Casey Carrington, 47, lives in Forest Hill and works offshore in the oil and gas industry. This is his first year as a member of 3,300 acre MT Trophy Properties hunting club in Sabine Parish. We earlier featured club manager Ryan Masters with his 158 inch 11-point buck downed on Nov. 11, Veteran’s Day.
Carrington, in his first year as a club member, had his Wise Eye cameras out and had multiple photos of a big buck he targeted this season.
“I had been looking for a club to join that had the goal of letting bucks get some age on them before they could be taken,” he said. “With a one buck limit and minimum of 5 ½ years old before it would be legal on the club, this was the club I had been looking for and I was able to join.
“I had hunted on Monday, Nov. 13, and got my first daylight photos of the buck at 5:33 that afternoon. After hunting him all season with no sightings, I felt that with the rut coming on, and since I had the daylight photo, I needed to be on my stand. I had driven home, but I told my wife I needed to go back because I had the feeling something might be about to happen.”
Camera ping delay
Carrington got to the club around noon on Tuesday, Nov. 14, and was walking toward his stand when his phone “pinged;” the camera was showing three does at his feeder.
“There was no way I could walk to my ground blind without being seen by the does so I waited for them to leave,” he said. “After they did, I got to my blind around 12:35.”
Carrington’s blind faces north and sits on an old road that runs through the middle of a year-old clear cut that has recently been replanted and has goat weed growing up on both sides of the road. At the end of the road, 300 yards down range is a hardwood stand running east to west.
“Bucks have been traveling that tree line as a natural corridor,” he said. “I got settled in my ground blind and began slowly scanning with my binoculars the territory out front. As I slowly scanned to the end of the old road, I ceased scanning because there stood the buck.
“When I realized I was looking at the buck I had been after all season, I had to have a conversation with myself to settle down and don’t do anything to blow this opportunity.”
A happy hunter
Carrington has a tripod to steady his rifle and he got his Browning X-Bolt .308 on the tripod as the buck continued to stand there looking toward the feeder.
“I knew 300 yards was a long way but I had recently shot my rifle to be sure it was dead on, so I took a deep breath, slowly let it out as I put the crosshairs just beneath the top of his shoulder and touched the trigger,” Carrington said. “The buck collapsed where he stood. When I looked down there and saw his white belly showing, I just about lost it.
“At first, I was shaking so I couldn’t get my phone out of my pocket to call my wife. I told her I was looking at his white belly. She told me I needed to calm down as she was afraid I’d have a heart attack. I told her that if I did, I’d leave this world a happy man.”
The buck was impressive indeed. Sporting a rack of 12 points, inside spread was 20 ½ inches, main beams were 24 inches each with lots of mass. Bases were over 5 inches each with the final measurement up the rack being over 4 inches. The buck weighed 197 pounds and was determined to be 6 ½ years old. The tale of the tape on measuring the rack resulted in a score of 155 6/8 inches.