Deer Hunter Ends Three-Year Hunt for Huge Ontario Buck

Ontario isn’t known for monster bucks, but this one sure is. Image courtesy of Ben Harvey

Benjamin Harvey had three years of history with this deer. He’d spent more than a few minutes thinking about how to hunt this 6 ½-year-old buck. Of course, he’s spent his life thinking about deer hunting.

“I have hunted since before I could walk,” Harvey said. “It was deep-seated within my family. I graduated from high school, went to business school, and opened up a hunting and fishing store called High Falls Outfitters that’s celebrating its 10th anniversary next year.”

Located in Ontario, Canada, Harvey grew up hunting the lands where this buck roamed. In 2021, he first learned of the 160-inch deer. The deer survived a few shot attempts by other hunters, so Harvey and his family started calling the deer “Lucky.”

Harvey hunted the deer in 2022, but it broke off its main beam, and he elected to pass it the remainder of the season. Image courtesy of Ben Harvey

The next year, the deer looked to be about 190 inches. Harvey even saw the buck a few times, but never got a shot opportunity. Then it snapped off a main beam, and Harvey decided not to hunt the deer for the remainder of the season. Instead, he pursued other deer.

This year, the deer grew even bigger. And so, they started calling the buck “Big Time.” On October 1, 2023, opening day of deer season, everything came together. It was hot, with temperatures well over 80 degrees. Harvey considered not going due to the elevated temps, but decided better of it. He walked in and settled into a stand along a field edge. About 700 yards of field stretched out before him. Blocks of timber towered to the east and west.

The afternoon hunt started off slow. A partridge landed in the tree next to him, offering some entertainment. Soon after, dark clouds began rolling in. The evening temperatures settled in and cooled the landscape.

A flock of turkeys fed into view. Several does did, too. Later on, a nice 10-pointer pushed through about 50 yards away. Then the big one showed.

“He burst out of the woods into the field, surveyed the field for about 10 minutes, standing motionless, and then proceeded to the 3-acre food plot in a tilled-up winter wheat field,” Harvey said.

Getting ready, he drew back, anchored, settled the pin, and took the 27-yard shot. The quartering-to hit was true, and the buck dashed off. Seconds later, the buck expired in the field within sight.

That’s what every hunter hopes to see at the end of a blood trail. Image courtesy of Ben Harvey

“It was a perfect plan, with perfect execution, and the buck did everything he was supposed to,” Harvey said. “There was a lot of scouting involved. I knew his home range and used that to quickly locate and pattern him.”

While Canada has a lot of big deer, Ontario is down the list of big-buck provinces. It isn’t as well-known as Alberta and Saskatchewan. “We are waiting to see if it is a record for the province of Ontario,” Harvey said. “Many were in disbelief of the size of it.”

All things considered, this monster buck scored 205 3/8 inches. Whether it ends up being a record deer or not, it’s one to remember.

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