What do you do when you’re in the stand with your 13-year-old son who is just as anxious to get to shoot a big buck as you are? You count to three and both hit the triggers at the same time.
This is what happened on the morning of Dec. 2 when 53-year-old Scott McMullen and his son, Johnnie, were waiting together in the event their target buck should step out.
Three seasons
McMullen, who works as a Supervisor for the Department of Transportation and Development and lives in Calhoun, is a member of the Shiloh Hunting Club in Union Parish.
“This is a buck I have been hunting for the past three seasons,” McMullen said. “I have had numerous photos of him on my trail cameras but they had always been at night. This is the first year I have seen him on my cameras in daylight. I had him on camera earlier this season and he just disappeared. He was on my camera Tuesday night and Wednesday, I had photos of him during daylight following two does.”
The rut was on, and McMullen found him on camera Thursday morning and again that afternoon, both times in the company of the two does.
“I had Friday off from work so I got in my stand before daylight and sat on the stand all day long, without getting down until after five that afternoon,” McMullen said. “All I saw was a big 4-point; the big one didn’t show.
“Saturday morning, Dec. 2, my wife, my son Johnnie and I went hunting. My wife was on one stand while Johnnie and I were on another. Johnnie was really wanting to get a chance at the big buck and was a little disappointed that I also had my rifle. I told him that if the big one steps out, we’ll both shoot him.”
Like an explosion
Being tired from work and from sitting on the stand all day long, McMullen took the opportunity to take a nap, when Johnnie suddenly reported that he had seen a deer cross the lane.
“He only got a glimpse and couldn’t tell what it was so I got my grunt call and hit it a couple of times,” McMullen said. “Fifteen minutes later, I hit the grunt call again and a doe came out on the lane headed for a feeder we had out. She seemed nervous and was darting around and then a second doe came out. Since the big buck had been hanging out with the two does, I got on full alert.
“Johnnie and I both got our rifles out – I shoot a .300 Weatherby magnum and Johnnie’s gun is a .257 Weatherby magnum – and within 45 seconds, I could see the buck in the woods. He came out, Johnnie and I both got on him and we hit our triggers at exactly the same time. It sounded like an explosion.”
A time for celebration
The buck stumbled and fell about 20 yards away. After high-fiving, the pair got down and went to see their prize. The buck carried 9 points and was unusual in that the inside spread was a mere 11 5/8 inches. However, the rack made up by this deficiency by carrying extreme tine length and mass throughout the rack. The buck weighed 187 pounds and was judged to be 5 ½ years old. Taking the buck to Simmons Sporting Goods to enter in the store’s Big Buck contest, the rack was measured at 157 1/8 inches.
“When Johnnie and I shot at the same time, a buddy hunting on another stand sent me a text and said he thought he had just heard an explosion,” McMullen said. “That’s what those two big Weatherbys going off at the same time sounded like, a big explosion.”