John Griffith hit this Louisiana whitetail a year ago, but was unable to recover it. This year, he finished the deal.
November 26, 2024
By Clifford Neames
“I like to hunt mature deer, but I wasn’t expecting a Booner-sized 8-point to show up,” John Griffith said describing his Louisiana trophy buck.
John keeps cell cameras out in hopes he can find something special. In late-December of 2021, he spotted a buck that fit the bill just right, but after only one nighttime picture the buck was gone like a January Christmas tree.
“I wasn’t sure where he went," Griffith added. "Then he showed up in the middle of the next summer on my cameras every night.
The mysteriously behaving big buck was hanging with another mature 10-point — both were worthy candidates for his wall. By fall, both deer were daylighting and John’s hunt began. When a cool October front blew in, he managed to get off a shot at the monster 8, but his arrow hit high in the shoulder. After a short trail, John lost blood.
Griffith began the hunt for this buck in 2021. “I was concerned he might die,” John said. “Then, a month later he showed up again in my pics and you could see he was healing.”
Possibly because of the wound, the buck shed his antlers very early before beginning to show up on every hunt for the rest of the season.
“It was crazy how many times I passed him then,” John laughed. “It was like he knew I would not shoot him without the big rack!”
The big buck disappeared after the season ended, and once more John was concerned that he might have died. This match, however, wasn’t over yet.
“I was at a wedding in mid-October and there he was again — out in full daylight,” Griffith said. “And this time he was bigger and better than ever!”
Griffith's buck was 8 1/2 years old and scored 182 7/8 inches — a mark that got very close to the Louisiana state archery record. The giant buck was sporting the biggest 8-point rack that John had ever seen, and it had added a small droptine at the end of the left beam.
The next day, he set up on the edge of a big soybean field. From his lock-on he could survey hundreds of yards of field edge. In another surprise, the buck obliged John by walking out and offering a 26-yard quartering-away shot. John put an arrow though him, but hit way back before watching him run across 300 yards of field and disappear on the other side.
“I called my step-dad to come help me look, but the trail was short. The buck was just in the edge of the woods,” John remembered. “I got so excited when we found the deer that I tackled him!”
The massive 8 1/2-year-old buck pulled the scales down to 270 pounds and scored 182 7/8 inches — perilously close to the state archery record. After deductions it should easily exceed the Boone and Crockett minimum, but John has held off on entering it.
“There may be a better one out there,” he joked!
