Doug Crabtree - 2003 Ohio Deer Hunt 
 
In the middle of August I started watching deer for the upcoming 2003 Ohio deer season. The Ohio bow season would on Oct. 4th and it couldn’t get here soon enough. I located several bucks which were feeding on soybeans and clover nightly. There were four shooter bucks all scoring over 130 inches and two of those were 150 plus. With season a month and a half away I had plenty of time to study them and try to put the puzzle together.

 The first thing I wanted to do was to find a pattern on one of the four shooters that would give me the best opportunity. The bucks were using the field almost every night. The two biggest bucks were hanging out together while number 3 and 4 were doing their own thing.

After a couple weeks I noticed that the number 1 and 2 bucks were coming to the field with the wind blowing straight away from them. Now everything I had learned about white tail deer seemed to be wrong. Big bucks would never do something like that. 

Well as I continued to watch and talk with my dad every evening on the phone about what I seen he said to me one night, “son you have two deer herds, the big bucks and then there is the rest of the deer”. While the does were coming out on the south side of the field with the wind to the nose the two biggest bucks were doing the exact opposite. 

WHY? I would ask myself over and over. Again calling dad he laughed and said I told you they're different. With 2 weeks till opening day I knew I had to start putting more of the puzzle together. With the perfect wind I decided to get back in the woods a little and glass to see if I could pick them up on there access trail to the field. 

It only took about 2 min for me to realize what was going on. As soon as I stepped into the woods I seen a deer get up and sneak away. I turned around and left immediately. Driving home it hit me; the big bucks were letting the doe’s do the dirty work for them while the watched with their eyes. After a long night feeding they could head for there bedding area with the wind in their face. 

 The next evening I decided to watch from the far end of the field one last time. I was lying out in the soybean field and right at dusk when buck number three a 10 point appeared in front of me not 20 yards away. With my video camera in hand I took some nice footage of him without him ever knowing it. After watching the footage and thinking back, it hit me, the ten point was the same deer I was seeing leave the field on my way to work in the mornings. I watched two more nights focusing on the 10 point that was using the south wood lot for bedding. Each night he came out the exact same place and the next morning on my way to work I could see a nice deer leaving the field where he came out. If so he would be my best chance. 

 I decided to watch from my climber from a distance to locate the trail inside the wood line that he was using. Right at dark I saw a nice buck on a trail which I knew from past seasons lead to the place where I had been seeing the ten point come out. I couldn’t be for sure but I had a gut feeling it was him. 

Again calling dad I told him “I think it’s the ten point” 

He replied “think don’t get it, you have to know”. 

He was right. The evening before opening day I again had a good wind direction to watch. Before the night was over I knew it was him. Watching him coming down that trail was like finishing a 5000 piece puzzle. He browsed around, made some rubs, laid down for 20 min waiting on dimmer light to go to field. Then just as quickly as he lay down he got up and made a straight line for the field out of site. I glassed the run for the right tree for my climbing stand that would put the southwest wind in my favor. After picking it was time to go home and prepare for what was in store the next morning.

Opening Morning

Opening morning I headed into the south wood lot by walking a big circle not disturbing the field or the deer in it. Finally the tree was chosen. It was time to find out if all the preseason work was correct. At 6:00am I arrived at the smooth bark hickory and attached my climber quietly easing my way up to about 14 feet. The next 35 minutes would be spent in the dark waiting.  At 6:45 daylight was sneaking up fast and I still had seen or heard nothing. My mind wondered if something had spooked him in the night or had he left the field during the middle of the night. At 7:08 I saw movement. As it got closer I could tell that it was the 10 point. He was headed straight at me and no shot available due to the angle. 

The buck stoped four yards from the base of the tree but there was no shooting lane. As he browsed on leaves and twigs hanging above him I readied myself for a shot. He again walked down the trail and as he passed a tree I positioned myself quickly for the shot. 

He walked into the opening and stopped at 7 yards. He was heavily quartering away giving me a shot through the back. 

The Bighorn recurve did the job. The Easton ACC arrow entered his back and penetrated towards his brisket. He bolted and run about 40 yards. Just as I lost sight of him I thought I had seen a flash of white. I waited 30 min and got down. Once on the ground I saw him. 

All the evenings and mornings spent watching had paid off. 

One of my friends said ”Man that stinks you only got to hunt one day this year.” 

My response, there is a difference between hunting and harvesting. “Harvesting is what you do when your caring your bow, hunting is done with binoculars. So how long did I hunt?” He laughed and said more days than I will this year.