandons the punitive pursuit of symmetry and simply gives a rack credit for the full amount of antler present.
Virginia: Cypress Hunt Club
A couple years ago, Parker worried about family hunting memories being created fewer and far between.
"We were no longer hunting the land we grew up on, with the people we loved. I was beat down from hunt club drama, curious if I’d ever be able to get back to the hunting basics of enjoying this sport with the people who matter most."
The Slaybaughs started Cypress Hunt Club which has one rule: no drama. They are selective of who they let in, family first, trustworthy friends second. What started as four people grew to 14.
"This buck gives me hope that what we’re building has been a success. Not because Cypress Hunt Club killed a great buck - rather because every member knew of this “Okachobie Buck” that we all had been chasing for two years," Parker said. "Each member was genuinely just as excited for my dad as dad himself. A club shares in each other's success and aches in each other's pain.
Parker of Richmond admitted that in the past he commercialized things way too much when it came to hunting.
"What these two years has taught me is that sometimes it takes stripping everything away except family, friends and the thrill of the hunt to rekindle that flame that burns inside each and every sportsman. To enjoy a sport as old as time itself," Parker shared. "It’s days like this that leave us praying for this feeling even just one more time."
Parker stated on Facebook that their new hunt club built from the ground up is the result of two years worth of blood, sweat and tears.
"We call it a 'hunt club' because our insurance requires us to. But honestly, what we’ve tried to create is just a place for family and close friends to make a few memories while having the chance to harvest a few Virginia giants," Parker said. "We try to keep the drama low, the good times frequent, and the memories unforgettable."
The Slaybaughs stopped looking at landowners as just someone they could get something from [hunting rights] and started asking what more they could give.
"Sure we pay money for leases but we also promise things like teaching the landowners child to hunt, cleaning up dump sites left to rot for generations, taking out a few groundhogs eating one lady’s turnips, and simply a lesson Boy Scouts taught me - to leave the land better than we found it."
Read this story at Progress-Index.com to view drone footage of the “Okachobie Buck” being tracked down for the Slaybaugh family who love to fish and hunt together.
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This article originally appeared on The Progress-Index: Virginia hunting tale: Drone spots 13-point giant in five minutes
