Prayer request answered as fifth grader downs big buck

Aubrey Spinner, 10, of Simmesport was hunting with her family in Avoyelles Parish on Jan. 13 when she downed this trophy 14-point buck.

Ten-year-old Aubrey Spinner is not your normal fifth grader. Rather than spending time on her tablet playing games or listening to music that kids that age listen to, Aubrey is fixated on getting to sit in a deer stand with her dad, praying that a certain big buck steps out and gives her the opportunity to do what she did a year ago, down a fine buck.

“On the afternoon of Jan. 13, Aubrey was in the stand with me when she told me something she had requested prayer for,” said Ben Spinner, her dad. “She is a fifth grade student at Sacred Heart School in Moreauville and she said her teacher asked students if they had any prayer requests, and she asked for prayer that she might be able to get the big 14-point buck we had on camera.”

It was on that exact date a year ago, Jan. 13, 2024, when Aubrey was able to down her first buck, a fine 8-point, from the same stand the two sat on Jan. 13, 2025.

The Spinners live in Simmesport where Ben owns a metal building construction company. He purchased a 250-acre plot of land near where they live and this is where he, his wife and Aubrey do their deer hunting.

“It was just before Christmas that we found the first photos of the big buck on our trail cameras,” Ben Spinner said. “He showed up at night at first but then began being out during daylight. We actually saw him once while we were on the stand but he was too far for a shot. This is when Aubrey claimed the deer for herself.”

The waiting game

On the afternoon of Jan. 13, Ben Spinner got in his box stand around 3 p.m., a stand that overlooks three shooting lanes and a food plot where oats and rye grass are planted. Sitting some 150 yards from the stand is a covered trough feeder he had constructed and which stays filled with rice bran.

“About 3:30, my wife picked up Aubrey from school, dropping her off with me while she hunted in another stand,” Ben Spinner said.

As the afternoon wore on, they saw a few does that came out to feed on the rice bran. At 5:45 p.m., he was looking out one window when Aubrey whispered she was looking at a big buck and she reached for her rifle, a youth model Ruger 7mm.08.

“The buck was behind the trough feeder and we had to sit and watch him there for a good 15 minutes before he made a move,” Ben Spinner said. “He began walking back toward the woods and was quartering away when Aubrey got on him and took a shot. The deer disappeared. She was upset and started crying that she guessed she had missed him. I told her to be patient and we’d go down and see.”

Tears of joy

At the shot, Aubrey’s mom called and came and joined them. They went to the last spot where the deer was seen and were discouraged; not a drop of blood was to be found.

“We began walking down a trail in the direction I thought the deer had run when I could hear him wheezing and I spotted him lying in some palmetto about 50 yards away,” Ben Spinner said. “Aubrey put another shot in him to finish him off and her tears of disappointment turned to tears of joy as all three of us were celebrating.”

The buck carried a rack of 14 points with a 14 ¼-inch inside spread, but heavy mass as the bases were 6 ½ inches each. Main beams were 22 and 23 inches and the buck weighing 210 pounds was aged at 7 ½ years old. Taking it to Simmons Sporting Goods in Bastrop to be entered in that store’s big buck contest, the rack measured 165 4/8 inches.

Aubrey was elated that her prayer request was answered just as she hoped it would be.

About Glynn Harris 536 Articles
Glynn Harris is a long-time outdoor writer from Ruston. He writes weekly outdoor columns for several north Louisiana newspapers, has magazine credits in a number of state and national magazines and broadcasts four outdoor radio broadcasts each week. He has won more than 50 writing and broadcasting awards during his 47 year career.