Carey Kimball and nephew, Ronnie, pose with Carey's monster Terrebonne Parish buck.

Matthew “Skewerer” Debnam is the Managing Editor for Bayou Bucks Magazine and the author of this story. His style of writing is what has helped BBM excite hunters statewide. This is just a small sample of his work and is as enjoyable to read as any he’s done before. 

48-year-old Carey Kimball is a man that works hard and hunts hard. A Louisiana State Trooper with Troop C, Kimball put in a long night on the job before battling the infamous mosquitoes of the Terrebonne Parish swamps on a December 14, 2011 evening deer hunt that he will never forget. Perseverance and a little bit of luck played roles in his chance at a buck of a lifetime.

Growing up, Kimball hunted small game such as squirrels, rabbits, and ducks with his family. However, when the daily bag limit for ducks was reduced in the early 90s, Carey decided to try his hand at deer hunting. Several friends showed him the ropes, which involved learning to hunt the challenging terrain. He explained, “Basically, you’ve got ridges in the front and along the backs of [sugar] cane fields, and then it turns into swamp.” The ridges were once lined with mature hardwoods that produced bumper crops of acorns. However, hurricanes had taken a toll over the years: “Andrew tore up our oak trees bad. We had some huge trees that were toppled over, and it’s been steadily downhill from all the other storms. It’s basic south Louisiana woods that were once beautiful, but now they’re dying and sinking,” he remarked. What acorns that were left were often vacuumed up by an exploding population of feral hogs.

Hoping for a change of scenery, Kimball was delighted when a good friend invited him to hunt on a piece of private land adjacent to his Terrebonne Parish lease. Having worked the night shift until 6.a.m. on Wednesday, December 14^th, Carey took a short nap before rounding up with his hunting buddy to scout the property. The temperatures were warm and the wind was swirling unpredictably. Most of the stand locations were quickly ruled out due to the unruly conditions.

Thinking quickly for a ‘Plan B’, Kimball’s host had an idea and said, “You know what? I got a ladder that I put at the edge of the swamp two years ago, and I haven’t been to it since then. Nobody’s been to it because I’m the only one that knows about it. Let’s go walk to it.” After making it to the stand, the two hunters began clearing fallen branches off of the platform and looking for deer sign. Kimball liked what he saw: “You could see where they had one steady trail at one time, and there were some leaves covering it up. But, you could still see some fresh tracks in the leaves. There were also two little buck rubs.”

Except for the irregular point you see here, the bucks rack is as symmetrical as they come.

After leaving the area and heading back to the cane field, Carey noticed it was 3:50 p.m. He told his friend, “We’re going to need to make a move if we’re going to hunt.” The two quickly made plans for the evening hunt. Kimball would return to the ladder stand while his friend would sit in a nearby box stand. Upon getting set up in the ladder, he began to question his decision. “I sent my buddy a text message saying, ‘The wind is screwed up over here because it’s sort of swirling. One minute it’s hitting me in the side and then in the back of the neck.’ I said, ‘It might not be good, but I’m gonna stick it out.’”

Fifteen minutes before dark, the local community of mosquitoes made their presence known in a big way. Kimball explained, “It’s unbelievable how bad the mosquitoes are. It’s just miserable hunting until it’s freezing which is not too often. And when it’s freezing cold, you’re still going to have a few mosquitoes buzzing around your head.” While the hunter had forgotten his gloves and facemask, he did manage to bring a Thermacell. Still, he was hesitant to start it as the loud click could potentially spook nearby game. Finally, after swatting pesky mosquitoes for what seemed like forever, Kimball stood up in frustration. On the verge of leaving, he talked himself into staying for the last 15 minutes of shooting light. Digging some bug spray out of his fanny pack, Kimball doused his hands, neck, and face which brought temporary relief from the onslaught. “I figured I had a better chance of them not smelling me than them seeing me from waving my hands from trying to get the mosquitoes off of me,” he explained.

Only a couple of minutes after sitting back down, things began to get interesting for the waiting hunter. “I heard something roughly 40 yards in front of me, like a branch pop. Then, immediately after, I heard a steady walking. I could hear [the deer] coming at an angle to me. As soon as he stepped out I could see 3 tall tines, and I could see the body.” Kimball had seen enough and readied his gun. “I held pretty high on his shoulder because he was in the open, and I dropped him right there,” he said.

Upon approaching the fallen buck and realizing he’d just killed a once-in-a-lifetime deer, Kimball was overcome with excitement. “When I walked up and saw how big he was, I could barely dial my phone,” he laughed. Once his hunting buddy arrived, the two exchanged numerous high-fives and hugs and began making calls to friends and family with the good news. “By the time we got out of the woods to the front by the road, we had so many people there waiting. It was like the deer paparazzi were out! The hunting world came alive,” Kimball chuckled.

Indeed the buck was a sight to behold. Aged at five and a half years, the mainframe 10 point has been gross scored by three different measurers between 169” and 171”. Kimball believes that low water levels combined with the efforts of local cane farmers to eradicate nuisance hogs played a big part in allowing a buck of this caliber to reside in the swamps of Terrebonne Parish. Perhaps the biggest factor, admitted the elated hunter, was the role played by Lady Luck: “Deer hunting is a skill. You’ve got to start by looking for sign, but I tell you one thing almost 80% of it is luck if not more.”