Brothers, son kill three trophy bucks during separate East Carroll Parish hunting trips.
Lake Providence brothers Bo and Tim Holt, along with Tim’s son Miller, worked a spell of magic on three gargantuan East Carroll Parish bucks this season, with 6-year-old Miller starting the onslaught on Nov. 16 — the last day of special youth hunting season prior to opening of regular gun season.
His dad, Tim Holt, who with his brother operate an East Caroll Parish farm tells how it all started.
“I have two sons, ages 4 and 6, and Miller (the oldest,)has taken a special interest in hunting, especially in looking at the photos on the 14 trail cameras I have out on the land we hunt,” Tim said. “I was going to take Miller on the last day of youth hunting season on that Friday, and the night before we were looking at photos of the bucks the trail camera had captured.
“One particular buck caught Miller’s eye, and he pointed and announced, ‘I want that one.’”
The following afternoon, Miller’s wish came true as he dropped a massive 14-pointer in its tracks. That deer currently sits in second place in the Youth Division of the Simmons Sporting Goods big buck contest.
“We crawled into the box stand and — like a typical 6-year-old will do — Miller started playing video games,” Tim said. “The wind was blowing and a doe sneaked in downwind behind us, snorted and we figured our hunt was ruined.
“In fact, Miller remarked that he doubted we’d even see a deer that day.”
However, the doe’s alarm apparently went unheeded by five bucks that walked out 90 yards away to the corn pile Tim had placed. Tim recognized one of the bucks as the big one on camera Miller wanted.
“I was afraid to tell him his 14-point was one of the five, but I did and he remained calm — actually more calm than his dad,” Tim explained. “I told him to get his gun up and concentrate on this particular buck. About the time he was ready, another deer would step in front of the big buck or it would move.
“Finally, the 14-point separated from the others just enough for Miller to get the shot. He got the crosshairs on his 7mm-08 on the vitals, squeezed the trigger and the buck dropped in his tracks,” he said.
Of the two, it was the father who was more nervous.
“Miller had to tell me, ‘Dad, calm down’,” Tim said, chuckling.
The buck sported 14 points, with an inside spread of 21 ½ inches and 24-inch main beams. The G2s stretched to about 11 inches each, and the main beams sprouted from 5 ¾-inch bases. The buck weighed 260 pounds.
On Dec. 11, Tim’s brother Bo had his day in the sun. Hunting on the same 2,000-acre club to which the brothers hold membership, Bo had placed some rice bran out before climbing into his tripod for the afternoon hunt.
“I had only been in the stand a few minutes when a little 8-point buck came out on the lane. He hung around 15 minutes or so, and then an hour later around 4:15 I saw a nice set of antlers emerge from the thicket next to a road I was watching,” Bo Holt said. “After checking him with binoculars, my first thought was that this was a good 9-point I’d seen on camera.”
The buck came onto the shooting lane but appeared nervous and was backing out when Bo decided it was now or never.
“I got him in the scope on my .280-caliber rifle, squeezed the trigger and he took off. He only ran about 60 yards, where I found him piled up,” Bo said.
The 225-pound buck turned out to be an 11-pointer with a 21 ½ inside spread framed 24- and 25-inch main beams that sprouted from bases over 6 inches. The rack, which featured 11-inch G2s roughed out at 175 6/8 inches at Simmons Sporting Goods.
Then it was Tim Holt’s turn. On Dec. 13, Tim Holt decided to head for an adjoining property next to where his brother and son had gotten their bucks.
“We call it Pittman-Hogue Island, and earlier that day I’d checked my cameras and saw one particular buck I was interested in,” Tim said. “The buck was showing up around 4 p.m. for the past several days and was next to a stand that hadn’t been hunted.”
Packing his .35 Whelen primitive firearm, he crawled into his box stand to see if the big buck might be on the clock that afternoon.
At 4:45 p.m., the buck stepped out at 70 yards; Tim made the shot and the buck ran about 20 yards before collapsing into the brush.
“From the trial camera photos, I knew the antlers weren’t all that wide, but the mass and tine length made up for the deficiency in inside spread,” he said. “When I got to him, I was pleased, thinking he ought to score 150 inches or so.”
The 12 point carried an inside spread of 15 inches, with main beams that stretched to 24 inches, 10-inch G2s and mass that continued from the bases throughout the rack. The buck weighed 225 pounds, and scored 164 3/8 inches at Simmons Sporting Goods. More than 500 inches of antlers, 37 points and 700 pounds of deer: Not a bad triple-play.
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