Many hunters struggle to kill deer on public land, but this 25-year-old personal trainer has it all figured out. And he has killed the deer to prove it.
Josh Chauvin was on a mission. He had paid his dues, and knew the small portion of Red River Wildlife Management Area like the back of his hand. Maybe even better.
“I knew this buck in and out,” the Chackbay personal trainer said. “I knew every scrape he made, every rub he made.”
Chauvin wasn’t after just any buck; he was after this buck. The buck he had first been clued into during preseason scouting. The 8-point he absolutely knew was there.
“I saw him several times, and just couldn’t get a shot,” said Chauvin, known as “bodybuilder3113” on LouisianaSportsman.com. “It was just to get him to make a mistake.”
The rack buck had lasted throughout the bow season — and even made it through the Thanksgiving rifle hunt when the woods filled with orange-vested hunters.
The deer also was sighted by his brother and his brother’s girlfriend — so there was no doubt the animal was still there.
The strain of the chase had taken its toll on Chauvin, and the die-hard bowhunter traded up for a rifle on this early Dec. 31 hunt during which the temperatures and a misty rain were falling.
“It was chilly,” he said. “I was soaking wet in my deer stand.”
Despite the uncomfortable conditions, Chauvin had pushed back to the area with relish. The rut was on, and he felt his chances were good of seeing the buck again. This time he could reach out and touch the animal.
So he made the long walk, finishing off by wading into knee-deep water to reach the tree he had picked out.
And about 8 a.m., he was faced with yet another obstacle.
“I saw another hunter walk through the area,” Chauvin said. “It was the first time I saw another hunter in this spot, so I was frustrated.”
The man was easing through looking for squirrels, but the young deer hunter quickly began thinking about another spot.
“I thought about moving my stand, but then I thought, ‘Just stick to the plan,’” he said.
For an hour, Chauvin replayed over and over in his mind that decision, worrying if the unsuspecting squirrel hunter had ruined his chances of seeing the buck that was certainly still in the area.
“I knew he was still there because I had seen the scrapes,” he said.
Soon the internal debate was vanquished when he heard movement in a thicket only 50 yards away.
“I heard deer running through the water,” Chauvin said. “I looked, and I saw the horns flying through the woods.”
Amazingly, the buck was coming from the direction the squirrel hunter had walked — and it was hot for a doe that was leading the way.
When the deer came out of the thicket, moving along the game trail that passed only yards from Chauvin’s perch, the hunter quickly inspected the rack.
“I knew it was the buck I had been hunting, so I looked at the body of the deer,” Chauvin said. “I kept telling myself, ‘Focus on the body. Focus on the body.’
“I didn’t want to get so focused on the horns that I missed.”
The hunter moved his rifle into position, and by the time the crosshairs lined up, the buck was close — real close.
“It was a 10-yard shot,” Chauvin said. “I wish I had had my bow.”
However, a bow shot would have been anything but certain.
“It would have been a difficult shot because I had to shoot him on the run,” Chauvin said.
The buck was a nice 8-point that might not have turned heads on a lot of pieces of property, but Chauvin was proud of the kill.
“I hunted him all season,” Chauvin said. “It was basically a one-on-one battle. That’s why he’s such a trophy.”
Chauvin began deer hunting when he was 17, and soon had given up his lease membership in favor of hunting public land across Southeast Louisiana.
“I heard my dad talking about hunting Red River (WMA), and I felt like I had a better chance to kill a big deer (on public land),” he said.
That might sound ridiculous to hunters who are happy just to see a deer on public land, but the stats sort of bear out Chauvin’s claim.
After all, where was the state-record non-typical deer killed? Big Lake WMA. And that buck, killed in 1994 by James McMurray, leads six other WMA non-typicals that scored better than 153 inches. Thirteen typical bucks scoring better than 150 inches have been killed on the state’s WMAs, including a 180-inch beast popped by Shawn P. Ortego in 1975.
And Chauvin has had these stories and stats backed up with experience.
“I see plenty of big deer, so I know they’re there,” he said. “I see them; it’s that simple.”
So during the succeeding eight years, he has honed his skills at taking public-land deer. While he’s yet to add his name to the record books, he’s very successful.
“I kill four to five deer a year from public land,” Chauvin said.
The key to this high success rate is targeting areas that he knows without a doubt deer are using and getting to know those spots intimately.
“I’m going to learn that area very well,” Chauvin said. “I’m going to locate every acorn tree. I’m going to find every bedding area.
“Once I learn that area, I can pattern the deer.”
A major clue to locating these hot spots is finding visible signs of deer.
“I’m looking for fresh and old rubs,” he said. “That’s going to be the prime areas year in and year out.”
He then locates active feeding sites in the immediate area.
And then he does something that most hunters might think is unwise.
“I’m actually trying to jump deer,” Chauvin said.
That’s because he wants to be sure deer are bedding up nearby, and he gets to see if there are all does or if there are some bucks in the area.
This often allows him to locate bachelor groups of bucks before the season kicks off, and that means he’s on to a prime area.
“There’s usually a batch of bucks in an area, and if you know you’ve got two or three nice deer in your area, one of them is probably going to be around throughout the season,” Chauvin said.
At that point, it’s just a matter of finding the best stand site and waiting them out
“I like bottlenecks,” he said. “If you can find one of these that funnels deer to you, it makes it a lot easier to see deer and get shots.”
And he sees a lot of deer.
“People on public land shoot all the time because they think, ‘This is the only time I’ll see a deer,’” Chauvin said. “But if you learn your area well, you will see a lot of deer.”
