Rack Magazine

This Buckeye State hunter thought he'd never get to turn out the lights.

When Ohio bowhunter Craig Peters called his wife on Nov. 10, 2016, to tell her he'd arrowed his biggest buck ever, she wasn't surprised. Neither were his coworkers, family or friends.

For the past decade and a half, Craig has refused to shoot immature whitetails.

"My father (Rodney) took me along on a hunt when I was about 10 years old, and although I didn't shoot anything, I remember everything about that trip," he said. "I started bowhunting when I was in high school, and I remember my mom used to drop me off and pick me up before I could drive.

"I started to get serious about hunting big deer in 1999, and I shot a pretty nice buck in 2000," he continued. "That's when I got the itch to shoot only mature ones."

Craig has hunted private land in Miami County, Ohio, for about 15 years, and he's taken a few "good, mature deer" there. He's particularly fond of a two-person ladder stand because it offers plenty of room for long hours of hunting. Plus, he can share it with one of his sons, Quinn or Chandler.

He moved the stand to a new spot before the 2016 season opened.

"I had seen a very good buck there one evening, though only once," he said. "A neighbor had the same deer on a trail camera during the summer."

Ohio's archery season spans October through January, and Craig decided early on to spend as much time as possible in his deer stand.

"I planned on taking a few days off work during the rut to hunt all day, for several days," he said. "On the first morning of my time off, I got situated before daylight and heard a buck grunting and chasing back in the woods, which told me I hadn't bumped deer on the way in."

Craig saw this 14-pointer at daybreak. It and a doe passed within 35 yards of his stand.

"They were moving, and the buck was never in a place where I could shoot," he said.

A couple of smaller bucks were hounding the pair, and the big one was doing its best to keep them away from the doe. When they all disappeared, Craig thought the party was over.

"This deer's gone, I thought. I'd seen it, couldn't get a shot, and that had been my chance," he said.

About an hour later, Craig realized he'd given up too soon. The party was coming back to him.

The smaller bucks were still chasing the doe, and the big one was following. Every now and then, Craig got an eyeful of the rack with the distinctive flyer off the right side's second point.

Eventually, the doe led the others away, and the big one was alone.

Craig rattles occasionally, but sparingly, and he rarely uses deer calls. Rather than let this deer leave again, however, he dug out his doe bleat canister and flipped it.

"I know the buck heard it because it stopped," he said. "But then it just kept going."

Long, tortuous minutes passed as Craig wondered if he'd seen the last of the big buck that morning. He really thought so, and he was already daydreaming about the afternoon or even the following day.

"I thought I might get another chance. So I figured I wouldn't do anything different, to just continue hunting all day and concentrate on being scent-free," he said.

"About 10 minutes after the buck left, I saw it coming back, right toward my stand," Craig continued. "I'm convinced now that it heard that bleat and was coming to investigate.

"I don't know if it had bred the doe and they parted, or if I happened to catch the buck when she was leaving," he added. "Just as quickly as it had gone, it was standing broadside at only 15 yards."

Craig said he'd gotten over the shakes after the first couple of run-ins, so he was calm when he drew his Mathews Halon and squeezed off the shot.

"The buck ran about 60 yards, stopped, ran a little further, and then fell," he said. "I still waited about 10 minutes to get down, just to be sure. I didn't have to track; went right to the deer."

Craig knew it was the biggest buck he'd taken in 20-plus years of hunting. He shared the news with his wife before field-dressing it.

"My taxidermist (Rick Busse) got excited. That's when I realized how big it was, because of his reaction," he said. "I remember him telling me I had a magazine deer.

"Rick does a great job, and he gets a lot of record-class bucks," Craig continued. "When he got excited and started taking pics, I really got excited, too.

"Now that I've killed a buck this size, I'll keep hunting just as hard because I really enjoy it," he said. "I've added another goal now: to get my boys on nicer deer."

This article was published in the March 2018 edition of Rack Magazine. Subscribe today to have Rack Magazine delivered to your home.

• Trading a Soup Spoon for a Fork: After five years, discriminating deer hunter collects meat for his soup and bone for the wall.

• An ‘Average’ Guy with a Cheap Crossbow: Absolutely nothing is average about this public land giant.