This time of year, corn feeders usually attract squirrels and raccoons more than they do deer. The reason being, white oak acorns are falling in the woods and deer much prefer what nature provides them over corn.
On the afternoon of Wednesday, Nov. 6, Chris Bates, instructor at Central Louisiana Supports and Services Center in Alexandria, had planned to go hunting after work but looked at the weather forecast and saw rain scheduled for that afternoon. He had to be a little excited when checking the weather later and seeing that the scheduled rain chances had diminished.
“I didn’t have any of my hunting gear with me so I rushed home, tended to the dogs, grabbed my gear and headed out to public land in Rapides Parish I like to hunt, namely Camp Livingston/Kisatchie,” he said. “My buddy, Jason Iles, and I had been scouting the area with eyes on the white oaks. We found some but they had not started dropping acorns just yet.”
As he walked down an old road, a doe spooked in an adjoining clear cut and Bates was afraid she had alerted any other deer in the area. Passing several white oaks that were yet to begin dropping acorns, he had one more he wanted to check.
“This particular tree really caught my attention because I found the ground disturbed by deer tracks and crushed acorns so I felt this was where I wanted to set up my climbing stand that afternoon,” he said.
A big buck appears
At first there was no problem with the wind, as it was light and variable, but he noticed it changed direction every few minutes, which would eventually present problems.
“Just after 5 p.m., I happened to look back behind me and I could see antlers and a deer trotting through the thicket,” he said. “I could tell immediately that it was a good buck and that he was headed for the white oak I has set up next to.”
Bates was armed with his Mathews Chill R bow with a 100 grain Rage 2 broadhead. As the buck continued on toward the white oak, a chill came over Bates as he felt the breeze at the back of his neck, breeze that would carry his scent to the buck. The bow was already drawn when he saw the buck abruptly stop, turn and begin walking back in the direction he had come.
“I stopped him in an opening with a soft grunt and released the arrow at 35 yards,” Bates said. “It sounded like a good hit and he tore out of there, but I thought I could hear him crash down in a thicket about 100 yards away.”
Finding the buck
Bates texted Iles, and his friend showed up with his blood trailing dog Molly 10 minutes later. Fortunately, Molly found the trail and was standing over the buck that fell 100 yards away from Bates’ stand.
The buck, judged to be 4 ½ years old, weighed about 175 pounds and sported 9 points. The inside spread was 16 5/8 inches with beam length over 20 inches each. The antlers were measured and unofficially came to 140 5/8 inches.
“I’ve killed bigger deer with my gun and bow but doing this on public land with no cameras, no attractants, out of a climber is just old school hunting,” he said. “It’s my best public land bow kill and I can assure you it was really rewarding.”
