A Hunters Story

It could be argued that this story started about 15 years ago. Everything about this buck, this property, the hunts, and the ultimate success was an accumulation of 15 years of archery whitetail hunting trials and tribulations. I certainly had had success in the past, success that I was at the time and still today, am proud of. But, up until this buck, there was always something missing. Until this buck I could never get all the pieces put together myself. I never really had access to a property I was gully confident in. Pair that with the ignorance and lack of experience as a young hunter, success was very hard by myself. I had never shot a buck on a piece of property that I had primary access to. Every buck to this point I had to have someone take me with them. Going somewhere I couldn’t go by myself, sitting stands I didn’t hang, I myself just never could put the pieces together.

This piece of land was certainly something else, a hidden treasure in plain sight, overlooked by so many for so long. This property was settled perfectly between multiple pieces of un-huntable or inaccessible land keeping it hidden from the masses. Driving from the road you couldn’t see it, or what you could see there was no legal huntbale option. Sitting between the edge of the city and a river , the rectangle shaped property spanned roughly 200 acres sitting east to west. The west edge was some woods and property owned by the city water department and the north edge was buffered from the road by landfill/recycling center. The east and wrapping around to part of the south edge was invisible, covered from the road by a few hundred acres owned by a housing development investor that has yet to break ground and begin building. Finally the remaining south edge sits in the shadow of an old mining quarry. I had found this property just panning around the public records map, with no previous knowledge of its existence. I hadn’t seen it from the road, I didn’t see a massive buck trying to track him down, it was a very fortunate accident.

Through some rather simple google and social media investigatory skills I get in contact with the owner. Usually I prefer to speak with property owners in person, but when I discovered the owners home address, I knew that wouldn't be possible. He lived in Alabama, but through some searching I was able to nail down a phone number with the same area code as the city I live in/the property is in. I dial the number, hit call, and wait. I don’t know how many times a phone rings before going to voicemail or just stopping, but I can tell you with this one each ring felt like an eternity. I somehow managed to live through one hundred rejection scenarios through my head during the few seconds the phone was ringing. He won’t answer, he’ll say no, there will be other hunters there already, the list went on and on and…..“Hello”. He answered. I greet him with the best pitch I can think of snapping out of the self derived despair of the “No” I was certain of. Hello Mr. Schwabb, I know you don't know me from any random person….. I give him a very short bio of me, let him know how I managed to find his property and his phone number without trying to sound like a psycho, and let him know my intention of calling. He says yes. Not only did he say yes, he had a little excitement in his voice. Without prompting or prodding, he begins to tell me about how he used to live in the city where the property is. He archery hunted there all the time and had had quite the success on nice bucks there.. We talk a bit more, he gives me some tips on where he thought the best spots were, I find out there is NO ONE else back there, he wishes me luck and emails me my permission slip.

This all is taking place after the start of the Ohio archery season. Ohio archery comes in the last weekend of September. It's just as the bucks come fully out of velvet. At the time of looking for this property I had permission just one other place. The owner and the property were quite nice, too nice unfortunately. The triangle shaped property was pinched between two rather busy county roads that lead out to a state route which effectively connects everything in the immediate and surrounding area. A lot of traffic, a lot of sight seeing from the road, a lot of hunters asking permission. I found out rather quickly this old farmer says yes to literally everyone. Every year I have captured amazing velvet pics of some bucks that you might expect to see in a whitetail magazine or best velvet picture contest. Once they went hard horned and season opens, gone. I would see a small basket buck or two and few does mixed in amongst the hoards of hunters I saw on trail cameras or walking through the woods, at best. When I landed this permission I was ecstatic to say the least. The next chance I had I immediately went and pulled everything from the other property and headed to my new spot.

Pulling up to this new property, or at least where I thought I was supposed to pull up, it didn't take long to figure out another reason why this property was so well hidden. It was landlocked as explained, but there was a legal access/ROW. Since the owner had not been there in so long and the farmer just accessed it via connections he made through the treelinescut from neighboring fields, you could not see this access from the road even though there was pretty much no berm or shoulder. Covered in overgrowth, the 1 ½ car wide path was literally invisible. I pulled halfway off the road, turned on my hazards, fought my way through 5 yards or so of thick and nasty undergrowth, and located the access lane. Once in the woods, it became much more apparent as the canopy refused to share sunlight with the ground, hindering too much growth from accumulating. I pulled my hand saw and machete out and cut my way back to the road. From there I was able to pull my car in, get my gear and get in there.

Entering on the west edge of the property, I started east following the access back through a few hundred yards of tall older growth woods. Other than the access path, the surrounding woods were owned by the city water department mentioned earlier. Once through those it opened up to the “front half”of the property. Front half in regard to the access and direction I would have to come in. The first ⅓ of it was like CRP/uninhibited wild grass growth and the remaining ⅔ being agg, beans this year. Crossing the first half of the property I come up to a very thick tree line, roughly 20 yards wide, hiding a ditch that spans the entirety of the property north to south. Crossing that through the tractor cut I come into the back half of the property. The first half of the back half is more agg, beans as well, with the back half of the back half being a body of woods with two small, roughly 10-15 acre, clearings holding beans as well. Based on e-scouting and the info the owner provided, there was a small bump of trees that jutted out into the back agg field that I thought would be the best place to set up to observe. The likelihood of getting on a deer was low. I was surrounded by thick undergrowth and set myself a good 28+ feet up the tree. But, I was prioritizing observation for this sit over a successful hunt. This was my first time on this property, I had no clue what to expect and wanted to see as much as I could.

Sitting in the rather warm early October sun after carrying in a full hang on set and hanging it was beginning to get uncomfortable to say the least, but it wasn’t deterring me. Sitting there sweating and watching the sun slowly creep ever closer to the tree canopy I am hopeful for two things. One, and most importantly, deer. I just would like to see deer to know I am on the right track. Two, to cool down a little bit. Unexpecting to me, hope number 2 arrives much sooner than anticipated. A rogue popup shower rolls in and absolutely drenches everything. It was only for about 15 minutes but it was heavy enough to completely block out the sun. As fast as it rolled in, it was gone. Now, the blazing sun is back out and I'm pretty sure the effective humidity was 100%. Sitting in just about the most uncomfortable October sit I have experienced, wondering what the property has to offer, thinking back on the deer the owner told me he had shot, and with just a small bit of wondering I made the right move for the day, movement comes out of the furthest corner from me, here they come.

One, two, three, four, five, they won’t stop! Im 90 yards away from these deer in an observation stand that wouldn't be anything close to feasible to shoot out of even if they were near me, and my heart is pumping. Does, some spikes, and a couple decent typical 120ish 8 points are making their way out of the corner and I am in awe. Sitting back and watching while occasionally taking a peek through the binos I am thinking this can not be real. I never thought i would be sitting on a property that had this much to offer and I’m inly in my very first sit. As I watch with almost a sense of relief, that I feel like I have a place I can actually hunt, an absolute stud walks out. A nice 140+ typical 9 point, a little tight but what he’s lacking in width he certainly makes up in height. I'm ready to fall out of my tree stand. I had always told my best hunting buddy that if I ever got permission on a nice property I would ask for him too. Since I had known him he has unconditionally invited me in on hunts with him as well as putting me on my two previous bucks. Im texting him, trying to take pictures with my phone through my binos, trying to take it all in, this is simply just amazing. I ended up seeing upwards of 16 or 18 deer that evening, I don't exactly remember but I know it was by far the most I had seen in one sit and was pushing on 20.

The next opportunity I got I was out there moving my stand. I pulled the observation stand, moved straight back to that back corner, set up like 8 yards in the woods and about 15 yards off the corner. I can see a bit around me in the woods and should have zero issue assuming they come out the same way I saw them the previous sit. It begins to get later in the evening and here they come. Starting with about 6 doe, 3 of them are standing right out in front of me between 15 and 25 yards. My wind is great, they’re all calm and are showing no signs of warning or concern. Then here he comes. Through the branches and leaves I can see antlers moving through the woods. He is making his way straight out into the corner. I am trying to focus but this is the first encounter I've had with a buck of this caliber in person. He steps out, I draw back, I’m bringing the pin into the vitals, I see brown and release. He pushes off a small kick, turns, and runs off into the woods behind me. Immediately I knew it wasn’t that double lung, knock him down, kill shot. I get down to look at the impact sight, there is a bit of blood and hair on my arrow and some on the ground. I'm not completely confident in the shot, but I now have more hope than when I was in the stand.

I backed out for about an hour or so and then came back in to see what I can find out. I am coming across drips and drops of blood with the occasional small pool, but nothing I would consider lethal. I track the weak blood trail about 100 yards into the woods and it goes dry. At this point I'm much more concerned that maybe I injured him to the point where he will get an infection or he maybe will not be able to fend from coyotes. I go home and get my lab/beagle mix and decide to see if I can get eyes on him one more time and see his condition. My old dog pulls me straight to him. Roughly 300 yards past the last blood, headlamp sweeping the forest like I'm on watch at Alcatraz, I see eyes. Bedded down a good 50 yards or so in front of me I see the buck pop his head up, look at me, jump on his feet, and his whitetail fade back in the darkness. I'm relieved and confident that he’ll be fine, and upset with my inability to finish the job. This hunt was the hunt to check all the boxes. Get permission myself, get on deer myself, and execute. I failed at the very last step.

I backed out for a few days and then hunted that spot a few more times. The buck was still coming back, I ended up grazing his armpit and he was fine. But, he went completely nocturnal, at least in and around that corner, and I wasn’t getting him on any other trail cameras. I decided to change things up and set up another set in the main body of woods that was connected to the jut I had initially set up in to observe. There was deer sign in here, I just didn’t have any trail cameras up in this area yet. I set up so I could look west and see out into the first half of the back half of the property. Woods line about 25 yards straight ahead/looking west, woods to the north, woods to the east with that back agg field my other stand is in beyond them, the property line about 25 yards to my south. I had received permission to recover from the quarry property, I just couldn't hunt on it. On the other side of the property line was woods and agg. South east was woods, southwest was the agg field the quarry leased out. My plan was hopefully to catch deer staging up in the woods as evening rolled in in this little 3 way crossing of woods and beans.

My first hunt turned out to be reminiscent of my first observation hunt on this property. I saw loads of deer, kinda all over the place. In the agg field to the south on the neighboring property, in the agg field to my west, and deer working their way through the woods staging up as I was hoping. Then, as if the first sit wasn’t enough of a tease, I see the biggest 10 point I had at the time seen in person or on trail camera. He was an absolute monster of a buck. A big, tall, wide, typical, 160+ 10 point. I first caught him walking down the property line on the neighbors side but I couldn't tell exactly what he was through the thick underbrush. He stepped out into the neighbors agg field and worked his way into a break in the vegetation and I was able to truly see him and everything he was. My jaw dropped. I just simply couldn't believe what I was seeing. I watched him walk down the property line and what would ultimately be the only sighting I would ever have of him in person. He was caught on trail camera a few times, but was ultimately taken by another hunter on a different property during gun season later in the year.

My fire is reignited. I'm ready to get back in the woods hard and redeem myself from the poor shot I had taken less than 2 weeks earlier. I find myself in this stand ready for an evening hunt a few days later. I had a small dilemma to work through. I haven't shot a buck in what would be the third year now. My wife and I also just added our 5th child to our family just a few months prior and she was graciously supporting me with the green light to hunt full throttle until her maternity leave was over at the end of the month. Obviously I would love to hunt that 10, but there were bigger and more important aspects of my life that didn’t have room for selfishness. I told myself, I won’t make any predetermined requirement or qualifications for what I will go after. There will be no it has to be this many points, or look at least this big. If I have an opportunity I will judge it in the moment, and if it feels right, I'll take it.

Sitting there in the stand, evening is coming and so are the deer. I am seeing small bucks work their way through the woods. Groups of does moving out into the agg. I see a few bucks that I know I would have a hard time holding back on if they were in range. As I am sitting there and the evening light is beginning to fade as the sun drops below the tree line across the field, I hear a crunch right beneath me. I look down and I see antlers. Before I can grasp what is going on my heart is pounding. I am trying to control my breathing while evaluating this buck standing under me. I'm trying to take it all in, counting points, I see he is outside of his ears, his main beams are big and long, looping back in and are less than 1” away from each other at the tips, almost touching. My gut tells me this very well may be happening, he doesn't look young and certainly would be an outstanding deer from what I can see directly over him. He starts working his way past me, he's standing 4 yards or so in front of me slowly working his way to what I would imagine is the edge of the field. There's really only two directions he can go, the field directly west, or the neighbors field to the south. I begin to get a better profile of him, and I start counting again. I get to 6 on one side with a forked g2, he has a nice thick body, this is the time. He's walking straight away from me, as he came from directly under me so I have no shot yet. With thick honeysuckle and a deadfall about 10 yards or so in front of him, he's going to have to do something. Whether it be to turn around, jump over the deadfall, or turn toward the neighbors field, I know an opportunity is coming.

I draw back as he comes up on where he has to make a move, he turns right like he's headed towards the west field and is now nearly dead broadside at 12 yards. I'm shaking and can't get a good sight picture. I'm trying to put the pin on him but just can’t. The moment has come but I have lost myself in the failures of my past. I have been working hard, shooting my bow religiously, putting in countless hours for so long. I cannot mess this up again. Without thought I pull my head back from the peep sight but stay drawn back, close my eyes, breathe in, and as I breathe out I open my eyes. I mentally reset and miraculously he's still standing there. Though it was probably less than 2 seconds from the time I pulled off my peep sight to the time I finished resetting, it felt like a lifetime. I unconsciously knew there was the risk he could turn to an unshootbale position or work his way somewhere I wouldn’t have a shot again, but he didn't. I line everything back up, put the pin on him, release.

The indisputable thwack, that all hunters know, of an arrow plummeting through the chest of a deer shatters the silence of the woods. He mule kicks, jumps over the deadfall, and takes off dead west towards the beans. He hits the feld edge and turns north and I watch him run up the edge of the woods as long as I can before losing sight of him through the brush. My excitement and anxiety are at war. My confidence in the shot is second to none, but the memory of my last attempted shot still lingers. I know he made it far enough away so that I can confidently check the shot sight without potentially pushing him. I get down, walk up to my arrow, and take a huge sigh of relief. My 450 grain fixed 3 blade broadhead set up did its job and then some. Completely passing through him and sticking in the ground I look at my once black but now red arrow and let out a huge sigh of relief, I know he's done. The dead fall he jumped over looks like someone dumped a bucket of red paint on it. The rest is history. He ended up running north down the field edge about 40 yards, then cut back up into the woods running north/northeast 20-30 yards where he crashed and died. The tracking job was pretty easy. Pretty standard procedure from there. Tag him, field dress, drag out, a night on ice, and to the butcher in the morning.

This buck will likely not be my biggest or craziest story from the whitetail woods. But, it is a very meaningful buck for me for the accomplishment that I achieved. I finally was able to check a lot of those boxes that I think brought me closer to the hunter I want to be. I found my own piece of land, I got in there and hunted hard, I went and found the deer and got on one. There certainly is more to achieve, as much of this did happen out of chance. I didn't scout this property for months prior. I wasn't locating food sources and bedding areas. I had zero historical data to go off of. I was blessed with the opportunity to hunt an amazing property and if at any time I wouldn't have continued to press on the result would have been much different. If I wouldn't have been looking for a new place to begin with. Or if I would've let the poor shot discourage me from getting back out there. Maybe if I wouldn't have had the mindset to risk potentially missing out on that buck by pulling back off my peep to reset my shot sequence. The list goes on and on.

As I mentioned earlier I was able to get my buddy permission as well. Less than a month later he put a nice 9 point down (different than the one I missed) in that back field. Those were the only two bucks we took off the property. In the coming year the land owner found himself in a legal battle with the city. They wanted to take it as they deemed it necessary to access the water table to accommodate their expanding size and population growth. At no fault to the owner we would be told we have to be out by the end of the month to then later on be told he was able to delay and were permitted back out there. Ultimately, the city won and it is no longer legally accessible. During that time we saw deer of a lifetime, used it for some great rabbit hunting, and enjoyed this hidden treasure to its fullest. As much as it did suck to lose the spot, I am extremely thankful for this amazing buck and advancements as a hunter I was able to make from it.

I told the story of this buck on the Sportsman's Nation 9 Finger Chronicles Podcast, view my home page for more details and a link. For more pictures of this buck and the one my buddy killed, check out my instagram post regarding this article. He ended up measuring out at a little over 140's, 12 point with matching forked G2's on both sides. I hunted him with my Mathews Triax, 70lbs, black eagle arrows, and Wasp Archery Drone 3 blade fixed broadheads.