DEEP TALK 101
Like most hunters, Louisiana’s James McMurray would love to have a huge private lease where he could hunt lightly pressured deer. But then again, maybe he wouldn’t. McMurray has always hunted public land and has done pretty well. One morning in particular stands out.
He was hunting Big Lake Wildlife Management Area in the Tensas Parish on a cold January day. Unfortunately, when he arrived at his chosen spot, hunters were already there. Moving to his second spot, McMurray slung his rifle over his shoulder and headed out. In his hands were a pair of rattling antlers he’d made from a 6-point buck he killed earlier that season.
McMurray had done quite a bit of grunting over the years, but had just taken up rattling. “I’d been in the woods about an hour and had rattled two or three times,” he said. “I’d grunt, rattle some, then wait about 15 minutes. When I first saw the buck it was more than 100 yards away, coming through the timber and thick brush. It was a little after 9 a.m. He was a long way off and the cover was thick.”
Rattling softly now with the deer in
