Kris Russell was duck hunting Dec. 26 on his father-in-law’s Tensas Parish property when he decided exactly where he’d deer hunt that afternoon.
“We actually walked across the food plot and jumped a couple of ducks in the (Missisippi) river run,” the Monroe hunter said. “I saw several fresh, I mean fresh, stinking scrapes right along the water.”
And the final sign that sealed the deal was a single hoof print.
“It looked like a 250-pound deer had been standing there,” Russell said. “I told my father-in-law, ‘I know where I’m hunting this afternoon.’”
So when a buddy arrived, the two men headed to the woods and Russell climbed into the stand overlooking the food plot about 2:30 p.m.
About 4:30, a yearling walked out and milled about. It was followed about 10 minutes later by two does and two more yearlings. All the deer were “dead downwind” of Russell’s location, which concerned him.
But about 4:45 movement at the edge of the food plot, and a buck trotted into the opening.
“I could tell immediately he was a mature buck,” the Monroe hunter said. “His legs looked to be about a foot long. His body was so big; his belly looked like it was almost dragging the ground.”
Russell glanced at the rack, but didn’t hesitate long.
“The only thing I remember that stood out was his G3s,” he said. “They actually leaned out.”
However, he didn’t want to allow the buck to move any farther onto the food plot.
“If he would have gone a few more steps, he would have winded me,” Russell said. “There’s no doubt about it.”
So he shouldered his rifle, placed the cross hairs and fired. The buck never took another step.
However, Russell still didn’t know what he had knocked down.
“My buddy was about 300 yards from me, so I texted him, ‘Big buck down!’” Russell said. “He texted back, ‘How big?’
“I told him, ‘135 inches plus.’
And with that, he settled down to wait until dark so he didn’t mess up his friend’s hunt.
So when he walked up, it was a complete surprise to find a giant rack atop the deer’s head. The main beams of the 9-point stretched 20 1/2 inches of air, and the widest point between the G3s was 25 inches.
It was the mass, however, that made the greatest impression.
“Its mass was just incredible,” Russell said. “The last (mass) measurement was 4 7/8.
“It’s the only time I’ve seen ground shrinkage reversed.”
The deer weighed 239 pounds, and aged out at 6 ½ years old.
It greened scored 161 inches Boone & Crockett.
“Merry Christmas to me,” Russell wrote when he entered the deer in the LouisianaSportman.com Deer of the Year contest.