Unless the only tag in your pocket is an antlerless one, the next time you get ready to turn out a doe's lights, make sure to check her backtrail. I've lost count of the times deer hunters wound up with a lot more than venison to show for an arrow's thwack or the whump of a bullet.
Jared Selover of Wapakoneta, Ohio, almost forgot this cardinal rule last Nov. 6. Fortunately for the 38-year-old teacher and wrestling coach, he saw the buck behind his targeted doe before squeezing his crossbow's trigger.
The diversion handed him the largest Typical ever felled in Huron County, Ohio, by bolt.
Jared and a friend, Patrick Kavak, hunt 45 acres of a 215-acre tract of mostly soybeans. Both were afield the day Jared switched targets. The guys had spent the night in a camper and risen at 5:00 the next morning.
Even so, they were 20 minutes late arriving at their respective destinations. Jared's spot overlooked a well-used deer trail.
“There was a heavily traveled path, one of those beaten-down areas you can just tell deer frequent,” he said. “There were no weeds, the leaves were flattened, and you could see tracks. I found some rubs on trees to cinch it. It was a real deer highway.”
Jared hadn't even sat down in his treestand when he heard something to his left and spotted a doe. Immediately, he decided to burn his antlerless tag on her. Before he could squeeze the crossbow's trigger, however, he realized another deer – a nice buck – was only 25 yards behind her.
“They were moving too fast for me to choose a shooting lane,” he told Gita Smith, who's writing the story for Rack magazine. “I finally looked for the very last window of opportunity before they'd be out of sight. I waited until the buck was two steps short of it, and then I mouth-grunted.”
The deer took three more steps before stopping, its head behind a tree, which was probably a good thing, since Jared couldn't be distracted by the tall drop-tined rack.
The hunt was over shortly after 8:00.
The 12-pointer tallies 191 2/8 inches by Buckmasters' yardstick.
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