By Lisa L. Price

Ohio hunter David Cain was in a deer drought, much of it self-imposed. In 2002, he'd arrowed a BTR 12-pointer with split brow tines. But since then, he'd been passing up inferior bucks. 

"My family hunts on a 150-acre farm, and we've been managing it for big bucks," Dave said. "We've taken many does, and it took about six years for us to start to see the big bucks."

Dave's 2005 archery season was laced with sightings of a quality buck.

"I saw that buck half a dozen times during bow season, but the closest was about 80 yards," he said. "It didn't respond to calls, although I tried everything.

"Right before the rut, I saw it through binoculars, very far away, and I wasn't sure how big it was," he added. "Then when I saw it at 80 yards, I judged it to be at least a 140- or 150-incher." 

When the Ohio shotgun season started, Dave started to worry. He didn't see any sign of the big buck. Had it left the area? Had someone else taken it during the archery season? And where had all the other deer gone?

"I hunted all week, and I didn't see any deer," Dave said. "I didn't know if the big buck was still around, and because I wasn't seeing anything, I was getting the feeling that it was going to be a bad year."

Dave hunted during the morning on the fourth day of the state's shotgun season, again not seeing anything. He came out of the woods at midday, and with the news that a storm was coming that night, his father and brother joined him for the evening hunt. All the hunters were hoping the change in the weather would get the deer on their feet and moving.

The first and only one he saw during the shotgun season was his archery-season teaser buck. The deer was moving about 150 yards away, and Dave caught sight of it as it headed up over a hill. He quickly moved to that spot.

"It was cold and snowing, but the wet ground was still so warm that the snow wasn't sticking," he said. "I went over there and found its heavy set of tracks, and I realized I knew where the deer was going -- a really neat spot to hunt."

The big buck was heading for shelter. One area of the farm was shaped like a bowl, overgrown with multi-flora rose and other dense vegetation. Dave moved cautiously on the trail, step by careful step, watching ahead for any glimpse of the deer.

"When I caught sight of the buck, it was bedded in some of the multi-flora rose," Dave said. "I could see antlers, but I couldn't see where its body was."

Dave watched the bedded deer for a little while, but knowing the area, he decided to take action by firing a shot.

"It's nearly impossible to tell where a shot has come from, when you're inside that bowl," he said. "I thought that if I fired, the deer might get to its feet, and I'd have a chance."

Dave braced himself for the blast from his shotgun, already prepared for a quick second shot.

"But after I fired that first shot, nothing happened. The deer didn't move," he said. "I waited a little while again, and then I fired a second time."

With the second shot, the big buck stood. It hesitated, and then ran in a burst all around the edge of the bowl.

"Then it came back, cutting across the bowl, headed for a spot where there was a ditch and a pond," Dave said. "When I saw which way it was headed, I thought it might stop there, and that's what it did."

Dave was already aiming at the spot about 120 yards away. He fired a third shot, this time able to take aim right at the buck's vitals. Again in confusion as to the source of the boom, the buck took off running right at the hunter.

"It ran about 70 yards, right at me," Dave said. "Then it fell in multi-flora rose."

His father, Dave Sr., and brother Austin had heard the shooting from the bowl area and, shortly before 4 p.m., arrived to find out what was causing all the commotion. 

"I didn't tell them how big it was," Dave said. "I just had my dad circle an area, and he found it, dead.

"He hollered up to me, and I think he was more excited than I was," Dave said. "It took him a little bit to calm down."

Dave now has another Fairfield County slammer, mounted in a sneak right position, to match his bow buck, mounted in a sneak left. The racks are very similar, especially the brow tines.

"I'm really happy when I look at those mounts," he said. "It seemed to start out as a bad year, but this is proof that quality deer management pays off in the long run."

BTR Score: 162 4/8

-- Lisa L. Price
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