Nicknamed ‘Flyer 10,’ the 185-pound buck with G2 kicker was tracked on trail cams for years
Dustin Henson is a self-proclaimed trail camera junkie, always monitoring four or five cameras on his 1,500-acre Wakefield lease in West Feliciana Parish.
And since October 2011, he’s been watching photos of a buck he nicknamed “Flyer 10” because of the flyer, or kicker point, the big buck had on his left G2.
Henson has watched that extra point come and go over the years, noting the big buck didn’t have it in 2012. This year, however, it returned.
Just a few minutes after sunrise Wednesday morning, on Henson’s first hunt of the season, Flyer 10 showed up with another buck at the food plot on which the hunter was set up.
“They were probably standing right there on the edge of the woods waiting for the turkeys to get out the way because they were making a bunch or racket,” said Henson, 25, of Central. “It wasn’t a minute or two that I couldn’t see the turkeys anymore and the two bucks came out.”
It was Henson’s first shot of the season, and it was at a deer he’d been seeing for several years.
“Nerves are kind of tough when you’re in there with a bow, you know,” he said.
Henson put the pin on the big deer with his Mathews DXT at about 28 yards, and the Rage X-Treme broadhead did its job.
“He was a little bit quartered away,” said Henson, who works at the Exxon refinery in Baton Rouge. “I shot him about the third of fourth rib back and the arrow stuck in his opposite shoulder.
“He probably went about 10 yards and fell down, then stumbled another two or three steps and went down again.”
Last year, Henson passed on the buck to take a big 9-pointer that aged out at 5 years, and he believes Flyer 10 is probably about 6 years old.
“He always ran with the deer I killed last year. Those two were always together during the early season,” said Henson, who submitted photos of the buck in Louisiana Sportsman’s Nikon Big Buck Photo Contest. “I know those two are about the same age.”
The buck’s inside spread was 15 inches, with 5 ½-bases, and he green scored at 133 ¾ inches.
After the hunt, Henson checked the trail cameras again and saw shots of Flyer 10 on opening day.
“On Tuesday morning, he still had a lot of velvet hanging,” Henson said. “By Wednesday morning, it was all gone except for a few little pieces.”
Don’t forget to enter photos of your bucks in the Nikon Big Buck Photo Contest to be eligible for monthly giveaways and the random drawing for Nikon Monarch binoculars at the end of the contest.
Read other stories about big bucks killed this season by clicking here.
