Gonzales hunter kills 160-class 10-point while sitting stand near Waterproof.
Twenty-two-year-old Cody Bergeron has taken a definite liking to hunting North Louisiana, especially a private tract in Tensas Parish where one Jan. 8 he downed a 10-point buck that has green scored in the mid 160s Boone & Crockett.
It was a kill that almost didn’t happen because the Gonzales hunter wanted to give up on the deer because of what he deemed to be unfavorable rutting conditions when they arrived at the property near Waterproof.
“My dad and I drove up to the camp (Jan. 6) with plans to hunt the weekend at the invitation of the property owner, a friend of my dad,” said Bergeron, who is a junior at Nichols State University. “Neither of us had ever hunted here, so we were directed to stands by the owner for the Saturday-morning hunt.”
The day dawned warm for January, with temperatures in the 60s and plenty of mosquitoes. Bergeron saw a few does and a small buck that morning, and the afternoon hunt was even less productive; he saw a single spike.
As a result, he was hopeful that the Sunday morning hunt would be in a duck blind instead of a deer stand.
“We had permission to duck hunt if we wanted to, and after the deer stands produced very little action Saturday, I was hoping my dad and I would go duck hunting,” said Bergeron, who goes by “CodyB1220” on the LouisianaSportsman.com forum. “However, dad is more serious about hunting deer than ducks, so the decision was made for us to get back on deer stands that next morning.”
The property owner mentioned that there was a portion of his land that had not been hunted, so the father and son team headed out to sit on stands on the far back portion of the property.
The events that soon unfolded kept Bergeron’s attention away from ducks.
“I was sitting on a tall ladder stand, not very encouraged because it was still too warm and I had my doubts about the rut being active under these conditions,” he said. “I was watching a small food plot planted in rye grass, and behind me was a big cypress brake with lots of palmetto.
“I could hear things moving in the palmetto and, since there were hogs on the property, I assumed I was hearing feral pigs.”
After awhile, Bergeron watched two does come out on the food plot followed by a nice 8-point buck, one he considered taking as it was larger than the one hanging on his wall at home.
Before he could decide whether or not to shoot, however, more noise in the palmettos attracted his attention; something was making its way out of the palmettos onto the food plot.
It was a cull 6-point buck.
“Things were starting to happen, so I just sat tight and waited,” Bergeron said. “Then I heard a buck grunt and lots of racket back in the palmettos behind me and turned to catch glimpses of a big buck with heavy rack chasing a doe.
“He was having trouble keeping up with her, and they kept going round and round, probably for half an hour, which really put my nerves on edge.”
After what seemed an eternity, Bergeron’s fortune changed.
“Finally, the buck gave up on the doe and walked from the palmetto onto the food plot,” he explained. “The property owner had given us instructions to shoot any buck we planned to have mounted, and as soon as I got a look at this one I knew he’d go on the wall.
“When I put my scope on him, it was like I was looking at a horse.”
Bergeron squeezed the trigger on his Remington .270, watched the deer take off and then heard him crash. He called his dad, and the celebration began.
The buck sported 10 points on a symmetrical rack measuring 19 ¼ inches inside spread. Each base measured 6 inches around, and anchored 29-inch main beams.
The buck, which weighed 225 pounds, was rough scored by a taxidermist at 166 3/8 on the Boone and Crockett scale.
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