A lieutenant at Tangipahoa Parish Sheriff's office, Daniel Sharkey chased this whitetail through southeast Louisiana's piney woods for 5 years before catching up with it in December of 2021.
With a Buckmasters score of 198 1/8 inches, the 17-pointer is the largest buck harvested in Tangipahoa Parish, and its runner-up isn't even close.
"There isn't another one like him that's been killed around here," Daniel told Buckmasters. "It's a freak of nature for southeast Louisiana. They don't grow this big down here; it's mostly plantation pines and cutovers since the dairy industry fell out."
Hurricane Ida was a category 4 storm that made landfall in Louisiana at the end of August 2021, and it brought cold fronts earlier than usual, which Daniel believes might have increased deer movement.
Daniel harvested this county record 300 yards from his back porch with his .35 Whelen during a calm, north wind.
The rack's left beam splits at the 5 7/8-inch base and features a 21-inch beam with three irregular points.
Buckmasters scorer Cecil Reddick measured this Cajun critter in March 2022.
You can read the full story of Daniel's big buck in Rack Magazine's 2023 Summer issue.
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