Handiman William Cook, 71, who lives in Castor, hit a streak of good luck on Saturday, Dec. 2, when he had a crack at a huge buck, one he had never seen on his 400 acre lease in Bienville Parish.
“I had a camera out and had seen several bucks, including a big heavy-antlered 4-point on the lease,” Cook said. “What happened that morning came as a total surprise to me.”
A box stand sitting along a pipeline with a feeder and planted wheat was the setting that morning. Cook got in his stand before daylight and soon after light began seeing several deer, does and some small bucks.
“Just after 8:00, I looked up and saw the antlers of a buck as it started to leave the woods and head for the feeder,” he said. “When I first got a glimpse of the buck, I assumed it was probably the big 4-point I had been seeing, but as he emerged from the woods I knew immediately it wasn’t the 4-point; it was a big buck, one I had never seen. Man my heart started really pumping.”
Rifle up
When he realized it was a good buck, Cook laid aside his binoculars and reached for his rifle, a Browning .300.
“The gun was propped in a different window and I had to ease it around to where the buck was out front,” he said. “By the time I got my gun out, he had walked all the way across the pipeline and was about to go into the woods. The buck apparently saw my movement in getting my rifle around and he took off running. He ran down the pipeline and then turned and ran back toward the woods where he had come from.”
Following the running buck, Cook managed to get his scope on the buck’s vitals just before he dashed into the woods. He hit the trigger at 136 yards and the buck disappeared into the woods.
“I thought I had made a good shot and heard a solid ‘whack’ indicating I had at least hit the deer,” Cook said. “I got down immediately and walked down to where the deer was when I shot. I didn’t find any blood or evidence I had hit him. I saw where he ran into the woods, took a few steps and saw a patch of white. It was the buck that only ran about 15 yards after I shot.”
Genuine trophy
The buck was a genuine trophy, sporting 13 points with an inside spread of 16 ½ inches. The antlers were massive all the way out to the end and one brow tine was nearly 10 inches long. The buck carried a big body for that part of the state, weighing 220 pounds. The buck was estimated to be 6 ½ years old and measured 170 5/8 inches.
“Other hunters in the area had photos of the buck,” Cook said, “but I didn’t know that there was a buck this size around here. I felt real fortunate to be the one who finally got him.”