The Foti family from Lafayette scored an impressive “triple play” Dec. 18 in Tensas Parish, downing three bucks in a matter of a couple of hours on Winter Quarters hunting club.
Jared Foti, a Lafayette attorney, shared the story of how his wife, Ashley, his brother, Chris, and his dad, Jerome, hit the trifecta that afternoon.
“It really started the day before on Thursday, Dec. 17. My brother, Chris, and I had hunted a stand together and we were wrapped up with deer, seeing probably 30 overall,” Foti said. “Some small bucks were chasing does and we had a favorable north wind that was right for the stand we were hunting.”
The next morning, the wind direction had changed and was blowing out of the south. Jared called his wife, Ashley, and suggested that she take off work at noon and head to Winter Quarters for a hunt that afternoon because, as he said, “we’re on a bunch of deer right now.”
“When Ashley arrived, she and I headed for the stand where we had seen all the deer the day before, although the south wind was not working in our favor,” he said. “Chris had gone to a different stand and within five minutes after getting into our stand, we heard Chris shoot. He texted me reporting that he had shot a really nice buck.”
Ashley gets her buck
Then it was Ashley’s turn. After getting into the stand, Ashley and Foti were in the stand with the unfavorable wind direction and the deer didn’t show up, at least not until late that afternoon.
“Right around 5:00, we saw a doe come out far down the field from us and right behind him a big buck stepped out at about 325 yards,” Foti said. “Ashley got on him, aimed a bit high to compensate for the distance and hit the trigger. The buck humped up and took off across the field and we saw him stop and tip over at about 400 yards.”
Now it is dad’s time to shine and Jerome did, thanks to having his partner, Jared Foti’s 7-year-old son, Luke, with him.
“It’s starting to get rather late and Ashley and I started walked down to where her buck had fallen,” Foti recalled. “As we were admiring the buck and taking photos, we heard dad shoot. Ashley looked at me and said ‘there’s no way we could have tripled.’ I tried calling him and got no answer so I knew dad was on to something.”
Jerome shared with Foti what had happened, telling him that as it was getting late, he had stood up and began gathering his gear to vacate the stand when Luke said “Paw, there’s a big buck trying to cross the road!”
“Dad got the binoculars on him confirming this was a good buck, picked up his rifle and got on the buck just before he left the road to enter a grass patch,” Foti said. “Dad shot but had no idea which way the deer ran.”
Grandson is big help
Young Luke was his granddad’s “eyes” and he told Jerome what had happened, saying the buck had spun around and run back in the direction from which it had come. Luke could see his antlers sticking up above the grass for awhile.
“Dad drove to us to pick up Ashley’s buck and Chris’ buck before headed back to where he had shot his deer,” Foti said. “Thanks to Luke, we were able to find blood where dad had shot and after searching for a few minutes, we found his buck piled up.”
Here’s the skinny on these three big Tensas parish bucks taken by the Foti family within a period of just over two hours. Ashley shot an 8-point measuring 135 6/8 inches weighing 240 pounds; Chris’ buck was an 8-point weighing 215 pounds and measuring 136 3/8 inches, while Jerome’s buck was a 10-point, measuring 140 3/8 inches and weighing 245 pounds.
“Of all these, I’m more proud for my dad because this is the biggest buck he has ever taken,” Foti said. “It wouldn’t have happened had Luke not been such a good guide for my 66-year-old dad.”
All together, the trio of bucks weighed some 700 pounds with total inches of antler measuring 412 inches-plus. Not bad for a 2 ½ hour hunt.
