Jeff McCulley would’ve been elated to burn his 2009 buck tag on the wide and tall-tined 8-pointer that had given him the slip all season. It was the biggest he’d seen on the 25 acres for which he’d gained permission to hunt through a fishing buddy who knew the landowners.
The 41-year-old hunter from Stow, Ohio, lived just 10 or 15 minutes away from the dual parcels, which were basically the owners’ back yards, so he spent many mornings and afternoons there in a ladder stand he’d erected. The Summit County parcel held a lot of does, and he saw the big 4x4 several times, but always beyond his crossbow’s range.
He’s now glad of that.
“I scouted the land in the late summer and picked out a good location for a ladder stand,” Jeff said. “It was in place before opening day, and I hunted from it from the start.
“I had other places to hunt as well,” he added, “so I tried not to overhunt that land. But whenever the weather was right, I was there, watching a f...