Need more than a wildlife biologist’s suggestion to let young bucks walk (if you’re interested in high-octane antlers)? Consider Brandon Ramirez’s story from January.
Brandon collected a trail camera photograph of an 8-pointer in 2014. Recognizing it was an immature deer, he never considered shooting it. He also passed it up in 2015 and 2016.
“I didn’t hunt the buck those first few years. I just watched it blossom with age (via trail cam pics),” said the hunter from Middletown, Ohio. “It doubled in size at least twice.”
BTR master scorer Ed Waite is writing the story for Rack magazine.
Brandon hunts 17 acres in Butler County.
He saw the familiar whitetail on the hoof – and in velvet – for the first time in the summer of 2017. The deer came out of some CRP land while Brandon was on a tractor. Clearly, the animal was evolving into a showstopper.
“As soon as the archery season opened, I hunted every minute I was able get in the woods,” he said.
Brandon retrieved the first-ever daytime photo of the buck in late December.
On Jan. 8, 2018, Brandon lugged his un-scoped, .50-caliber muzzleloader to the 15-foot-high ladder stand where a camera had last photographed the distinctive whitetail.
The first deer of the evening were some nervous does. The buck he’d nicknamed Ghost was next.
“I had a bad wind at my back, blowing toward all the deer. Before I could do anything, Ghost began chasing does every which way,” Brandon said. “I felt it would only be a matter of time before the does or he winded me.”
He shot the deer when it was at 72 yards.
To that point, Brandon thought he was the only person who knew the deer existed. The day after he burned his tag, however, neighboring landowners and hunters shared their own trail cam photos of the animal.
“People I didn’t even know came out of the woodwork to share pictures,” he said. “I had no idea they knew about him.”
The deer doubled its eight points in four seasons. Its BTR score is 209 4/8 inches.
— Read Recent Blog! Making the Best of 45 Minutes: Tyler Stull | The impressive rack has a BTR score of 183 1/8 inches.