McGehee siblings capitalize after their father allowed a couple of 9-pointers to walk
Dr. David McGehee is a Ruston-based pediatrician whose family owns a prime piece of property in Madison Parish. His two adult children don’t have the opportunity to deer hunt often, but both capitalized this season after their dad let a couple of big deer slip through his fingers.
Daniel McGehee, who lives in Dallas, and his sister Brittany, a resident of Convington, were able to waylay trophy bucks on Spring Bayou after equipment malfunctions allowed both bucks to live another day.
“I had the buck Brittany eventually shot 20 steps from my stand days earlier but had my scope dialed up to high in power, and all I saw was a fur ball with big antlers. By the time I dialed down the power, he had turned and walked away,” Dr. McGehee said.
“Then on the afternoon before Daniel killed his buck, I had a nice shooter crossing the cutover where Daniel got his. I think it was the same buck, but I wasn’t fast enough on the trigger and he, too, continued to walk,” he said.
Brittany was probably secretly thankful for her dad’s snafu when the big 9-point stepped out near her stand on Dec. 27.
“My dad and I usually try to make one hunt together each season and we were in a box stand near a cutover. We usually drive over and stay at the camp overnight, but dad was on call so we had to get up early and make the nearly 100 mile drive. We got there, found the weather warmer than we liked, had a 4-wheeler break down so dad picked out a stand where a big 6-point had been hanging out,” Brittany said.
Thirty minutes after settling into the stand, a buck stepped out. But it wasn’t the 6-point – it was one much larger.
“The deer was facing away so I couldn’t see antlers but after I got my scope on him and he turned, I was like, ‘Oh man,’” she said.
Hunting with her dad’s Remington .270, she put the crosshairs on the deer, squeezed the trigger and watched the buck run and then fall 75 yards away.
The buck, which tipped the scales at 250 pounds, sported 9 points on a heavy rack featuring a 17 ½-inch inside spread and 22-inch main beams. The deer green-scored 160 2/8 inches at Simmons Sporting Goods, and is currently in 2nd place in the 9-point category.
A few days later on New Year’s Eve, it was Daniel’s turn. Hunting just across the same cutover where Brittany killed her deer, he crossed paths with another big 9-point buck, probably the one his dad had seen the afternoon before.
“It was windy and cold that afternoon when I got in my stand next to the thick cutover tract. I didn’t see anything until 3:45 when a doe came out into a lane. She seemed especially nervous. I rattled and that made her more nervous, and she tucked her tail and ran off,” he said.
Half an hour later, the reason for the doe’s skittishness became evident when a big buck stepped out.
“On Spring Bayou, we always make sure before pulling the trigger that a buck is mature enough to be taken. When I got a look at this rack, there was no doubt he was a shooter for sure,” Daniel said.
Putting the scope on the buck’s shoulder, his Remington Model 700 .280 was right on target as the buck dropped in his tracks at 125 yards.
The mainframe 8-point with a sticker weighed a hefty 235 pounds, with a rack featuring an 18 ½-inch inside spread and especially long G2s measuring 12 inches each.
The buck green-scored 151 inches.
Dr. McGehee summed up the success of Brittany and Daniel succinctly.
“Isn’t it ironic that I had the opportunity to kill both bucks but didn’t, and my children were able to? I guess that is what hunting tales are all about.”
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.
