Gone Today, Here Tomorrow
By Ed Waite
Nineteen-year-old Luke Lohan, a heavy equipment operator in the oil and gas fields of eastern Ohio, loves to prowl his family’s 46 acres during deer season, and he often has a particular deer on his mind.
His most wanted in 2017 was the same buck he hunted in 2015 and 2016.
“For the past three years, I have collected photographs of a great buck visiting my family’s property. The first two, all the pictures were taken at night, and the buck was not in the forefront of any of them. It was always at the farthest reaches of the camera’s light,” he said.
“In 2015, I could tell it was pretty impressive, perhaps as big as 170 inches,” Luke continued. “All I could ever hope for was that it would try to sneak past me.”
The following year, the buck – 20 inches larger – again made spotty appearances at Luke’s food plot. As was the case during the previous season, it was always in the background when another deer tripped the camera’s shutter.
“I was never able to get a good read on the deer’s whereabouts, but I never gave up,” Luke said.
“Something happened in 2017 I cannot explain. Well, several things actually. One, the buck decided our property was the place to be. I was getting several good, up-close pictures in every 24-hour cycle,” he continued. “I was also getting pictures of the deer moving between its bedding area and the food plot.
“Sometimes, I was getting 20 or more pictures at my feeder,” he added.
On Sept. 19, however, the buck disappeared.
“It was gone. Vanished without a trace. I had several cameras out, and none were getting images,” Luke said. “I was devastated; didn’t know what to do. I even went so far as to hire a young high school friend to walk the surrounding areas, looking to see if he could find a carcass near a watering place.”
The kid found nothing.
“I also talked to neighbors, feeling them out to see if they had anything big on their properties. I did not share what I was hunting. You know, ‘best kept secrets’ are just that. Still, there were no positive responses from anyone. I had a feeling of rejection. The buck was finally living on my property, and then poof, it was gone,” Luke said.
The giant whitetail returned to the property on Oct. 6, a Friday, though Luke didn’t know it until the following Sunday evening. It had also been photographed several times on Saturday and Sunday morning.
“I was elated to know the deer was back and had fallen right into its old routine,” Luke said.
“I had work on Monday, but it was raining quite heavily, so I was sent home for the remainder of the day. Close to noon, I suited up and headed for a tree.
“I tied on and started up the tree using my climber. I stopped about 35 feet up, gathered my gear around me and settled in,” he said.
About 3:30, Luke descended and went to the house for some much needed food. The rain had stopped by the time he’d eaten.
“I moved to a well used trail between where I was sure the buck was bedding and a favorite feeder it was using. I was about 1,200 yards from the bedding area and 300 yards from the feeder,” he said. “I was in place by 4:30.
“Just after 6:00, I decided to try some light rattling and added a soft grunt or two. Not long after I started, I saw a small buck coming toward me. It was looking around nervously, searching for an intruder. It milled around for several minutes before it spotted something, turned and moved away quickly.
“At 6:35, this buck came slipping in from downwind. It was on a mission to see who or what was in its woods,” Luke continued. “I grabbed my Barnett crossbow, checked the arrow to be sure it was in place, checked to be sure it held a Rage broadhead, and then lifted the weapon to my shoulder.”
The buck stopped in the open at 24 yards.
“After three seasons, that was the first time I had ever laid eyes on the buck. It was HUGE, not just the rack, but in body as well.
“When I pulled the trigger, the arrow passed through the lungs and hit the left leg, breaking it. The deer dropped immediately, and then regained its feet and made tracks to a nearby ridge, disappearing over the top,” Luke said.
“After the shot, I started shaking like crazy. I decided I’d better remain in the tree until I calmed down. Thirty-five feet is a long way to fall.
“When I finally felt confident, I got down and went over to retrieve my arrow, which was lying close to where the buck had been standing. It was covered in blood. Plus, there was plenty on the ground,” he said.
Confident the shot was good, Luke returned home and tried to relax for a bit. He was anxious to recover the buck, but he did not want to push it off the property if it wasn’t dead.
While waiting, he called a few friends to share the news. One, Jimmy Pizzuit, came to help get the buck back to the house.
“The ground was still quite wet, and the buck made zero noise as it ran away,” Luke said. “After it disappeared over the ridge, I had no idea what it did or where it might have gone.”
The search was short. The buck had traveled about 100 yards before collapsing.
“You have no idea what an incredible high you get from walking up on downed 200-plus-inch buck and wrapping your hands around those antlers,” he said, still on Cloud Nine.
“The buck had done us a favor,” he added. “It not only ran downhill, but also toward my house. Even so, it took us a long time to get the deer to where we could drive a vehicle.”