Rack Magazine

Now here’s a buck that’ll make anyone phone home.

Bob Sisler obtained permission to hunt a central Ohio farm in the late summer of 2012.

As soon as practical, he and his brother, Roger, scouted the property to learn the lay of the land and to look for deer sign and potential ambush points. They also put out trail cameras.

Of all the photos retrieved, only one buck got his attention. And he never saw it while hunting.

After the maiden season came to an end, Bob and his brother returned to the farm to look for shed antlers and deer sign. They found some mighty big antlers.

Later on, when looking at trail camera photographs of what had to be their wearer, Bob’s daughter, McKenzie, started calling the buck E.T. because she thought his antlers looked like E.T.’s fingers. The name stuck.

“E.T. was the biggest buck I’d ever had the chance to hunt, so I wanted to try and keep him on this farm,” Bob said. “My brother and I decided to try a food plot. We’d never had a place where we could do that before, so some research was necessary.

“I eventually contacted Nick Percy, who helped me get on the right track,” Bob continued. “I had little in the way of equipment, but with time and determination, my brother and I were able to plant a 1-acre plot.”

Bob collected lots of trail cam photos of E.T. in 2013, mostly nighttime shots, but he never encountered the buck. The deer dropped his antlers right there in the food plot. They were bigger than the previous year’s sheds.

The whole rack might’ve scored in the mid-180s.

“By the time the 2014 season rolled around, I was obsessed with this deer,” Bob said.

As he did in previous years, E.T. loved to mug for trail cameras. But he was never photographed while the sun was shining.

“I got trail camera photos right up until he dropped his antlers,” Bob said. “And I never found those sheds.”

The brothers Sisler were walking the farm in September 2015 when Roger noticed several impressive rubs not long after exiting the vehicle.

“They were right beside a logging road the landowner frequently travels by quad whenever she exercises her dog,” Bob said.

“Roger suggested I set up a blind near that road. I was skeptical, but placed it there anyway,” he said. “Then I left it alone for two weeks.”

After bow season opened, Bob was seeing a pretty nice 8-pointer he thought would be a great buck for his wife, Patty. She hadn’t hunted in six years, and never from a blind. He invited her to come and sit with him and perhaps get a close-up shot at the 4x4.

She agreed to go during the third weekend.

“We had just settled in when the landlady drove past on her UTV, her dog running alongside. That pretty much unnerved Patty, who thought we should throw in the towel and head back home.

“I assured her it wasn’t a big deal, that the woman did this every day, and the deer knew her routine. So we settled in once again, and within 10 minutes of the lady going back to her house, here came a couple of does walking out of the woods and into the food plot.

“I told Patty that if a big fat doe presented a shot, she could take it and put some meat in the freezer,” he continued.

“The two does were in the food plot and moving slowly closer to the blind. When one presented a clean shot, Patty drew her bow and got ready,” Bob said. “Suddenly, I saw more deer approaching. So I told my wife to let back off, and she did.

“There was a small buck, followed by another little one and the 8-pointer we wanted Patty to shoot. The deer walked into the food plot and began grazing.

“When the 8-pointer offered a broadside target, Patty drew her bow. When she released the arrow, it sounded like the bow exploded,” he said.

“I was videotaping the deer when this happened. When I turned to look at Patty, I saw the arrow lying about 15 feet from the blind. Patty was utterly frustrated over the turn of events. The arrow had hit and tore a hole in the blind.

“She was terribly upset as she had just bought the blind.

“I told her not to panic, that we could repair the hole. But now she needed to get ready as I was sure the deer would come back. They had no idea what had caused the noise,” Bob said.

Patty, still upset, tried to relax and get back into the hunt.

Sure enough, after 15 minutes, the buck came back out of the woods. Once again, she drew her bow to take the shot, but she couldn’t see through the peep sight. It had grown darker inside the blind by then, and she just couldn’t find her target.

She let down her bow once again.

“I told her we would just wait it out, and then go back the next day,” Bob said. “Meanwhile, I was discouraged, too, and started fiddling with my bow while she was messing with the tear in the blind.

“Suddenly, Patty slapped my leg and said ‘It’s him!’ I didn’t even look up.

“Then she hit me again, saying ‘It’s him,’ so I glanced up and saw her looking intently at something beyond the food plot. I looked out just in time to see antlers emerging from the woods. It was E.T., the deer of my dreams! That was only the second time I’d actually seen him.”

As E.T. entered the food plot, he stomped one foot and all the other deer seemed to back slightly away from him, like he was making it known he was now in charge.

“I grabbed and drew my bow. I didn’t want to take the quartering 25-yard shot at first, but I did. I watched the arrow hit where I aimed. And I saw the lighted nock.

“Instantly, Patty and I stuck our heads out of the blind to see where the buck ran. It disappeared down over the bank.

“Seeing the lighted nock sticking out of the deer’s side gave me second thoughts about the shot placement,” he admitted. “My nerves were jangled at that point.

“I knew if he ran too far, he could leave the farm and cross onto other property,” Bob added.

Husband and wife, heads still stuck out the blind’s windows, watched and waited. Then they heard a crashing noise in the woods.

“We sat until past dark, almost afraid to move. But it was raining, and any blood trail would soon wash away,” Bob said. “As is our tradition, Patty and I first drove to my brother’s house a half-hour away so he could join in the tracking and recovery.”

Fittingly, Roger found the first drop of blood. Soon afterward, Bob spotted his glowing nock. From there, it was a simple matter of shining his flashlight into the nearby ravine.

His deer was at the bottom.

Hunter: Bob Sisler
BTR Score: 184 5/8
View BTR Scoresheet

This article was published in the June 2016 edition of Rack Magazine. Subscribe today to have Rack Magazine delivered to your home.

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