When James Goldman unwrapped a new trail camera for Christmas in 2016, his father told him he could test-drive it in his backyard. The elder Goldman had been feeding birds there, but he’d seen deer tracks as well.
“I wound up putting it on a tree facing his back porch,” the Louisiana hunter said. “I was just hoping to see a doe or two, mainly to check the quality of the photos.”
Neither of the men was prepared for what stepped in front of the lens, a buck wearing at least 20 points!
The following year, James set up two corn feeders behind his dad’s house in Morehouse Parish. The deer they’d drooled over the previous winter was wearing fewer points, but it was still impressive.
It wasn’t camera-shy, but it remained mostly a creature of the night.
The backyard buck’s antlers had a growth spurt in 2018.
“It had so many points that year, I couldn’t count them,” James said. “Among them was a drop tine with several more points sprouting from it.”
Toward the end of October, the deer began visiting the feeders regularly. Soon, however, it broke off half or more of its rack, and James decided to give it a pass.
There would be no pass the next time he saw it in the flesh, in 2019.
After working a week in Canada, James was eager to return and hunt the deer, which had appeared on one of the cameras just before daylight while he was gone. He saw nothing Friday afternoon.
Twenty-four hours later, however, deer were everywhere. Does and a young Romeo wannabe appeared soon after he’d climbed into his stand.
At dusk, he got a quick glimpse at a much bigger buck, he thought.
“I saw it for only a second or two through my riflescope, but I thought it was the big non-typical,” he said.
Indeed it was, and he wasted no time in squeezing the trigger.
“Dad and I counted 20 points on each side. I had never even heard of a 40-point buck,” James said. Thirty-five of them were the requisite inch for scoring purposes.
“My dad and I really enjoyed that journey. I have to say we kind of miss seeing the deer on my trail cam, but at least we can see it on my wall,” he smiled.
The deer has a BTR score of 185 inches.
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