The first of Chip McCarthy's two big bucks fell on Nov. 7. The winning blind is one the Virginian calls "the Hilton". (Photo courtesy of Chip McCarthy)
Lightning never strikes the same place twice. Or does it? Chip McCarthy of Essex County, Virginia, might argue that it indeed does. During his 2019 hunting season, Chip found his box blind to be one of the luckiest spots he’d hunted in the past 25 years.
Chip explains this setup with a sense of gratitude and honesty.
“My wife grew up here on this farm, so I walked into this gold mine for hunting,” he says. “My father-in-law has farmed it his entire life; he’s 90 years old now, so we have a family friend who farms all the open land (soybeans and corn). The barley and wheat industry is not as profitable as it used to be, so the farmers punch in a...