When the big buck that had been seen on trail camera photos decided to step out, 17-year-old Brinlee Buxton, senior a DeQuincy High School, had to get rid of the shakes before getting the scope on her .270 Remington locked in on the shoulder of the buck and touching the trigger.
She felt she made a good shot, but the buck ran off. It was getting late and the initial efforts to look for blood yielded some blood, but the deer was nowhere to be found.
“We live in DeQuincy and hunt on a lease in Beauregard Parish about half an hour from home,” Brinlee said. “It was Friday, Oct. 20. I went to school that day and then my dad, Trent Buxton, and I headed for the stand.”
Be alert
Brinlee was hunting on a tripod stand while her dad sat on the ground beneath her to help her if she needed him.
“We got to my stand around 4:00 that afternoon and were watching a fire lane where we had some corn out,” she said. “The lane sits in a pine plantation and before long, a spike came out and was feeding on the corn. My dad and I were texting and he cautioned me to be alert because any minute the big buck might walk out.”
The afternoon was getting late when they noticed that the spike became nervous and then suddenly ran off the lane.
“I texted my dad that since it was getting so late, maybe we should end the hunt, but dad texted me to keep my eye out for a couple more minutes because something had frightened the spike and it could be another deer, probably a buck,” she said.
About that time, her dad’s caution proved to be dead on when they watched a buck step out of the woods onto the lane and head for the corn.
“After seeing his horns, I knew it was the buck we had on camera,” Brinlee said. “I got my rifle up with the crosshairs on him, but I had to take a few deep breaths and settle down as I was really nervous.”
Circled back
She finally got the shot off, and the buck ran back down the lane. Waiting an hour, it was dark when they started looking for evidence she had hit the buck.
“We found a little blood but didn’t want to push it too hard until my mom got there to help us look,” she said. “I stayed at the stand while mom and dad followed the trail. They found the deer that had circled back and actually fell dead within 50 yards of my stand.”
The buck sported 12 points, 7 on one side and 5 on the other. The inside spread was 13 3/8 inches, main beams were around 20 inches each with 4 inch bases.
The buck, which weighed 156 pounds, was estimated to be 3 ½ years old. The rack was measured and resulted in a score of 143 2/8 inches. This was Brinlee’s third deer since she began hunting, having earlier downed a spike and doe.
After graduation, Brinlee plans to enroll in Sowella Community College to study nursing. She’ll have quite a story to tell fellow students about a special day when she downed a genuine trophy buck.