Thanks to Craig Domingue’s 14-year-old son, Cooper, who alerted him to the approach of a trophy buck, he was ready to go when the buck stepped out at 200 yards.
Domingue, 43, lives in DeQuincy and works in the petrochemical refining business. He hunts on a private hunting club in Beauregard Parish.
“I knew about this big buck,” Domingue said. “I have had him on trail cameras for the past couple of years. Last year, his rack was not especially impressive but he blew up this year, gaining probably 35 inches of mass. I actually had seen him a couple of times, while Cooper has had him in sight three times. The buck had been in the move in daylight so I felt I’d have a good chance at him.”
Observing patterns
Domingue hunts off a tripod stand where he has two shooting lanes that end in the woods.
“I had figured the deer out by observing his patterns and knew that he was spending his time around a hill some 500 yards away that was inside the stand of pines,” Domingue said. “With plenty of does around and the rut kicking in, I felt I would have a good chance to get to see him.”
Making the 25-minute drive from his home, Domingue got on his stand before daylight on the morning of Nov. 22. Shortly after daylight, a herd of does came out to his lane and they were followed by an 8-point buck that was harassing the does.
“The buck was a nice one, but I knew it wasn’t the one I was after so I just watched him messing with the does,” Domingue said. “While I was watching them, I got a text from my son who was on another stand located where he could see part of the area I was hunting. He told me the big one was on the move; he had watched him service a doe and then enter the woods headed in my direction.”
Deciding to sit tight
Some 10 minutes after Cooper’s text, Domingue heard a shot; Cooper had shot a doe from his stand.
“I’m thinking maybe I should go help Cooper if he needed to track his doe, but knowing the big buck had entered the woods I was hunting, I decided to sit tight and see if he showed,” Domingue said.
Shortly after Cooper shot, Domingue saw an old doe pop out of the woods in his lane at 200 yards and directly behind her the big buck walked out.
“I knew immediately it was the big one so I put the crosshairs on my 7mm PRC on his shoulder and shot,” he said. “I couldn’t tell which way he ran, so I got down and first went to the right, but there was no sign. Then I walked across the lane to the left and found him piled up at 40 yards.”
The buck sported a non-typical rack of 22 points with heavy mass all the way to the end of the gnarly rack. Inside spread was 18 ½ inches and the buck, which was run down from chasing does, only weighed 155 pounds. The buck was determined to be 7 ½ years old.
Taking the buck to K&K Taxidermy in Reeves, the rack was measured at 155 5/8 inches.
“I have been fortunate so far this season,” Domingue said. “Ten days ago, I shot a 140-inch buck in the same area. Thanks to my son alerting me, I was ready when this big guy stepped out.”