Hunter knocks down 10-point on Saturday, follows up with 9-pointer on Tuesday
Hollis Grisham is a 25-year-old respiratory therapist working at Willis Knighton Hospital in Shreveport, but even he might have needed help catching his breath when a big 10-point buck he’d never seen stepped out of the woods in Bossier Parish last weekend.
Grisham was hunting on a 180-acre plot of family land behind his home near Benton on Saturday, Nov. 9, when good fortune came his way.
The area he hunts is mostly river bottom land, featuring what at one time had been a cow pasture that has since grown up fairly thick.
“I worked the night before at the hospital, ran home, grabbed my 7 mm mag and a jacket I slipped on over my hospital scrubs, and climbed into my box stand about 7:20 that morning. My stand sits at the intersection where a pipeline and power line meet,” Grisham said. “Twenty minutes later, I saw a doe cross one of my shooting lanes nearly 500 yards from my stand.”
Grisham reached for his binoculars and saw a buck following the doe: it was a big 9-point he’d seen several times on his trail camera. Following closely behind the 9-point was another big buck neither he nor anyone else hunting the area had ever seen.
He determined that this was a buck he wanted to take, so he picked up his grunt call but the deer were apparently too far away to hear.
“The doe and two bucks disappeared and then about ten minutes later, the trio popped out on the line at 400 yards and went into a little triangle of woods that was bordered by shooting lanes on both sides. I knew if they left this triangle, I’d see them,” he said.
Over the course of the next two hours, all Grisham could do was wait. But he knew the deer were still in the area because he could hear antlers clashing as the two bucks fought to claim the attention of the doe.
“Finally, I saw movement and the bigger buck, a 10-point, emerged at about 200 yards. I got my scope on him and squeezed the trigger. It was a good hit and the deer collapsed after running only 25 yards,” Grisham said.
The big buck was impressive indeed, and although the tines were more slender than massive, the two sides of the rack were separated by an incredible 22 inches of air. Main beams were each over 25 inches in length. The buck weighed 175 pounds and was green scored at 144 1/8 inches.
However, the story doesn’t end there, because Grisham’s wife hunted his stand the very next day and once again saw the 9-point buck. But she miscalculated the distance of 350 yards, her shot was off and she missed the deer.
So Grisham was back on his stand around 6:20 Nov. 12 and it wasn’t long before he began seeing deer.
“I watched several small bucks chasing a doe around the shooting lane and then the 9-point stepped out at 125 yards. I got on him and shot, and the buck stumbled and fell,” he said.
This buck was almost as impressive as the 10-point, weighing 185 pounds with an inside spread of 21 inches. Main beams measured 23 inches, but like the 10-point, the antlers were not massive, and he green scored 134 3/8.
After taking two impressive bucks in a matter of four days, what will Grisham do for an encore?
“I’m going to turn my stand over to my wife and I’ll work on the hogs and coyotes on the property,” he said. “I’m quite pleased with the way good fortune has smiled on me this season.”
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.
