Williams’ heavy buck green-scores north of 154 inches
Shayne Williams works in the oil and gas fields in West Texas, but when he’s home he gets to hunt his uncle’s property in Tensas Parish. It’s a long drive from his home in Walker, but on the morning of Dec. 4 it was well worth it when he settled his scope on the shoulder of a hammer 8-point.
“This 80-acre piece of property is owned by my uncle, and it’s about the only area I like to hunt,” Williams said. “I hadn’t killed anything so far this season, so I drove up the night before and was in a box stand well before daylight.”
The property is mostly a 15-year-old WRP, and is thick with bayous and canals nestled in the property. As daylight came, Williams was looking at a food plot that ended at the bank of one of the canals when a doe stepped out.
“Almost immediately after the doe walked out, I spotted the tips of antlers right behind her coming through the grass,” he said. “When he stepped out, my reaction was I was looking at the biggest buck I have ever seen.”
Williams said it all happened so fast that he didn’t have time to rest his H&R .444 on the window of the blind, but took a free-hand shot at the buck.
“I knew that he’d be across the lane and gone in a matter of seconds, so I got him in my scope and pulled the trigger. He hit the ground but then got up and took off toward the bayou at the end of the plot,” Williams said. “I knew I had hit him good, but with the water he was heading toward, I also knew that could present a problem.”
Walking down to where the buck was standing, Williams looked down toward the canal and saw the deer lying on the far bank with the doe standing next to it. The buck had apparently managed to swim the canal, but had collapsed on the opposite bank.
“We keep a boat at the head of the property because when the water gets high, that’s the only way we can get to the side where my stand was,” he said. “I went and got the boat, paddled it up to the buck and it was all I could do to get him rolled into the boat.”
Hooking the boat with the buck inside to the back of his 4-wheeler, he dragged the load through the woods to his uncle’s house.
“There was no way I could get that deer on the back of my 4-wheeler; it ended up weighing 283 pounds,” he said. “It was probably quite a sight to see me on my 4-wheeler pulling a boat with a big buck in it. I had to cross a black-top road and had to go down a gravel road.”
The buck’s antlers were as impressive as the big deer’s weight. With eight symmetrical points, the inside spread measured 19 1/8 inches, main beams were 26 inches each, G2s were 13 inches and the circumference at the bases was about 6 inches. He had his taxidermist put a tape to the rack, and it measured a whopping 154 5/8 inches.