Natchitoches hunter drops big 28-point non-typical buck

Mitchell’s deer taken near Powhatan sports a rack featuring ‘a whole big wad of horns’

A big key to deer hunting is simply being in the right place at the right time, and Natchitoches resident Steven Mitchell can prove it.

Last month, he scored on a big 28-point non-typical buck with an awesome display of antlers just shy of 170 inches when the deer got up from its bed in the middle of a thick weed patch to take a stroll.

“I work on a farm around Powhatan north of Natchitoches, and have access to a private tract of land not far from where I work,” Mitchell said. “On the morning of Nov. 24, I climbed into a box stand overlooking the big weed patch adjacent to a creek bottom. We have to hunt from box stands here because there are no trees to hang stands.”

While Mitchell sat, he was a bit discouraged because the action was slow: Two small bucks, a spike and a 3-point, were the only deer he saw all morning.

“Around 9:30, I saw something moving way out in the patch of high weeds which stood at least 5-feet tall,” he said. “I could barely make out the tips of antlers above the weeds, and although I had no idea what kind of deer was wearing them, I knew it had to be a good buck because I could see parts of antlers even at that distance.”

The buck finally moved into a small opening at 250 yards, and Mitchell got the crosshairs of his scope on the deer’s shoulder and squeezed the trigger of his .300 Win Mag.

The buck disappeared.

“I got down and walked over to where he was standing and he was piled up right there,” Mitchell said. “I dropped him in his tracks. I’m glad, too, because the weeds were so thick I might have had a difficult time trying to trail him through all that thick stuff.

“I was shocked when I got a look at the buck because even though I knew he was a good one, I had no idea the antlers would look like that. The rack wasn’t pretty; it was just a whole big wad of horns.”

Weighing in the 200-pound range, the impressive rack sported 28 scoreable points in a profusion of non-typical bone. The inside spread was 17 ½ inches, and the buck scored 169 2/8 inches Boone & Crockett at Simmons Sporting Goods in Bastrop.

“The buck was not chasing a doe I don’t think because there were no does in the area that morning. I think he was laying up in the weeds and just got up to feed or maybe look for a doe,” Mitchell said. “Anyway, I’m glad I was sitting where I was when he decided to get up and take a walk.”

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.

About Glynn Harris 508 Articles
Glynn Harris is a long-time outdoor writer from Ruston. He writes weekly outdoor columns for several north Louisiana newspapers, has magazine credits in a number of state and national magazines and broadcasts four outdoor radio broadcasts each week. He has won more than 50 writing and broadcasting awards during his 47 year career.