If you are a female and were interested in giving deer hunting a try, the season that just ended would have been a good time to get your name in the books; quite a few impressive trophy buck were taken, with more than a few succumbing to the expertise of lady hunters.
I met a lady recently at Simmons’ Sporting Goods in Bastrop who can compete with the best male hunter when it comes to bagging a genuine trophy. Nicole Casida, power plant supervisor in Natchitoches, nailed an eye-popping 11-point buck this past season.
However, it took her three opportunities at the 170-inch buck to finally lay claim to it.
“I was hunting our 350-acre plot south of Natchitoches when I had chances at the buck three different times,” Casida said. “My first chance happened the first Sunday of bow season.”
That hunt was just incredible to the hunter, even though she didn’t stick the deer.
“I got in my stand that morning and shortly after sunrise, I got to witness something I’d never seen before,” Casida said. “Two bucks came walking down one of my lanes, too far for my bow. They began sparring; not really fighting but tickling antlers and doing a bit of pushing and shoving.
“One of the bucks was a nice 8-point buck, but the one that caught my eye was one that had never showed up on our trail cameras – a beautiful and massive 11-point buck.”
Casida noted that, as the smaller buck moved on off, the big one decided to lay down and take a nap, just out from her stand.
“I watched him actually go to sleep for probably half an hour,” she said. “There he was out of range of my bow, and all I could do was sit and watch him sleep – and get seriously nervous.”
Eventually, the buck awakened from his nap, joined the 8-point, and the pair walked off down the trail and were gone.
Round One: Buck 1 – Casida 0.
“I was afraid that would be my only encounter with this big buck, but then on Nov. 5, he showed up on one of our cameras,” Casida said. “I was determined to spend every hour I could hunting this big buck.”
The weekend before Thanksgiving, Casida climbed into one of the lock-on stands she and her husband use. While waiting, she heard a terrific buck fight going on. The morning was foggy and, although she listened to grunts and slamming antlers and crashing brush, she was unable to see the source of all the noise.
The following weekend, Casida climbed back into the lock-on stand and soon spotted a doe coming her way.
“The doe passed on by, and I thought I heard a faint ‘grunt,’” she explained. “I picked up my binoculars and saw a buck coming along the trail where the doe had walked. I wasn’t sure how big the buck was, but my husband had suggested that if I see a good buck that day, go ahead and take it, so when the deer stepped into an opening, I squeezed off a hurried shot and watched the deer haul it out of there.
“I was sure I’d missed,” Casida said.
Round Two: Buck 2 – Casida 0.
While she sat and berated herself, Casida heard something walking the trail in the direction the buck had departed and incredibly, there was the buck again.
“He was seriously in love with that doe, so his guard was down,” Casida said. “This time, I took my time and I knew the shot was good this time.”
Round Three, the one that really mattered, wound up in Casida’s corner.
The buck traveled only a short distance before piling up.
The 11-point buck had a 19 5/8-inch inside spread and weighed 175 pounds.
It took three chances to claim her prize but it was worth it; Casida’s buck took top honors in the Simmons contest women’s division with a score of 174 7/8.