By Glynn Harris
Daniel Colvin has a knack of waylaying big bucks on family property in Union Parish. Last year, he gave himself a super Christmas present when on December 25, he downed a big 10 point buck that scored over 150 inches of antler mass.
Could he match that this year? He absolutely could because on November 12, he had an encounter with another big buck on his family’s property. However, the circumstances relating to this buck were quite different from last years. Last Christmas, he was sitting on a stand when the big 10 point stepped out. This year, the scenario completely changed.
On Monday afternoon a couple of weeks ago, Colvin had planned to walk to his stand on a pipeline hoping for a chance at a big 140-plus inch 8 point he had on camera. However, steady rain created a change in plans; he chose a more comfortable and weather-proof spot to sit. He went back to camp, pulled up a chair in the living room of the camp, opened a window to watch rain patter down on a six-acre food plot in front of the camp. He made a wise decision when a big 13 point buck he had never seen appeared.
“With it starting to rain a steady drizzle, I decided not to walk to my other stand; didn’t want to get my rifle wet. Instead,” said Colvin, “I decided to stay dry at the camp and see what might decide to visit the food plot.
Colvin is a commercial fisherman, netting and selling catfish from nearby Corney Creek. Along with his dad, he also buys and sells land. The camp sits on 1300 acres in Union Parish, land that belongs to his family.
“My decision to hunt from the camp was strictly based on the steady rain. I really wanted to see if the big 8 point might step out as the rut is kicking in around this area. My best bet, I thought, was to stay dry and comfortable at the camp and hope that maybe the one I had my eye on might decide to show up on the food plot,” he said.
The six acre food plot is planted with winter wheat, clover and turnips. Deer that come out on the plot pay no attention to the camp at all.
“I pulled up a chair in the living room, raised the window and got comfortable.
After awhile, two does came out to the food plot and started feeding. Then a spike appeared and gave evidence he was interested in the does. They paid him no attention and he stopped harassing them and also began feeding,” Colvin said.
About 20 minutes before dark, Colvin got a surprise when a big buck, one he had never seen nor had ever showed up on his game cameras, walked out to his right at about 50 yards and ran at a half trot toward where the does were feeding 150 yards away.
“As I watched him trot toward the does, I knew this was a totally different deer, one I had never seen nor had a trail camera photo of. When I saw his rack, I knew this was one I was going to shoot. I got my gun out on the window ledge and when he stopped at 150 yards and turned broadside, I hit the trigger on my Remington 25-06 and he dropped in his tracks,” he added.
The buck which weighed in the neighborhood of 160 pounds, sported a rack consisting of 13 points.
“The rack was really impressive. Both G2s were split, the tines were quite long and the inside spread was 18 1/8 inches. There was sort of a triple crab claw on the end of one main beam. The rack wasn’t too massive but the tine length and points added up to a gross score of 151 3/8 inches,” Colvin said. The buck was estimated to be 4 ½ years old.
When Plan A gets washed out, there’s nothing like having Plan B in the bag, one much more comfortable and one that Colvin found worked quite nicely in his favor.