This whole story started in the winter of 2007. My family and friends have a weekly cornhole tournament, and one Wednesday while talking hunting (a main conversation piece), my cousin went and got a unique shed out of his truck. The shed was a basic 4 point with the addition of a kicker coming of the G-2. We didn't give this too much thought until the summer of 2008. One of my buddies had recently set up a deer camera in the area of where the shed antler was found. He had gotten some pictures a few nice bucks, but could only view them on the little screen on the inside panel of his stealth cam. It took them a few weeks to get the right cords for the job. What the pictures ended up showing created a legend in our small town. For the next few months of summer, the pictures kept rolling in (300+ altogether). The sightings started to happen as well. Every so often he could be seen feeding in distant bean fields, and a few times he was seen crossing the road in front of cars at night. But once September rolled around, he was gone. Nobody knew where he went, no pictures were taken and many of us feared he either dispersed to another area or had been killed. That all changed on October 25th. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-AY84OGAUhU http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZcYzEXP8LmI That close encounter (I had him at 15 yards but no shooting lanes through overhanging branches) was the first of 3 sightings during hunting season (the only by me however). On the 3rd day of Ohio's gun season, he was sighted in a field right before nightfall. And on the 3rd day of Ohio's late muzzle-loader season, he was again sighted in a distant field. Now assuming that he survived that last day of Ohio's muzzle-loader season, he should still be roaming my hunting grounds. If i don't get the opportunity to harvest him during the late season, then my next goal would be to find his awesome sheds so that we could get a rough score on him. Ive heard estimates in the range of 160" all the way up to 190" on this bad boy. And his age has been a big debate as well, some believe him to be 3 1/2 and others up to 5 1/2 years old. There is only one way to be sure though :evil:
Awesome, awesome whitetail! I would be shocked if that deer is 3.5. I think summer pics throw a lot of people off. My first thought was 5.5 when I watched the video, but I'm no biologist. It must have been something to see him on stand.
That certainly is the kind of buck that could make a guy lose some sleep!!!! Not many NT in my area, so that is the stuff dreams are made of to me.
Sweet buck, great encounters, lasting memories. It is what makes hunting so enjoyable. Congrats on catching that guy on film, both movie and trail-cams. Good luck finding those sheds!!! Keep us updated.
Wow! What a buck! He has one heck of a spread. You've done a great job documenting him. Being able to follow a buck like that, like you have is probably the biggest pleasure I have in hunting. Doesn't get much better than building a history and doing whatever it takes to put an arrow through him. Good luck, and thanks for the post!
Great history and story to tell with that monster. I wish you the best of luck finding his bone and again next fall.
Thats one true giant Caleb! Let me know if you need any help hunting him, i'll come on down anytime!:d
Yes sir. In the last week some buddies and me went out 4 times, searching 4 pieces of property two times apiece. Didn't find a single piece of bone. The snow is really melting today though, so we will probably hit up another local piece of ground.
Keep at it Bro. Nothing would be sweeter than seein you bring home all of him to show the rest of us!
Yeah, I would love to see one of his sheds. I remember that close encounter you had with him this past fall. What a monster. Good luck on the shed hunt, and hopefully we see him down next season.
Ive been out 4 times over the past weeks looking for his bone, but ive come up empty handed. He spends his summers and winters on a farm that nobody has hunting access too, all the trail cam pictures my buddy got this summer are on the border of this farm. Only during the rut have we actually seen him away from this farm (when i got my video and a few nighttime road crossings). Thats going to be my best chance of putting him down next year.
Just the shear feeling of having a close encounter with that bruiser has to be full filling good luck with that stud of a buck
