Courtney Levesque’s family doesn’t see her much during deer hunting season.
That’s because the 40-year-old Garfield Plantation woman hunts every moment she has available, whether it’s 30 minutes before she has to leave for work or all day during time off.
It paid off for her on Friday, when she shot an eight-point buck weighing 211 pounds that catapulted her into the Big Buck Club for the first time.
Being a first-timer in that elite club is prestigious, but this buck has a more special meaning to Levesque.
Her older half-sister Cindy, who loved hunting too, died earlier this year. The sisters would talk the most during deer hunting season, so Levesque has carried a heart made from Cindy’s ashes in her jacket pocket since opening day.
She believes her sister sent her a dream buck.
“Tonight when he came out, I talked to Cindy the whole time. I know she helped me drop him where he stood,” Levesque said. “I’ve never cried over a deer before, but he dropped and I cried.”
Levesque took Friday off heading into Thanksgiving week, which she had taken as vacation time to hunt for deer. She already had passed up three small bucks earlier in the season, deciding to let them mature and grow.
Her husband Jason already had his deer. He had shot a 198-pound buck — just two pounds shy of the 200 needed to join the Big Buck Club — so he accompanied his wife Friday morning.
The two spent hours in their blind. A doe with twins came out. Levesque stood up and looked behind them and saw three deer. A look through her binoculars confirmed one was a big buck and she knew it would be hers.
She moved stuff around in the blind, confusing her husband with her activity. Once she was facing in the right direction, she waited a long time for the buck to move a little closer.
With her lucky gun — a 7mm-08 given to her on her birthday — ready for action, she watched the buck take two steps closer. She dropped him with one shot where he had stood, about 150 yards away from her.
“He dropped so fast I was like ‘where did he go?’,” Levesque said.
When she drove into Gateway Trading Post to register her buck, the parking lot was filled with vehicles of family and friends to help Levesque celebrate and to watch the official weighing.
It was a fitting place for her to tag her prize. Her daughter Averie Smith, 13, was the first to tag her deer at Gateway on the first day of youth hunting. Her other daughter Cayleigh Smith, 16, tagged a spikehorn too.
All four members of the Levesque family have tagged out for the season, Levesque said.
Jason Levesque is having his deer, which is the biggest he has shot thus far, mounted at Pelletier Taxidermy in Fort Kent. It’s also where Courtney Levesque will get a shoulder mount done of her big buck.
Her husband is proud of her accomplishment, although maybe just a little jealous too, Levesque said.
The family plans to continue its hunting tradition of not only deer but also bears, birds and coyotes, among other animals.
“I really love to hunt. It’s not about shooting. It’s about watching the sunrise and sunset and nature. Being outdoors is the best part — besides getting your trophy,” Levesque said.
