The Ricky Landrem Buck: 202 5/8"; Madison Parish.

Not too long after the Horner buck was taken, I received word of a big deer taken in Madison Parish near Tallulah. Wait, I just talked to a guy from there a few weeks ago. I wonder if they know each other? Yes they do and it turned out that the two deer were taken not far from each other; the land they both hunt joins together to make up a 400 acre tract of hardwoods and CRP fields. On December 18, Ricky Landrem was hunting his land after a long day at work when he smoked a deer that turned out to be one of the largest we’ve done all year. The buck had 16 points, an 18 ¼” inside spread, 24″ main beams, and had 5 ½” worth of mass circling his bases. It grossed 202 5/8″ at L & M Outdoors in West Monroe, LA and was killed on the same tract as Rickey’s buddy Keith Post.

The L.E. Bower Buck: 241 6/8"; Ouachita Parish.

As Christmas came and went, one Ouachita Parish resident got his present a little late, as L.E. Bower of West Monroe, LA took one of the biggest deer to be killed in the state in the last several years. On December 27, L.E. and his family had enjoyed Sunday morning church services, when he decided that he wanted to go hunting that afternoon. Bower arrived at his stand later than he expected that afternoon and started not to take his rifle with him as he settled into his stand. He wanted to scout for his grandchildren’s hunt later on in the season, but his decision to go ahead and take his rifle proved to be the right one, as he took what looked like one of Santa’s reindeer—a 241 6/8″ BTR non-typical 27 point Louisiana whitetail.

The Jessica Blanchard Buck: 159"; Concordia Parish.

Santa dropped off a gift to a St. Martinville, LA huntress as well that day. Jessica Blanchard was hunting her lease in Concordia Parish with her daughter that morning when her daughter had a slight problem. With nature calling the young lady, Jessica had a dilemma on her hands with how to help her daughter’s small situation. As the two sat talking quietly about how they would get relief to the youngster, a huge buck appeared. Jessica shouldered her .270, yelled out in order to stop the deer, and smoked the buck with a 167 yard neck shot. With only four years of hunting under her belt, Blanchard knew just what to do and how to do it in order to take down the 210 lb. 12 point that scored 159″ BTR.