“You have to try to kill these deer in their house and get to ‘em in their house…it’s very hard to do…but when you accomplish it, there’s no greater feeling in the world,” Deon Herpin spoke during Bayou Bucks Season I in reference to public land hunting. And the public land monarch Dusty Rougeau of Eunice, LA killed on November 28, 2009 proved why these words ring eternally true.  Rougeau was hunting Three Rivers WMA during the second morning of the reserve’s annual managed hunt, and the stand he took was a familiar one. For the last four seasons, he had hunted the same tree and knew that one day it would pay off. “We like to get way back in the swamps—away from where most people go. It’s 3.3 miles from where we park to where we hunt,” Dusty said. “There’s no ATV trail going back there, and I’m glad LDWF doesn’t have one,” he chuckled.

Dusty Rougeau of Eunice, LA showcases what the Bayou State's public lands are capable of producing.

Rougeau settled in his stand for that morning’s hunt, and at 6:40 he saw movement close by. A group of wild hogs were moving through the area where he was hunting and he decided that he would take one. After the shot, he sent his friend a text message telling him of the downed pig, and not long after that, the friend sent a text back telling him of another group of hogs headed his way. As Rougeau climbed back into his stand, he started looking in the direction of where the pigs were to be coming from. “I was watching for the hogs and could hear water splashing. Then, all of the sudden, out of my peripheral [vision] I saw movement,” he explained. “I could see it was a deer, and when I grabbed my gun, I bumped my stand. Me and that buck had a stare off for what seemed like ten minutes. When he finally got settled down and comfortable, he put his head down and I raised my rifle.” Rougeau scanned the woods ahead of the roaming buck looking for a clear spot to take the shot; and at 8:30 AM, the roar from his Remington Model 700 .243 brought the beast down in his tracks.

After finally getting the deer to the check station, an official scorer from the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries placed the deer at 162″ B&C even. The main beams were a perfect match at 26 ½” each, and the inside spread spanned 18 ½”. The deer’s weight was just as impressive as the rack—250 lbs to be exact. The agent said that this buck was the best deer to be taken at Three Rivers WMA in 3 years. “This buck has taken me all across the state, from Simmon’s in Bastrop to Bowie’s [Outfitters] in Baton Rouge,” Rougeau laughed.

In riverbottom terrain, older deer will live and travel throughout the thick buttonwood swamps during the day, frequently bedding in the water.

Rougeau and his cohorts have chased bucks in this area since they first started hunting Three Rivers WMA four years ago. “We use pirogues and chest waders to get to our areas. Those bucks might leave sign in the pretty woods, but they live and get old in those buttonwood swamps during the day,” Rougeau stated. In many areas they hunt, visibility is not beyond 50 yards. “They use the [buttonwood] sloughs as travel corridors, and this buck was no different. He came out of the swamp and hit that slough, following it down to my stand,” he explained. “The rest is history!”

Deer of this size are impressive to take on private land, but when it comes off of public land, it’s monumental. The amount of pressure from other hunters, lack of restrictions or rules for protecting immature deer, and the lack of bait make taking a nice deer on public land quite an accomplishment. Put Dusty Rougeua down in the book as another one of the elite few who’s done what many public land hunters dream of—downing one of our WMA’s swamp sentinels. You never know; the way this year’s going, it probably won’t be the last we hear of the the Bayou State serving up one of her giants.