Chandler Gray first became of aware of the deer he shot on the family farm in Huron County, Ohio, last season on Dec. 13, 2023, when he collected his initial trail camera image of the then 160-incher.
The middle school PE teacher from North Fairfield thought about the deer often. In fact, he spoke so much about it to his friend, Jacob, that the guy told him he ought to name it Winnie, for “When he comes, you’re going to shoot.”
The first day he could actually hunt the buck, he opted for an evening sit. He slept in that morning while the impressive whitetail — rack still intact — strolled past his empty stand.
When Chandler saw the deer the very next day, it had broken off about 60 inches of antler.
“That was the only time I hunted by myself the whole season,” he said. “I help my old man farm, and I have a laser-engraving business. Plus, I didn’t really have any other bucks on camera that interested me, so I started taking others hunting whenever time allowed. Even though I didn’t shoot a deer, everyone I took did. It wound up being my most successful season ever.”
Chandler’s first photo of the buck in 2024 arrived Oct. 8. The image was poor, and he couldn’t tell much about it.
A couple of days later, the 27-year-old hunter went to the farm’s apple orchard in the rain to set up another camera. Within three hours, the big buck showed and remained for about four hours.
Smitten, Chandler hunted the buck nearly every morning and afternoon, thanks to his father cutting him slack on farm chores. In that whole time, he collected only one more trail camera image and saw the deer only once, which spurred a stalk that ended 80 yards short.
On Friday morning, Nov. 8, Chandler was afield before first light. He went to his favorite ladder stand at the edge of a field.
After three uneventful hours, he was thinking about leaving when he saw a doe with the big buck hobbling in her wake.
The two whitetails were coming toward him, but then cut into and disappeared in the woods en route, which gave him hope they’d eventually emerge in range. Unfortunately for him, they didn’t.
They eventually came out of the woods, but at the same place they’d entered, never getting any closer before walking out of his life.
Sufficiently stoked to abandon the notion of going home, Chandler decided to hike 400 yards to a different ladder stand. About halfway there, he spotted a big-bodied whitetail and tried melting into the trunk of an oak tree to gain cover.
The deer was a large forkhorn.
It was nearing 11:00 when Chandler climbed into the second ladder stand of the day. He got a glimpse of two deer — probably the buck and doe — going into the neighbor’s property. He saw nothing else until 4:00, when a small buck began browsing in front of his tree.
Soon, he looked behind him and saw a doe and yearling. He watched them until he remembered the little buck in front, and then he checked to confirm it was still there. It was.
When he glanced back over his shoulder, he was gobsmacked to see the bull of the woods had joined the doe and fawn.
The fawn moved off first, followed by the doe. While the little one veered away from Chandler’s vantage point, the doe chose her own path, coming closer, buck in tow. When the buck hit an opening at 45 yards, it met a crossbow bolt.
The deer immediately skedaddled.
“I thought I heard it crash, but I wasn’t sure,” Chandler said.
Chandler called his father, who was at home and less than 10 minutes away, and his wife.
“After I shot the buck and called my dad and wife, I kept telling them ‘I can’t feel my hands!’” he laughed.
In short order, both parents and his brother and sister were on the way, as was Chandler’s wife, who had been driving home from work.
Chandler and his dad took up the trail, their first destination a place where Chandler thought he’d seen a bit of white. The 20-pointer had died with its head up, which gave Chandler enough pause to circle behind it in order to administer a coup de grace, which wasn’t necessary.
The estimated 6 1/2-year-old whitetail tallied 221 3/8 inches. Buckmasters scorers Toby and Lori Hughes did the honors.
