Vidalia resident, 38-year-old Ray Curlee, likes to get away from other hunters, especially when he’s hunting one of our popular refuges. His go-to spot for that is the Bayou Cocodrie National Wildlife Refuge in Concordia Parish.
On the afternoon of Nov. 18, Curlee made the 1.2 mile walk into the heart of the refuge and by day’s end had put an arrow through a genuine public land trophy buck, one he never knew had existed before that encounter.
Nice bucks
Curlee, who works for Jones Lumber Co. in Natchez, Miss., had been a member of a hunting club in Tensas Parish. The club lost the lease and counting his coins, he didn’t think he was justified in joining another high-dollar club. Friends talked him into trying public land hunting, which was a challenge considering he was a bow hunter.
“I had hunted there last season and saw some nice bucks, so I knew if I got far enough back into the area, I might have a chance at a really good buck,” he said.
“I had driven over to Columbia and purchased a new pistol from Spotted Dog Sporting Goods in Columbia. I started back home and when I got to Ferriday, it was about 1:30 so I decided to drive on over to the refuge and get in an afternoon hunt.”
Curlee hung his climbing stand far back in the woods next to the only water hole in the area. The drought had dried up most areas that had held water, so he felt this would be a good spot to see deer.
“I got settled in my climbing stand and about 4:50 I spotted three does walking the ridge about 50 yards away,” Curlee said. “I decided to try and take a doe so I stood up and watched the does walk out of sight without giving me a shot.”
No time for nerves
Realizing the hour was getting late and he had a long walk ahead of him, Curlee started giving thought to getting down just past 5:00 and making the long walk back to his truck. Then he looked up and saw a portion of a large rack through the trees as the buck headed for the water hole.
“I didn’t have time to get nervous,” he said. “I just drew back my bow – I shoot a Bo-Teck with Swacker mechanical broadhead – as the buck drank from the waterhole at 21 yards. I released the arrow, the buck took off but I thought I heard him crash not too far. I didn’t want to jump him, so I called a buddy of mine, told him I’d need help and to bring my deer cart we use to get big deer out of the woods. I got down, found blood and then saw the buck piled up; he had only run 20 yards.”
The buck sported a heavy rack of 8 points with an inside spread of 18 inches. Estimated to be 4 ½ years old, the buck weighed 200 pounds. Taking the buck to Cecil Reddick, official scorer for Buckmasters, the rack measured 162 5/8 inches, an impressive score for an 8-point buck.
Curlee validated an important point. When hunting public land, the best bet is to head for the heart of the refuge where it’s not likely you would encounter other hunters. Walking over a mile into the refuge paid off for Curlee in a big way as he was able to put an arrow into a genuine trophy.