Big deer killed killed when hunter moves stands after seeing buck on ATV trail.
In most cases when you’ve gotten to your deer stand and realize you forgot something back at the truck, it’s unsettling. However, for 20-year-old Tanner McDonald it’s the best thing that could have happened to him the morning of Jan. 12.
Soon after McDonald hopped in his Ranger UTV and heading back to his truck to retrieve the item he needed, a monster buck shot across the path 10 yards ahead of him.The buck ran in the direction of another stand McDonald would choose to hunt that afternoon. It was a good choice, as the big 7-point (it would have been a classic 8-point had a brow tine not been broken off) stepped out at 200 yards and McDonald dropped him.
This buck, which scored 151 4/8 even with a tine missing, currently leads the 7-point category at Simmons Sporting Goods Big Buck Contest.
“My dad and I joined the Look Out Point hunting club this year (located near Transylvania in East Carroll Parish), and dad had shot a big 10-point buck a month earlier, a buck that scored 156,” McDonald said.
The property on which the club lies is adjacent to the Mississippi River, and the land often floods when the river rises, making much of the property inaccessible except by boat. After this season’s high river receded, McDonald decided he would head for the portion that was now dry because he knew it probably hadn’t been hunted and that he would be the only hunter in that area that day.
“I got in my stand that morning when I realized I’d left one of my camera cards back in the truck,” the pharmacy student at University of Louisiana in Monroe student said. “I hated to do it but I needed that card, so I hopped on the Ranger and headed for my truck to get the card.
“That’s when the big buck shot across the road right in front of me. I watched which way he ran and knew we had a stand over that way, and I decided immediately that’s where I’d hunt that afternoon.”
That box stand overlooked a big wheat field, and McDonald settled into it that afternoon.
About 4:30 p.m., the buck stepped out into the field 200 yards away.
“I shoot a Remington .25-06 bolt-action, (and) I put the crosshairs on his shoulder, squeezed the trigger and watched the buck hunch up, but he didn’t run,” he said. “He kept standing there, giving me time to jack in another round and get off a second shot.
“He ran about 40 yards and hit the ground.”
The buck was indeed a dandy, with heavy main beams stretching to over 26 inches each, G2s around 10 inches with 6-inch bases and an inside spread of 22 inches. The buck, which tipped the scales at 212 pounds, was judged to be 5 ½ years old.
“My dad and I have now shot the two biggest bucks on the club this year, and even though we got a little good natured kidding from long-time club members I’m sure we’ll be welcomed back next season.”
See more than 400 other bucks killed this season — and add photos of your own — in the Nikon Big Buck Photo Contest, which is free to all registered users of this site.
Everyone who enters the contest will be eligible to win a set of Nikon Monarch ATB 10×42 binoculars (valued at more than $300) to be given away in a random drawing after the season closes.
Not a member of the sportsman team yet? It’s free! So register today to get started!
