Big Buck 411 Blog

Switching Targets

Switching Targets

By Mike Handley

The slammer whitetail Scott Stauffer took to the taxidermist last fall was neither the first nor second on the Ohio hunter’s pre-season wish list. He forgot about those as soon as he acquired trail camera photographs of No. 3.

The first deer he put at the top of his list was a mature 10-pointer that might’ve scored in the 150s. The animal roaming his parents’ property in Ross County was at least 5 ½ years old.

Later that summer, he saw photos of what appeared to be a 170-something-incher on his in-laws’ ground in Adams County. He actually hunted that one, but it disappeared after the corn was harvested.

The upshot was the re-appearance of a deer he recognized from the 2018 season. It had been a 140-ish 6x5 then, but it had since gained another 40 or more inches.

Understandably, he began calling it Main Event.

When Scott’s family moved 60 cows out of Main Event’s area and into their wintertime pasture, he waited until the next rainy day to go in and hang a stand. The wooded strip is long and narrow, however, and he jumped the buck soon after entering it.

During the state’s initial firearms season, Scott saw Main Event following two does up a draw, but the trio winded him before he could get a shot.

When the curtain closed on gun season, he put out another trail camera that sent photos to his phone. Soon, he was collecting more images of Main Event, many during the day.

Lady Luck smiled on Sunday, Dec. 22. At 10:30 that day, he spotted his dream buck in a nearby soybean field. Scott was on the ground, using cedar trees as cover.

When the exceptional whitetail came to within 40 yards, Scott shot him – after a first attempt misfired. The animal took its last breath just barely out of sight of the breathless hunter.

Scott’s 17-pointer is a mainframe 7x8. BTR scorer Rob Meade, who’s writing the story for Rack magazine, taped the rack at 188 4/8 inches as a Typical.

Judging from year-apart photos, Scott believes his 2019 buck had gained almost 50 inches on its previous year’s rack.

— Read Recent Blog! Hook on a Feeling: Dusty Nelms might be three weeks away from finally learning what his 2019 Oklahoma buck scores, at least by the B&C yardstick.

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