Gary O’Neal pets Rufus, a 25-point, 225-pound deer in Valdosta, Ga. O’Neal rescued Rufus as a newborn fawn and raised him.VALDOSTA, Ga. – A trophy buck beyond the wildest dreams of most hunters and outdoor enthusiasts resides just outside the Valdosta city limits, but you won’t run across him out in the wild.
Rufus, a 25-point, 225-pound white-tailed deer, has been under the care of local resident Gary O’Neal since the deer was a day old.
With a personality more in resemblance of a family dog, Rufus was found by O’Neal’s Labrador retriever, Bud, on June 2, 2002. The deer was caught in a fence.
“I had let loose some female deer and my Lab chased them like he typically did,” said O’Neal. “Usually, when I blew my horn, he knew to come back, but when he didn’t come back, my son and I went to go look for him.
“He was waiting for us under this big, beautiful oak tree and was dancing in the middle of the road,” said O’Neal. “I told my son that he had found something. Bud didn’t even let me get out of the truck. He grabbed me by the arm and pulled me out of the truck and led us to the baby deer and just started licking.”