165-inch Claiborne Parish buck completes 'buddy trifecta'

Trail-cam photos revealed trophy deer's patterns.

Dr. Bric Langford killed this 165-inch Claiborne Parish monster buck Saturday (Nov. 3) after learning the deer's travel patterns from trail-cam photos.

Dr. Bric Langford is a chiropractor with his practice in Jasper, Texas, who grew up in Haynesville hunting, fishing and playing sports with buddies Tyler Lewis and Collin Merritt. So Langord makes his way over to his Claiborne Parish roots to deer hunt every fall.

On Friday (Nov. 2), Langford joined his two friends for a venison dinner during which the discussion turned to plans for a deer hunt the following morning. Each of the three has his own special spot in Claiborne Parish; Langford’s is on family property south of Haynesville.

During dinner, Tyler Lewis commented about how special it would be for the three life-long friends to each bag trophy bucks the following morning.

Fast forward to the next day: Both Lewis and Merritt got their trophies that morning, giving Langford some good-natured ribbing about not getting one.

Click here to read about Merritt’s incredible buck, which has been greenscored at more than 190 inches Boone & Crockett. Click here to read about Lewis’ 150-inch trophy.“I told them the day was not over; I’d get mine that afternoon,” Langford said.

That prediction proved true just before dark on the afternoon when Langford put the crosshairs on a big 10-point buck that scored in the high 150s and completed the “good buddy trifecta.”

Langford was familiar with this particular buck, having seen his image on his trail cameras for the past three years. He hadn’t laid eyes on this buck until that afternoon, but his camera gave him a clue as to the big buck’s movement; he was coming out on the shooting lane at just about exactly the same spot in each photo.

“The 300-yard lane is in an area of thick, young pines, and nearby was an oak bottom where after leaving his bed, the deer would go to feed on acorns,” Langford explained. “I got on my tripod stand that afternoon and waited for something to happen.”

About 6 p.m., Langford watched a doe and yearling come out on the lane. They fed awhile, and then returned to the thicket.

Then at 6:30 the buck did what the trail camera photos indicated; he came out at the same spot as he had shown up in the photos.

“He was standing tall, with his head up about 100 yards away, and started walking toward me,” Langford said. “When he got to about 80 yards, I didn’t want him to get closer for fear he might smell me. The problem was he was walking straight toward me and didn’t give me anything but a head-on shot.

“I put the crosshairs on the middle of his chest, touched the trigger on my .270 Remington Model 700 and he dropped in his tracks.”

The buck weighed in the 200 pound range, sporting a perfectly symmetrical 10 point rack. The inside spread was only 14 inches, but the height and tine length made up for this deficiency.

Both G2s were over 12 inches, the G3s were 12 inches and each main beam measued 22 inches. Bases were around 4 inches in circumference.

The buck was estimated to be 4 ½ to perhaps 5 ½ years old, and was rough scored at 165 inches Boone & Crockett.

Langford called his two friends later, telling them to bring their deer racks so photos could be taken of all three. They assumed he was kidding after the ribbing he got earlier.

But Langford had the last laugh.

Click here to read about other big bucks.

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