Michael Hanlon, farmer and cotton consultant in Northeast Louisiana, and three business partners own a prized chunk of real estate in Madison Parish – 1,000 acres of WRP land that has become their hunting headquarters. The property is on the market for sale, but after what happened to Hanlon on opening day of archery season, the foursome could be having some serious second thoughts about selling.
Hanlon, 40, arrowed a buck on the property that could put a kink in a possible sale or at least up the ante somewhat.
“My partners and I had trail cameras out since summer, and in July we got a photo of a monster non-typical buck in a soybean field on the property,” he said. “We only shoot one quality buck each, so as bow season approached I made up my mind that this was the one I was going to put my tag on.”
Hanlon likes to hunt from portable ground blinds — he uses an Ameristep Brickhouse blind — but this year, there were an unusual number of snakes, notably cottonmouths, on the property. To keep from sharing a ground blind with a venomous reptile or two, Hanlon placed his blind atop a raised platform.
“I brushed it to provide added camouflage almost like you would a duck blind,” Hanlon noted. “We stayed at the camp the night before opening day (Oct. 1), and I was anxious to give my new bow, a Hoyt Maxxis, a try the next morning.
“I got in my blind before daylight, and as soon as it got light enough to see I heard a little noise sort of like a wheeze, and saw the big buck feeding on the C’Mere Deer attractant I’d put out. It was a full half hour before it was light enough for me to see my sight pin.”
While Hanlon was nervously waited and watched, another big 10-point buck, probably in the 160-class, along with a couple more bucks, came out to feed.
“By the time it was light enough to see, the other bucks had wandered off, and I was left looking at that monster buck feeding 20 yards from me, quartering slightly toward me,” he said. “Once I could see the sight pin clearly, I put the pin on the vitals and released the arrow. The buck hauled it out of there.”
Hanlon waited for a long two hours before beginning a search for his prize, somewhat concerned that he had to take a quartering rather than broadside shot. When he retrieved his arrow, his concern was confirmed; he saw evidence that although his arrow clipped a lung, it had gotten a lot of gut.
“My buddies joined me around 8:30, and we started looking,” Hanlon said. “We found some old blood but then some fresh blood that told us the buck wasn’t down for good, and we decided to wait.
“That was a long six hours before we began the search again, and finally walked up on him at 12:30 (p.m.) where he fell and died.”
His reaction when he saw the buck up close and personal?
“From the trail cam pictures, I knew he was a buster of a buck, but until I got my hands on those antlers up close, I didn’t know what I had,” Hanlon recounted. “I was in disbelief.”
Hanlon’s buck in full velvet sported 12 points with tremendous mass. Twenty inches of air separated the two sides. The G-2s were 15 and 14¾ inches, and the buck weighed in the 215- to 220-pound range.
“I took the buck to Simmons Sporting Goods in Bastrop entering it in the annual big buck contest, and the score at Simmons was 186 4/8,” Hanlon said. “A couple of seasons back, I shot a big non-typical on adjoining property to ours that scored over 200, but I think I was more excited over getting this one.”
Prime hunting property for sale? I’ll believe it when I see it.
Editor’s Note: If you are interested in buying this property, please contact M. A. Todd Realty at 318.574.0390.
