Normand’s big non-typical green scores 176 3/8 inches Boone and Crockett
Glendon Normand didn’t waste any time getting to his box stand in Avoyelles Parish after reviewing trail cam photos at lunchtime on Jan. 5.
The pictures revealed a huge, heavy-horned buck in his shooting lane the evening before, so Normand headed out in cold, drizzly conditions that Sunday afternoon to see if the deer would be back.
The 38-year-old commercial contractor actually spooked some deer getting into his stand around 2:30, and watched as does and several nice bucks gathered to feed around the piles of rice bran, corn and beans he put out.
“I was waiting on him,” Normand said. “I had a bunch of nice bucks, with a 10-point in there, too, but I wanted him.”
Normand was positioned along a highline overlooking a cutover near Lake Ophelia, and the big buck didn’t disappoint when he appeared about 4:15.
“I had looked left, and when I glanced back he was just standing there at about 200 yards looking at my box stand,” he said. “When I turned back to look, he was standing there facing me on the edge of the lane.
“I said, ‘That’s him, without a doubt.’ And he just eased on through and followed his way to those does.”
Normand readied his .270 as the deer made his way to about 175 yards.
“I knew it was time to close the deal then,” he said. “I opened my windows and took my time with him.
“I let him get broadside, and he fell right there.”
The buck had 17 points, and was green scored non-typical at 176 3/8 inches Boone and Crockett. He had a 19 ¾-inch inside spread, with 6- and 6 ½-inch bases and weighed 190 pounds.
His brow tines are heavily palmated, with the right one featuring numerous points in all directions.
He looked even more impressive in person than his trail cam pictures, Normand said.
“Actually, that’s the first deer I ever walk up on that grew, because I knew he had some trash in his horns, but I didn’t think he had that much,” he said. “Usually when you walk up to them, you think, ‘Aw, I thought he was better than that.’
“But this one here, he blew my mind when I walked up on him.”
Another mind-blowing tidbit from the hunt was a doe’s reaction when the 17-point crumpled into the feed she was eating next to him.
“When he fell, the doe just picked her head up, looked around and kept eating,” Normand said with a chuckle. “They were so deep in the rut, their minds were just crazy. They didn’t know what was going on.”
Don’t forget to enter photos of your bucks in the Nikon Big Buck Photo Contest to be eligible for monthly giveaways and the random drawing for Nikon Monarch binoculars at the end of the contest.
Read other stories about big bucks killed this season by clicking here.
