Giant Typical Buck Could be a Top 5 Ohio Bow Kill

Chris Moermond wasn’t planning on bowhunting at all during the early season in Ohio. He had an aoudad hunt in New Mexico scheduled for mid-October, and he wanted to get through that before he started chasing whitetails at home.

With an out-of-state hunt in the works, Chris Moermond wasn’t planning on hunting the early Ohio season. Image by Chris Moermond.

But a trail camera picture changed all of those plans. It was three days before the season started, and the buck Moermond was looking at was bigger than anything he had ever seen. Still, one picture wasn’t proof that the big deer was hanging around, and Moermond told himself that the deer could just be passing through. But he got more photos the next day, and that was enough. Moermond knew he had to try hunting the deer.

When Moermond saw the buck on his trail camera, he knew he had to hunt the first few days of season. Image by Chris Moermond.

Because the buck had been near the camera early Friday evening, and based on earlier trail camera patterns, Moermond reasoned that the deer might come back through during daylight Saturday morning. He wanted to be in his stand plenty early so there would be little chance of bumping the buck in the dark if they arrived at the same time. He climbed up more than an hour before shooting light, strapped in and waited for daylight.

Finally, as the first rays of light lit the eastern sky, a nice 10-pointer point came in. Moermond ranged the buck in preparation for later if the big buck showed up in the same area. As he watched, the 10 suddenly lifted its head to stare into the woods. The younger buck tucked his tail and acted nervous.

When he saw a younger buck lift his head and tuck his tail, Moermond knew the big buck was coming. Image by Chris Moermond.

That’s when Moermond saw the giant buck heading his way, its antlers emerging from a nearby thicket at just 25 yards. The buck reached up and raked his antlers through the honeysuckle, postured aggressively toward the younger buck, and stopped to make a scrape. The younger buck watched nervously and then fled as the larger deer started walking his way.

Moermond concentrated on staying calm. Years of competitive target shooting had taught him to control his emotions and concentrate on making a good shot. The buck was close by this point, only 15 yards away, but facing directly at the hunter. “I was looking straight at his forehead, no shot at all,” Moermond said.

For what seemed like forever, the big buck stood head on and offered no shot. Image by Chris Moermond.

When the buck put his head down to feed, Moermond came to full draw but didn’t bring the peep to his eye. “I just drew and held it while his head was down, hoping to cut down on any additional movement when he lifted his head and was looking my direction,” he said.

Moermond knew the wind was good and the buck was calm and not on alert. He told himself to stay calm and concentrate. “Just breathe,” he whispered to himself.

After what seemed like an eternity, the buck took a step to the left and stopped broadside. Moermond raised the peep to his eye, took aim and released his arrow. He watched as his arrow skipped off the ground behind the buck. “I immediately worried that I had shot low,” he said.

Moermond initially worried that the shot was low. Image by Chris Moermond.

Then the buck took a step and stumbled just a bit. Moermond watched as the biggest buck he had ever seen slowly started to walk away but then toppled over. He saw the buck’s white belly turn up. One more kick and it was finished. The shot had been perfect, and the buck had only gone a few yards.

Moermond immediately messaged his buddy Andrew. Not getting an answer, he checked a Facebook message from another buddy, Ken, and replied that he had just gotten the big buck. Both guys soon replied that they were on their way, and that Moermond should hold tight until they got there.

When the three hunters walked up on the buck, they couldn’t believe how big it was. But Moermond still wasn’t completely aware of what he had.

CHECK OUT OUR LATEST CAMO PATTERN: REALTREE APX

“I was just going to take it back to the shop and process it the way I always do,” he said. He hung the deer and then realized that one of his cows had gotten out. After getting the cow back up, he saw the reply from the photos he had sent his taxidermist earlier. The single-word reply from a taxidermist accustomed to seeing giant bucks was simply, “Whoa.”

With the delay of the escaped cow and the steadily warming temperatures, Moermond decided to take the deer to a processor. That’s when his buddies suggested he contact a game warden and a get the buck to a taxidermist immediately. “You might have a state record here,” they told him.

When Moermond met with the taxidermist to get the buck caped, he also recommended they get the buck scored and checked by a game warden. They both met Moermond the next morning. Because he had self-filmed the hunt, the legal part went quickly. “The game warden watched the video, checked my license and tags, and said you are good to go,” Moermond said.

Then the score portion of the visit started, and the inches kept adding up. A green score of 200-⅝ inches was the result, making this one of the top five archery bucks ever taken in Ohio. Moermond plans to have the buck officially scored after the required drying time.

“I was lucky, I was in the right place at the right time and just happened to have a camera in that spot,” he said. “I’ve spent all my time in recent years doing competitive travel archery with my son and daughter. Now that I have a little free time, I was able to devote more time to hunting.”

Don’t Miss: THE BEST SHOT PLACEMENT ON DEER