Nolan Taylor, 29
Location: Ohio
Gear: Predator Platform
Albert Einstein once said, "the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, and expecting different results." While this may have been true for creating the Theory of Relativity, it is my belief that to be successful at chasing mature bucks on public land, it is one of the pillars to success. Come along with me on a day in my life in the public land deer woods, one that I will never forget.
November 19th, 3:00am: The alarm goes off yet again, another early morning in southern Ohio. The inner voice starts immediately, "hit the snooze," "go back to bed," "I don't wanna walk that far," "it ain't gonna happen." I know this voice all too well at this point of the season. I am currently exhausted, beat down, and frankly morale is low. This season has tested me both physically and mentally to a point I hadn't yet reached in the deer woods. The terrain I am hunting is vast, steep and unforgiving. Deer density is low and getting in the game on a mature buck is no easy task. This is my 19th day of hunting out here in the public lands of Ohio, and I am sitting with a tag still in hand after multiple close calls and a miss a few days prior. A 2 mile hike into a remote section of the public awaits me on this frosty November morning, and if I plan on finding a way to make it happen this season it is time to, once again, get up and outta bed. Cue insanity.
3:45am: I depart my truck to start the march back into the public. Conditions are perfect as I make my way to a preset spot, set over a community scrape on a side hill in between two high knobs. My access through the bottom is flawless with falling morning thermals and an approach from below. The cold, northern breeze forecasted for the day will create a bullet proof setup as my combination of wind and thermals will render me invisible to any deer headed to check the scrape I will be hunting over. I slipped in the day prior and set my sticks and predator platform under the cover of heavy rain to avoid detection of any bucks living in the area. Based on trail camera data over the past few seasons, I have found that mature bucks tend to daylight these community scrapes November 15-21, once the first round of breeding closes out. My theory is that they are in search of the next round of does to come into heat and cover a lot of ground while doing so. A perfect opportunity to catch a mature daylighting buck in a predictable pattern, something not often found in these big woods, hill country settings. After a long, 2 mile hike, I make my final approach up a steep side hill to the base of my tree. I climb up, position myself on my Predator Platform and throw on the Tethrd recliner for a peaceful morning nap before the sun comes up.
8:00am: The morning has been off to a quiet start with no action aside from the standard crashing of squirrels and calling of early morning birds. This all changed in an instant as I began to hear the noise of a deer walking high on one of the knobs above me. That unmistakable cadence of crunching of fall leaves that every hunter dreams about. I pull up my binos and quickly glass up the biggest buck I have ever seen in the woods. He is staged above the scrape about 150 yards out, scanning the area for any potential danger or does whom he feels need to be harassed. All I can make out through the glass at this time is a huge, tall framed buck, with a ton of mass. Adrenaline courses through my body as I shake and shiver like I had never felt before in the deer woods. After what felt like an eternity, the buck finally commits and decides to head right to the scrape I am sitting over. The buck's mannerisms and calculated movements were of something I had never seen in an animal before, the telltale signs of a mature whitetail. The buck passed behind a large oak tree and I quickly drew my bow back. I knew this would be my only opportunity to draw with dead calm conditions and a canopy now laying on the forest floor, leaving me quite exposed in the tree. I positioned myself for a "11 o'clock" shot in the saddle, attempting to keep as much of my tree as I can between me and the buck to break up my silhouette. The buck came right into the scrape, hit the licking branch, began to rip up the dirt, and marked the now open scrape with his scent. The buck's vitals are covered by limbs as I talk myself through the tidal wave of adrenaline I'm currently riding. The inner voice kicks back in, "stay calm," "you've waited all season for this," "breathe." I steady myself, staring at his vitals, waiting for my opportunity, while at one point needing to concentrate on not passing out. The buck finishes working the scrape and begins to step out from behind the limbs blocking his vital organs. At this point I've been at full draw for 90 seconds. To my surprise the buck cuts right towards me, clears the limbs and looks right up at me in the tree. We lock eyes, and I start to feel as if the buck is looking into my soul. The gig is up. I settle my pin for a frontal shot, taking an extra second to pick my shot and pull through a clean release. The shot breaks off as I watch my arrow travel towards the buck. It enters just below the throat path on a downward angle towards the deer's vitals. The buck takes off, crashing into trees, slows up, and walks out of sight about 200 yards away. A few hundred miles away back in Michigan, my brother is staring at a photo of a huge buck on his phone from his cell cam, a buck I just put an arrow into. He was anxiously awaiting my call wondering what was going on and if I was able to get a shot off. I quickly called him and briefed him of this situation. We both decide it is best to give the deer some time before taking up the track. I am so overcome with adrenaline and emotion at this point that I am dry heaving in the tree. I let the wave pass, and quietly snuck out of my tree and back to the truck to give the buck some time.
2:00pm: After a stress ridden afternoon, I head back out from the truck to make the 2 mile trek back, to take up the trail on the buck. I arrive at the site of the shot to find a blood trail that is fairly sparse, but with promising bright red blood. Nothing I wasn't anticipating with a high entrance, but it made for a tough track job. I eventually located my arrow about 100 yards into the track, revealing about 9 inches of penetration into the deer, and then blood cut off from there. My heart is sinking fast as I start to lose all hope of finding the buck. I decided to walk to where I last heard the buck, near where he disappeared from my line of sight after the shot. I couldn't believe it, the buck was right there, expired, he didn't go more than a few hundred yards and was down within minutes of the shot. Quickly, I ran up to the buck to get a closer look. I grabbed the horns and pulled them out of the leaves. I couldn't believe what I was looking at. A giant main frame 9 point with matching reverse splits off his brows and an extra off the front. A total of 12 scorable points. His long, bladed brow tines were like nothing I had ever seen firsthand, a buck I could have only dreamed about was now in my hands. Days upon days, hours upon hours, and miles upon miles of effort had culminated into this moment. A moment that will forever sit with me. Gratitude, joy, humility and a bit of self confidence are a few words that come to mind. Moments like this are why I do it. This relentless pursuit is more than some hobby to me. It is a deep passion that runs through my very being that I can't quite explain. To offer a bit of transparency about myself, I've struggled with anxiety/depression throughout my life and hunting has always offered an outlet to pour myself into. I do not take these moments of success lightly. Always learning, evolving and getting humbled by the deer woods, I can always find myself returning for more. I stare at this beautiful animal and in this place my heart is full. Yet, the day isn't over for me yet. I am currently over 2 miles deep with a deer to tend to, a bow, and a pack full of saddle gear that all need to get back to the truck. I opt to gut the deer and make a trip out with just my gear, and return a final time to extricate the buck from the woods. The time is 3pm, sunlight will be gone in a few hours, and there is much work to do.
12:57am: My headlamp begins to illuminate the ever so welcomed sight of the brake lights of my truck. This is my third and final trip out of the woods, this time accompanied by my buck. I have been dragging for 6 hours and 17 minutes and have racked up over 12 miles of hiking on the day. Remember that part I said about getting humbled? My body is broken down and I am exhausted past what I have ever felt before. Cramps twist in my body and my hands continually lock up from gripping the deer cart. I am shivering uncontrollably and have been hypothermic for the past hour from exposure to the cold and being covered in sweat all night. Physically, a miserable place that few will ever visit, but I was grateful for every moment. This is what it is all about for me, unwavering passion and pursuit. Pushing myself far past any mental or physical limits that I have told myself exist. I heave the buck up onto the tailgate with the last few ounces of effort I have, then collapse to the ground for a short while and stare and the star littered sky above. It's dead silent aside from my heavy breathing and the only clouds are from my warm breath hitting the cold air around me. I've never felt more alive than at this moment. I let some time pass to make sure I soaked it all in. And laughed a bit as I thought about what Einstein once said about insanity...it was clear he was wrong this time!
