Andy Harrison had a decision to make on the afternoon of October 17. He was supposed to pick up his 3-year-old, Cooper, but his thoughts were on a big 10-point buck that he’d had on trail cameras for weeks. He knew where the buck was hanging out and had a feeling in his gut that the buck would come out this afternoon.
However, Cooper’s grandparents came to the rescue and looked after the youngster while Harrison headed to his lock-on stand on 1900 acres of land his father-in-law manages for private owners who live out of state.
“I knew about this deer. In fact,” Harrison said, “I let him go last season when he was a 3 ½-year-old 8-point that measured probably 120 inches or so.”
The property Harrison was hunting in Union Parish is a mixture of hills and hollows, pines and hardwoods and backs up to Corney Creek. His stand is along an old road left after loggers clear cut a tract several years ago. The road is adjacent to a tract of hardwoods.
“After walking in probably 400 yards, I got into my stand which is a Gorilla lock-on I secured 20 feet high up a big pine which gives me a good view of the area. I settled into my stand around 5:30,” said Harrison, who was armed with his Matthews Chill-R bow and Easton arrows tipped with Rage 2 broadheads.
Letting younger bucks walk
Trail cameras are kept out and monitored throughout most of the year and Harrison keeps protein feed out to improve the quality of the deer in the area. He and other family members who hunt the area have agreed to let bucks get some age on them by passing on younger bucks.
“We are under the LADT (Louisiana Antlerless Deer Tag) program and have plenty of doe tags and we work on them pretty much during the season which results in plenty of venison while we pass on young bucks,” Harrison said.
As Harrison sits in his stand overlooking the area on a mild October afternoon, he heard a deer walking in the hardwoods.
“I couldn’t tell at first what it was but listened as he walked past me and then he stepped out at 10 yards,” Harrison said. “About that time, a doe walked out onto the lane and I had my eye on her to be sure she wouldn’t spook and the hunt would be over. However, she never gave evidence of knowing something was wrong so I concentrated on the deer walking in the woods near my stand. I saw it was the buck I was after and when he stepped out at 10 yards, I was able to draw on him and wait until he gave me a quartering shot, I released the arrow and knew I had made a good hit.”
Watching and listening, Harrison heard the buck as he ran into a tree and crashed. The buck, with 10 symmetrical points, sported an inside spread of 18 ¼ inches with 24-inch main beams, 10-inch G2s and bases around 4 ½ inches each. The 4 ½-year-old buck weighed 180 pounds and was scored by Buckmaster official scorer, Greg Hicks, with 148 inches of antler.
