Fifteen minutes after arrowing a buck, and with sundown approaching, Hilbert (Bert) Schultz called his friend Nathan and said, “I think I shot a pretty good-sized one.”
Bert had no way to know that his “pretty good” buck would land the number one spot for irregular bucks taken by crossbow in Shelby County, Ohio.
Everything about Bert’s hunt started out average. The clear, 50-degree October day was on par for archery season in western Ohio.
The 65-year-old Lutheran pastor had practiced shooting his crossbow a few times at a 30 x 30 target. By 2:30 p.m. he was in the woods and ascending a 15-foot ladder stand he’d erected with the help of a friend, five years earlier, after walking the friend’s 90-acre land.
To improve his chances, Bert had cleared three shooting lanes the day before. As he settled in, he had no worries, but also no high hopes. Just an average Friday afternoon.
Bert was overdue for a hunt, but Oct.25 was the earliest opportunity of the 2024 season.
“I usually wait until the leaves start falling,” he says. “There is better visibility, and it is cooler so the meat keeps better. I love being out in God’s creation. It is so peaceful and beautiful.”
Bert says the stand also gives him the widest visibility in terms of patterning deer.
For 90 minutes, he saw no deer. But he used that time, he says, “for prayer, reflection and thankfulness to God.”
Then, at 4 p.m., Bert started to see deer moving.
One buck towered over the rest. It stopped about 250 yards distant across a field, at Bert’s 2 o’clock.
“There was no shot possibility; my maximum is 40 yards at most,” he says. “He was across a pond at the edge of some woods with a half dozen does. He drank at the pond and moved south, but not towards me. Then he browsed and fed and angled towards the north and then, finally, towards me. I wanted to look at him but was afraid to stare. It took an hour and half for him to close the distance.”
Bert recalls his inner monologue: Don’t move, hope he comes in, stay still, hope he’s getting closer.
“I watched him periodically. But you also need to pay attention to the deer near you so that you don’t spook them. I had to keep my eye on two does 25 yards away.”
The buck with the outsized, irregular rack moved east and closer to Bert, but still kept 150 yards between them. Every little while it got closer. Bert wasn’t concerned about scent. The wind was favorable. A half dozen does browsed nearby.
“At that point I still was not aware of the buck’s size because of the angle of his head. From the side, you don’t always get a look at the brow tines, and I didn’t have binoculars with me.”
At 50 yards, it chased off a junior buck. It stopped 30 yards away from Bert, then headed over to hang with the does.
It had been walking head first towards Bert as it moved into crossbow shooting territory, giving Bert no good killing shot. At last, it turned and presented its left side while heading into some brushy trees.
“He sped up a little bit, all of a sudden, instead of casually walking,” Bert says. “I only had a split second to take the shot. I had him in my crossbow scope. When I shot, at 35 yards, my arrow hit him about six inches behind where I would have liked because of the speed he was moving at. He sprinted into the woods. It was 6:41 p.m.”
Bert waited 20 minutes, and with some tracking light left, he tailed the buck to the tree line. He stuck an arrow in the spot where the buck was last standing and left his hat at the edge of the woods. Then he called his friend Nathan and said, “I think I shot a pretty good-sized buck.”
They decided to meet in a field nearby in 30 minutes so they could get the gear they would need to track. Unfortunately, they moved too soon.
“We jumped it,” Bert says. “That buck crashed around, getting up and running deeper into the woods where it tacked to the left. Nathan got excited: That buck’s a lot bigger than you think it is!”
The friends backed out, went home, ate, got flashlights, and called another friend, Dustin. The three returned to the woods and retraced their steps.
They walked for over an hour before they finally figured out that the wounded buck had been walking in a circle.
“It took us a while to figure out where he left the circle. He made it difficult to follow. I guess the buck was cagey,” Bert says.
Finally, Nathan saw where it had piled up. He ran to it and lifted the head. The majestic rack has entered the ranks of Buckmasters Trophy Records, not at all an average end to a hunt.
Sharing the tracking and recovery experience was an enriching experience for all of us, Bert says.
“I’d tell people, just be out there. Put in your work, to be ready,” Bert says. “You never know when or what you’re going to see.”
Buckmasters Scorer Toby Hughes taped the buck on Dec.10, 2025 counting 19 points and 227 7/8 inches.