A mystery buck caught Tim Brown’s attention on Dec. 2. The 58-year-old outdoorsman lives in Dubach and hunts on a 110-acre lease in Union Parish.
“I woke up at 3:45 the morning of Dec. 2, checked my phone, and to my surprise, I found a photo of a big buck I had never seen on my cameras or in the flesh,” Brown said. “I decided this might be a good day to get on my stand.”
Brown, who works at McKinney Outdoor Super Store in Ruston, grabbed his gear and headed for the lease before daylight to see if the big buck might decide to show up.
“I hunt out of a homemade box stand that overlooks four lanes,” he said. “I walk in on one lane and have feeders at the end of the other three.”
The morning started with a little action; Brown watched three does at one of the feeders out front. As he was checking a lane to the right, something caught his eye on the lane where he walked in.
“I eased my head around and there was a big buck standing there 100 yards away on the lane where I walked in,” Brown said. “He was looking in my direction. This created a bit of a problem because my back was basically to him. My rifle was pointed out a lane to the front, so I had to make a very slow adjustment.”
A position change
Easing his Browning .270 around and slowly turning, Brown was relieved that the buck, which seemed to be looking at him, had not moved.
“I got my scope behind his shoulder, hit the trigger and he took off,” Brown said. “He ran about 40 yards; I watched him fall.”
The buck was a dandy for sure. Sporting a rack of 12 points with an inside spread of 16 1/8 inches, Brown took the buck to Simmons Sporting Goods in Bastrop to enter in that store’s big buck contest. The buck scored 162 3/8 inches, was estimated to be 4 ½ years old and weighed 171 pounds.
“I was a little surprised at his weight thinking he would weigh more, but it was obvious he was run down from chasing does during the rut,” Brown said.
Tim Brown got an early Christmas present by seeing a photo of a big buck for the first time and just a few hours later finding him in his scope and watching him fall.
