Big Buck 411 Blog

Piano Man

Piano Man

By Mike Handley

The rattling bag Geoffrey Henry bought just prior to Louisiana’s Oct. 1, 2017, bow opener was worth every penny.

The security guard from Start, Louisiana, picked it up at Simmons’ Sporting Goods in Bastrop, after a couple of buddies in the store’s archery shop suggested the tactic.

Geoffrey first became aware of the deer when he retrieved a partial trail camera image of it in July. He could see only a bit of the thick, point-studded beams, but he was smitten.

“I had to get him,” he grinned.

The enormous whitetail had a smaller traveling companion, a buck that might’ve received plenty of attention any other year.

Although Geoffrey was working the graveyard shift the night before opening day, he left work at 5 a.m. and went immediately to his treestand. He couldn’t wait to try his hand at deerspeak.

“I did that opening day, and I didn’t see anything. So I didn’t do it the second day,” he said.

Geoffrey didn’t have to work on Oct. 3, so he was in his stand between 30 and 40 minutes before sunrise. He pulled the memory card from one of his cameras en route to the tree, and the card showed his dream buck had passed through there at 4 a.m.

“I figured he was bedding pretty close by,” Geoffrey said.

“Around 7:45, I blew my grunt call for a couple of minutes, real low, then I did some light rattling with my bag. I was trying to sound like two small bucks pushing and shoving.”

A few minutes later, a buck – Geoffrey was sure it was the bull of the woods’ buddy – ran to within 20 yards of his setup. He was astounded because he’d never lured bucks of that caliber.

He knew he might not get another chance to stand if he didn’t rise when the young buck looked away, so he eased upright as soon as feasible, a smart move.

“When I stood and looked down, that big buck was about 40 or 50 yards away, and he just came barreling in there, too,” he said.

The younger buck eventually turned and walked through an opening at 35 yards, and Geoffrey drew his Mathews bow in anticipation of the big one taking the same path.

It was straight-up 8:00 when he loosed his arrow.

The deer’s BTR score is 202 3/8 inches.

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