Lane Cox, who works as loan officer for the Ruston branch of Winnsboro State Bank, wanted to be in his stand when a big buck he had been after stepped out.
“My wife, Becca, was returning from a trip to South Louisiana and I usually meet her as soon as she gets home,” Cox said. “However, when I got out of church Sunday, my phone ‘pinged’ and there stood the big buck I had been hunting hard; he was standing right by my stand. I called Becca, told her the situation, and she agreed that I should be on my stand the next day, Oct. 19, to give me a chance at this big buck.”
The buck Cox was after had been showing up on his cameras on the hunting club where he holds membership, Winter Quarters near St. Joseph in Tensas Parish.
“He had really blown up this year, and I had started getting photos of him beginning in August, so in September I started feeding him corn and rice bran,” Cox said. “On Oct. 1, I was walking to my stand before daylight with my red light on. I looked over toward my camera and there stood the buck at 20 yards; he never ran off but it was before legal shooting hours so all I could do was watch him. Then a pecan fell from a tree, made a noise and he took off.”
Making necessary changes
Cox got on his saddle stand but never saw the buck again that day. Making adjustments, Cox moved his camera to a trail closer to his stand to see if the buck was coming from a different spot. Sure enough, he was, necessitating the relocation of his stand. Then came the picture he got at church on his phone.
Sunday afternoon, Cox was on the stand and the buck showed up past legal shooting hours so he had to pass.
“I got on my stand Monday morning, Oct. 19, and saw a bunch of deer, but the big buck didn’t show,” he said. “I felt like, though, this was the day when the buck would made a mistake, so after going back to camp for lunch and a short nap, I was back on my stand around 2 p.m.
“As soon as I got on my stand, I started seeing deer, including one of the bucks the big one had been running with, so I knew he had to be close by. I had a bunch of deer around me. I began hearing different footsteps, and sure enough, it was the big buck; he came out and stopped at 15 yards.”
A good shot
Although Cox usually shoots his compound bow, and he had it with him in the stand, he knew with so many deer around he would have difficulty drawing his bow, so he took along his dad’s Carbon Express crossbow.
“When the buck stopped at 15 yards, I shot and he took off,” Cox said. “I knew I had made a good shot on him and heard him crash at 50 yards.”
The buck was a main frame 10-point with an inside spread of 21 3/8 inches. The smallest measurement along the length of the antlers was 4 ½ inches, main beams were 27 and 28 inches; bases were 5 ½ inches and the age was determined to be 6 ½. The buck weighed 235 pounds. The tale of the tape measured the rack at 168 3/8 inches.
“This was not only my biggest archery buck but the biggest one I ever got, period,” Cox said. “And I have my wife Becca to thank for giving me the okay to hunt that big rascal.”
