Loving and Carroll spent much of the 2025-26 season manning a ground blind deep in their Harris County lease. The effort paid off with Loving’s first deer, a 12-pointer with a net TBGA score of 164 7/8. Photo courtesy Chris Carroll
Addi Loving, 16, with her 12-point typical taken Nov. 22 in Harris County. The buck is sure to be among the top free-ranging typicals reported in the Pineywoods this season. Photo courtesy Chris Carroll
A youth hunter’s first buck often packs the goods for a pretty good story.Addi Loving’s tale is a doozie Fittingly, so is the buck she calls “Smoke.”The story is especially noteworthy because it unfolded in the company of a longtime family friend and culminated with a bruiser of a whitetail taken along the San Jacinto river bottom within the distant shadows of downtown Hou...