It was a rainy morning in Bossier Parish on Nov. 29. I normally hunt from a tree stand, but decided to switch things up and hunt from a box blind to stay dry.
There was an area of mature oak trees that transitioned into a thick understory filled with briars and intense brush. I had shot a 9-point buck about 900 yards to the west the season prior, so I believed in this area. My buddies also hunt nearby and have reported seeing deer consistently.
I snuck into the spot as quietly and quickly as I could. The winds were not entirely in my favor, but I felt reassured with the rain that my scent wouldn’t be an issue, as I’d have a nice shot at any quality bucks before they’d get ahold of my scent. I was also trying to get into the stand early during the downpour so I would be settled in before the rain shower was forecasted to end.
My prioritization of staying dry that morning soon paid off. At 7:37 a.m., during a light drizzle, I noticed through my binoculars in the low light that there was a big-bodied deer stepping out into the shooting lane roughly 80 yards away. The shooting lane was about 15 feet wide. My time to age the buck, aim and shoot was limited. My rifle was pre-positioned down the shooting lane. I quickly lifted the rifle to my shoulder, saw the buck could easily be 200 pounds, put the crosshairs where they belonged on the deer and fired my .308 rifle.
The search begins
I could not see how the deer reacted to the shot from the gunpowder smoke that obscured my view, but I noticed the buck take off running and disappear behind the brush. I knew I had shot a mature buck, but I had no idea if it was an 8-point or a 12-point.
Seconds after shooting the buck, the rain started again. I immediately was worried about the blood trail to recover the deer. The rain lightened back to a drizzle 15 minutes later and I felt slightly relieved, but when I went to check for blood there was none to be seen.
I spent about an hour pacing up and down the shooting lane within 30 yards of where I believed the buck crossed, sometimes on my hands and knees looking for blood. Hours into shooting time I was using a flashlight to help spot blood, as it was hard to see because of the thick overcast clouds. No blood was ever found.
My good friend has a phenomenal tracking dog, but his dog was already actively recovering a buck for someone else that was shot the night prior. I knew it was up to me to find this buck, as the rain was only going to make things worse.
A big reason to celebrate
Finally, after two hours of looking up and down the shooting lane with zero blood, I noticed some leaves were displaced in a straight line. I concluded that’s likely where the buck was standing when he took off running. It was also adjacent to a game trail that the buck was likely traveling, so I headed into the brush following this game trail, pushing thorn branches out of my way. 
My journey came to an abrupt stop after 50 yards off the shooting lane, when my eyes locked onto a massive buck laying in front of me. I went up to the buck and was overwhelmed by the antler rack it was carrying. I studied it and quickly lost my composure when I saw the unique characteristics of its antlers. I knew this might be the biggest buck I would ever shoot in my life. I called my wife, ecstatic about the kill and to inform her that I had recovered the deer.
This hammer of a buck had 12 points, 10 of which were scoreable, had an inside spread of 19 inches, and scored at 156 7/8 B&C. The buck weighed 193 pounds and was aged to be 4.5 years old.
– Taylor Evans
