Big Bossier Parish buck goes down on warm, windy day

Nice 11-point green scores just north of 150 inches

Last Saturday, Nov. 18 dawned warm and blustery — not exactly great conditions for deer hunting because movement is normally at a minimum in that type of weather. When the rut is on, however, a buck will often lower its guard — leaving the safety of thickets when an estrus doe has captivated its attention.

That’s exactly what happened for 17-year-old Brady Bogues, a senior at Parkway High School in Bossier City. He was in total shock as he watched a big buck with an awesome rack step into his sight picture. One shot later, and the buck was down.

“My dad and I are in a hunting club in Bossier Parish, land that is leased from Muslow Timber Company,” Bogues said. “We had camped out on the lease the night before, and in spite of the warm windy conditions, decided to get on our stands the next morning.”

The teenager had started getting restless and his excitement level was waning as he watched the warm wind whipping branches around. Texting his dad around 7:45, he thought it was time to give up and head back to camp.

“Waiting on my dad to give the signal for us to leave, I happened to glance in a mirror I have on my stand, one that allows me to face one direction on the pipeline I was hunting and be able to see what was behind me,” he said. “I caught movement in the mirror and realized a doe had stepped out onto the line about 100 yards away.”

By the time he eased around and got his gun in position to face the opposite direction, the doe was no longer there. Then he saw movement at the edge of the woods where the doe had stepped out.

“I thought it was probably another doe and I got ready to take her when she stepped out,” he said. “Instead of another doe, what I saw just about caused me to lose it. There was the biggest rack on the head of that deer I’d ever seen, and I couldn’t believe what I was looking at.”

Bogues had gotten a new rifle last Christmas, a Ruger 7MM Mag, and in his excitement he became concerned that the rifle hadn’t been properly sighted in. But by then, the buck took a couple of steps and offered a broadside shot. Placing the cross hairs on the deer’s shoulder, Bogues squeezed the trigger.

Evidentially the scope was zeroed correctly because the buck dropped like a ton of bricks.

Although the deer weighed only 152 pounds and was estimated to be only 3 or 4 years old, it more than made up for lack of body size with some impressive headgear. Sporting 11 points including a drop tine, Bogues and his dad took the deer to Simmons’ Sporting Goods in Bastrop for entry in the store’s Big Buck Contest.

The buck green-scored 150 7/8 inches, but the most impressive figure was the 24 inches of air between its antlers.

About Glynn Harris 508 Articles
Glynn Harris is a long-time outdoor writer from Ruston. He writes weekly outdoor columns for several north Louisiana newspapers, has magazine credits in a number of state and national magazines and broadcasts four outdoor radio broadcasts each week. He has won more than 50 writing and broadcasting awards during his 47 year career.