Ohio Public Land
- Thread starter DKO
- Start date
Little Big Man MT Chris
Well-known member
great buck
dcopas78
Well-known member
Good buck. Hard to come by on public land in Ohio
johnp
Well-known member
congratulations, you pulled a rabbit out of a hat !
pointingdogsrule
Well-known member
CONGRATS!!!!!!!!!
good luck to all
the dog
good luck to all
the dog
JohnCushman
Well-known member
Nice buck!
Southwind
New member
Well done, bagging him on public ground makes it really gratifying. He will look great on the wall.
bowhuntmontana
Well-known member
Beautiful deer. Congratulations.
RUT JUNKEY
Well-known member
Congrats..nice buck!
The first 96 hours of this hunt was a pure public land sh!t show, as Elkoholic mentioned warm weather a terrible wind for the area I was hunting and no shortage of other hunters. The weekend was a zoo and a crappy SW wind kept me away from where I was hoping to hunt. I committed to this area over the summer after seeing two studs in velvet within a 3sq mile area, this area is very tough to hunt, very difficult to navigate and very hard to keep to yourself. I established two routes of travel to the specific area I had hoped would give me the best opportunity at killing one of these deer. After seeing guys setup literally on top of the sign and with the bad wind I felt confident that they weren’t going to see the same deer I had seen in the summer, it’s too thick and these public land bucks are too smart. So I hunted plan B with no success after a few straight days of warm temps the upcoming forecast gave me some hope. We were to get rain and some cooler temps to follow, but more importantly the right wind direction, Thank God! I got into my area well before daybreak and with extremely high hopes. A friend that hunts the same area ran a trail camera for a few days in early Sept. and we got very lucky as both bucks became photo stars! One of the deer became my sole focus, I called him brow tines, I typically do not name deer but this one was special and proved to be very worthy of an entire season dedicated to him. On the drive in I saw 3 small bucks dead on the side of the highway which told me that the Rut was near. So I get to one of my parking spots nobody there hmm ok cool! So I wanted to see if there was anybody at the other spot knowing I would go in that way if no one was there. I pulled in and again nobody was there. My mind went into auto-overdrive thinking no way they killed those deer, could they have? After waffling back n forth I told myself, no way, these deer were too smart to fall for a guy hunting literally 15yrds from the big rub. So I made my way into my area and climbed into my perch. As the sun started to rise and fog lifted I caught movement in a big open bottom that I can see at a distance, it was a big doe. Seconds later, things changed as I watched a buck appear behind her, he wasn’t dogging her but he was following her and it wasn’t either of the bucks we had seen earlier huh? After realizing this and knowing I wasn’t going to get a shot I grabbed my cell and snapped the grainy picture of the deer. After a few moments I realized that my leg was shaking?? Buck fever?? No way! So tough guy sat there denying the reality until I regained my composure. After seeing the deer I had told myself I’m going to sit all day after many hours of nothing my hopes were fading but since I had taken a photo of the buck I kept looking at it saying to myself give it one more hour. After about 8 solid hours I was physically and mentally drained and questioned my ability to stay all day! After an encouraging txt from my wife I decided to stick it out. With the sun now starting to fall in the sky, I got a second wind and was back in the game. It was about 40 min before sunset when I caught movement in the thick briars in front me, I could make out an antler then a nose. At that moment I could hear every breath I was taking and was starting the tremble, oh no not again, I quickly took a few deep breaths and calmed myself. I kept repeating in my head don’t look at his antlers, concentrate and pick a spot, just pick a spot behind the shoulder and hold and release. After what seemed like an hour (probably 3-5min) he tipped his head twitched his tail and started towards my shot window. I was thinking that I may have to stop him but for some reason he got quartering away at 23yrds and stopped perfectly, it was like a TV show shot! The next 2 minutes happened in slow motion. As I drew, anchored, held tight behind the shoulder and released, I watched every foot of that arrow’s flight as it impacted and buried behind his shoulder. At first he just stood there like a perfect miss, then I detected a slight wobble. I kept saying go down, go down, he didn’t and pitched in to the briars out of my sight, again it was seconds that seemed like hours but then I heard the tell-tale crash. The next 20min I sat there shaking from the adrenaline rush and in disbelief of what just happened. It took me 4 hours to get him and my gear out the woods, although exhausted, I had a grin that wasn’t going away anytime soon!
Here’s the buck I called brow tines:
Here’s the buck I called brow tines:
I would like to say it was my awesome hunting skills but it was purly luck and I'd rather be lucky than good anyday!
There are some great bucks to be found in Ohio but be prepared to work for them and wish for a little luck to go your way, but from one mainiac to another a little help goes along way so when you get ready I will be happy to help steer you in the right direction.
