Lightning strikes twice as Busbice drops 158-inch 14-point in Winn Parish
There’s an old saying that lightning never strikes in the same place twice — but don’t tell that to Joey Busbice.
The Morgan City hunter has enjoyed an extra-special deer season this month on family property straddling LaSalle and Winn Parishes, and after taking down a 142-inch buck with his crossbow on the LaSalle Parish portion of the land on Nov. 7, he followed it up with an even bigger buck last Wednesday on the Winn side: A massive 14-pointer that measured 158 inches, fittingly taken in the rain as a bolt of lighting flashed across the sky.
“I decided to hunt on our property in Winn Parish and was driving down an old road where I planned to park my truck and walk the three-quarters mile to my stand. Since the rain was beginning to pick up, I sat in my truck drinking coffee waiting for the rain to stop when I looked up and a nice 8-point crossed the road in front of my truck, followed by a 6-point and then a spike,” he said. “Here I am sitting in my truck drinking coffee and I see three bucks cross in front of me.”
Because of all the action, Busbice decided rain or no rain, he needed to get out and walk to his stand.
“I walked down the road through a bottom into a clear cut. Then I saw movement to my right and 60 yards away, I saw a buck suddenly stand up from where it was bedded behind a blow down,” he said. “I could see tall brow tines at first and held off until I had a better look. Then the deer turned its head and I saw a big massive rack and knew this was one I wanted to take.
“The buck had spotted me and was giving me the head bob like it was about to take off.”
Shouldering his Browning BAR 7mm mag with the deer quartering away, Busbice squeezed off a shot and the impact knocked the buck to the ground. However, just seconds later, the big deer jumped up and took off.
“I tried to get a second shot on him but my gun jammed. I cleared the jam, jacked another round into the chamber and headed the direction the buck had taken,” Busbice said. “A doe jumped from the same bed where the buck had been lying — I assume they had bedded down together.”
Sneaking along in the direction the buck had run, Busbice soon spotted the white belly of the deer — which was still very much alive.
“The buck was down but not dead, and my moving around caused him to jump up again and take off,” he said. “I was able to squeeze off a second shot at about 30 yards and dropped him.”
That’s when the adrenaline kicked in: Busbice said he was shaking so bad from the experience, it took him nearly 10 minutes to calm down and actually lay his hands on the buck’s massive rack.
“The deer was a mainframe 8-point, but I counted six additional points for a total of 14,” he said. “The buck measured 158 inches, with an inside spread of 20 inches and impressive bases of 5 ½ and 6 inches.”
Busbice said with the unbelievable luck he has had this season — downing two trophy bucks in the same month — he’s already decided on his next move.
“I think I’m going to the store and buy me a lottery ticket,” he said with a laugh.
Don’t forget to enter photos of your bucks in the Nikon Big Buck Photo Contest to be eligible for monthly giveaways and the random drawing for Nikon optics at the end of the contest.
Read other stories about big bucks killed this season by clicking here.
