Sometimes it’s better to be prepared for unpredictable situations than to kick yourself for failing to do so. John Caleb Johnson, who lives in Lincoln Parish just outside Ruston, did what he needed to do to get his big buck. Using a Remington .300 Win mag on the buck when he stepped out at 280 yards, he found it was not quite enough.
Making a slightly off the mark hit on the buck, which is not unheard of at such a distance, he put the big gun in his truck. He picked up his Rossi 30-30 rifle and was able to subdue his prize with it.
Johnson, who works with his dad and brother at Mark Johnson and Sons Plumbing company, hunts on the 5000 acre Hooks and Horns Hunting Club in Jackson Parish, property that was formerly part of the Jackson Bienville Wildlife Management area. He hunts from a box stand situated on a pipeline that traverses the area. Redwine Creek crossed the pipeline 300 or so yards from Johnson’s stand.
“I had been interested in a particular buck I began having on my trail cameras a year ago,” Johnson said. “This year, he was more impressive, adding quite a bit of mass to his rack. He became my target buck for this season.”
The right buck
Johnson was running a bit late on the morning of Nov. 2, getting into his stand around 7 a.m. He had been there about 15 minutes when a doe and yearling crossed the pipeline. Shortly thereafter, three more does crossed the line and all the deer seemed to be headed toward some white oaks that were dropping acorns.
“Around 8 a.m. that morning, I was looking down toward the creek and I spotted a deer walking along the edge of the creek,” Johnson said. “My binoculars confirmed that it was a buck, and when he took a few more steps I could see the antlers and recognized him as the one I was after.”
Although the distance was 280 yards, the buck was slowly walking broadside, so Johnson felt he could accurately take the shot.
“When I shot he took off, so I waited half an hour before going down to where he was standing when I shot and all I found was some short white hair,” Johnson said. “I thought maybe I had either grazed him or hit a leg because there was no blood.
“After walking and searching in the woods in the direction the deer had run and finding nothing, I went back to the stand to wait an hour and collect my thoughts.”
The search is on
Believing he had hit the deer, Johnson returned to search some more and was able to find tracks where the deer had run. He also finally found a bit of blood. Realizing that the buck had crossed the creek, Johnson crossed the creek, finding tracks and more blood. Going back to his truck and calling a friend who had a blood tracking dog, he waited until they got there. The dog went straight to the deer at 100 yards, but instead of dying there the buck jumped up.
Fortunately, on his return trip to the truck, Johnson left his Remington in the truck and grabbed the 30.30, which would work better in close quarters than the Remington. That couldn’t have worked out better because when the dog jumped the deer, it ran within 10 yards of Johnson and his 30.30 dropped him.
The buck, estimated to be 4 ½ years old, weighed 195 pounds, sported a rack of 10 points, had bases measuring 4 ½ inches each and main beams at 22 and 23 inches. The inside spread was an impressive 20 inches. The rack was measured by Greg Hicks, Buckmasters official scorer, at an even 140 inches.
