Fifteen-year-old Gemi Robinson, who lives with her family in Sibley, attends Magnolia Academy in Springhill as a sophomore. Her dad, Thomas Robinson, along with Gemi and her siblings are privileged to share a prime plot of private land with another family. The 1,500 acres are located in what is known as Black Lake Bottom in Bienville Parish.
A big buck began showing up on their cameras last season. He sported a nice 10-point rack a year ago and he made a significant improvement this season.
“We started getting his pictures at the end of summer this year and it was obvious just how much he had grown,” said Gemi’s dad and hunting partner.
Showing up
The buck had started showing up this year in the area where the Robinson’s hunt. They hunt from a box stand in the middle of the hardwoods. A corn feeder and rice bran feeder sit some 100 yards in openings out from their stand.
“It was Sunday, Nov. 12, when Gemi and I left home to hunt that afternoon,” Thomas said. “It is only a 20 minute drive from our home in Sibley and we got settled into the stand around 2:45.”
Soon after settling down in the stand, a small herd of five does and two small bucks came to the rice bran feeder at 4:30.
“While we were watching the does, we saw what turned out to be the big buck come up out of the creek bottom and head toward the feeder where the other deer were,” Thomas said. “Instead of stepping out, the buck stopped behind a big tree and we assumed he was interested in the does as they ran off. Gemi had her gun up on the window, but let it down because we thought the buck had gone too.”
Still there
In just a minute, two more does came to the feeder and Thomas looked back at the tree where the buck had been standing and realized he was there; he never left.
“When I realized the buck was still there, I got Gemi in my lap with her gun out the window,” he said. “She was able to get her scope on him but he slipped back behind a tree and we assumed we had missed the chance at him. Fortunately, he stepped back out two minutes later and Gemi got her scope on him and hit the trigger. She shoots a Remington 25-06 and when she shot, the buck ran about 25 yards before piling up.”
The buck was taken to Simmons Sporting Goods in Bastrop to be entered in the Youth division of the Simmons Big Buck Contest. The rack carried 14 points, 13 scorable, on a massive frame. Bases were five inches with the last measurement near the end of the rack being four inches. Inside spread was an impressive 22 3/8 inches with 23 and 24 inch main beams. The buck weighed in at 231 pounds and was determined to be 6 ½ years old. Simmons scored the rack at 159 3/8 inches.
“When that buck came out,” Gemi said, “nervous would hardly describe how I was feeling. It’s pretty exciting to get a buck like this and realize that it sits on top of the youth division in the store’s contest.”