For Anders McGehee of Ruston, a sixth grader at Cedar Creek School, it would be hard to beat what he experienced for his 12th birthday. For starters, his dad took him to Texas a couple of days prior to his birthday to watch the Rangers play a game in the World Series.
That would have been a super special birthday but it didn’t end there. On Oct. 30, two days after he turned 12, Anders put the crosshairs of his scope on an impressive 10-point Lincoln Parish buck to add finishing touches on a birthday that would be hard to duplicate.
Anders’ dad, Dusty McGehee, shared details on what went down that day on 220 acres of family property near Downsville.
“The weather played a big part in me deciding to take Anders hunting as a rain followed by a cool front would likely put the deer on the move, and there was one particular buck I wanted him to have a chance at,” McGehee said.
Night owl
This was a buck that had shown up on trail cameras since the first week in October, but the photos only showed him at night. He was showing up just after dark.
“I knew the buck was bedding down real close to where our box stand was sitting overlooking an overgrown field where we maintain shooting lanes in three directions,” McGehee said. “I had the date, Oct. 30, circled on my calendar because of the predicted cold front and I had a hunch the cooler weather would more likely see him coming out in daylight.
“We usually plant food plots, but because of the prolonged drought we decided against it this year, as it was so dry. Instead, we relied on a gravity feeder. Plus my dad kept piles of corn and rice bran out front of the stand.”
Dusty and Anders arrived at the stand around 4:30 that afternoon, soon after the clouds from the cold front had cleared. The stand is set up in such a way that they could enter it without spooking any deer out on the lanes.
“We hadn’t been in the stand more than five minutes when five does came out to feed,” McGehee said. “A few minutes later, two does and an 8-point buck came out. After feeding awhile, I noticed that the 8-point was staring back toward the woods and I felt like he was hearing another deer. Sure enough, I saw this big rack step out of the woods at 130 yards and I knew it was the one we were after.”
A birthday to remember
Alerting Anders about the approaching buck, McGehee eased the window open and made sure the sandbag was in place to rest the gun. The buck began walking toward the corn pile and at 90 yards, turned broadside.
“I cocked the hammer on his 350 Legend, asked him if he was on him and he said he was, so I gave him the okay to take the shot,” McGehee said. “At the shot, the deer buckled and ran into an overgrown field. I thought I heard him crash but didn’t want to push it. We got down, walked to the spot where the deer was standing and found blood.”
Backing out, the pair went to McGehee’s parents house for an hour. Returning to the area with McGehee’s blood trailing dog, the deer was quickly recovered after running some 90 yards. The buck weighed 187 pounds, was judged to be 4 ½ years old and featured a 16 6/8-inch inside spread. Main beams were 21 and 22 inches with bases 4 ½ inches each.
“That was pretty cool,” Anders added. “I have hunted with my dad for several years and this is the biggest one I ever got. “
The buck was taken to Greg Hicks, official scorer for Buckmasters, and the tape came to exactly 140 inches.