There's something special about harvesting an older deer, a forest warrior that has eluded all other hunters and has a few battle scars from fights with other bucks over the decades. Even if the deer isn't high scoring, an older buck is something for any hunter to hang their hat on for the simple fact of how difficult it can be to bring one down. They don't get old by making mistakes. The buck in today's video may be just one such example. The crew from Heartland Bowhunter are in Ohio during the peak of the rut, but the action the first few days is slow. The group decides to put Skyler on stand right after a cold front has moved through the area. It ends up being the right move, as shortly after daylight a huge buck comes cruising through the area.
Fortunately for Skyler, this one-eyed, drop tined buck stops perfectly in his shooting lane. All Skyler needs to do is draw back and send an arrow home, which he does perfectly, commmitting this old warrior with a ton of character to a permanent dirt nap. It's the type of thrilling hunt that can only happen in Ohio.
It appears this old fighter finally met his match on this hunt. Consider this to be Exhibit A on why you should always be on stand after a cold front has moved through and it is peak rutting time. Because it's about the only time a deer like this is going to make a mistake. We wish we knew the story of how that buck lost an eye. It had to be in a fight with another deer, but it makes our imaginations run wild. Was the buck who did it bigger than this one? Did it happen when he was younger? How much could that deer see from that eye? We will never know, and that's part of the mystique of a deer like this one.
In the end, that's a perfect deer to take out of the herd because he's probably near or just past his prime and starting to go downhill a bit. There's no doubt he's already spread his genes far and wide in previous seasons. Congrats to Skyler on a most excellent buck.
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