Mobile-Hunting Strategy Leads to Tagging of Massive Ohio Buck

Like most stories about whitetail deer nowadays, the tale of Double D started with a single set of trail-camera pictures. On the evening of Sept. 8, 2023, I was enjoying time in the backyard pushing my three children on the swing set. My cell-cam app had been continuously going off, but I just ignored it. I figured it was the same does and little bucks that had been frequenting the camera all summer long.

A break in the activity gave me the opportunity to check my app, and my fun nature and playfulness soon turned to shocked and amazement. The very first picture that popped up on my phone was a giant, double-drop-tine buck. My breathing shortened and I began to tremble slightly. This was the largest deer I had ever gotten a picture of in my whole life. Living in Ohio, we have great deer here, but this buck wasn’t your typical deer. He was what I grew up looking at on the cover of magazines.

Standing in the middle of my yard, I was snapped back to reality by the giggles and screams of my kids. As soon as I came to, I knew the days of hunting over a corn pile like previous years were not going to work. I had to change up my tactics, and with the opening day less than a month away, I didn’t have much time.

Laying a Plan

Saturday rolled around and I had already planned on spending some time on my hunting property prior to getting the pictures of the deer I named Double D. As I approached the camera from which I got the photos, I couldn’t help but see a giant, fresh, car-hood-sized scrape. I was on the property the weekend before and there was no scrape in that spot.

Looking at the trail-cam photos, there was a short period of time between the first and last pictures of the buck, where the deer had disappeared and then reappeared. As soon as I saw that scrape, I knew he was the deer that made it. Armed with the information I gathered from the initial set of trail-camera pictures, and a book bag full of trail cameras, I set out on foot. I walked every square inch of the back half of the property, placing cameras on every heavy trail, scrape, fresh rub and known travel corridor. All I needed was one more picture and I could start to put a game plan together. Little did I know at the time, but that picture wouldn’t come for quite a while.

The likelihood of getting a shot at this deer over a corn pile in daylight was slim to none. I knew if I was going to get a crack at the buck, I had to take the fight to him. I have always had a mobile-hunting mindset but was limited in what I could do. Dragging a 20-foot-set of climbing sticks and a heavy treestand everywhere isn’t conducive to hunting on a property with a deer of a lifetime.

I was soon doing substantial research — there are just so many mobile setups you can go with — and it was almost overwhelming. I settled on the XOP Mondo saddle harness, Edge platform and X2 climbing sticks. This was my way of getting into the mobile-hunting world without having to wait on long lead times that come with ordering custom gear and possibly miss my opportunity. After making a few posts on social media with my XOP gear, I was contacted by Tom LaLond, XOP’s partnership developer. Tom could see the passion I had and a relationship developed, affording me the opportunity to dive deeper into my mobile-hunting rig.

I’m a union electrician by trade, but prior to the 2023 season starting, I took a job in the office as a project engineer. This career transition allowed me the freedom to consume knowledge through podcasts, and I was soon immersed in all things mobile hunting, from techniques and scouting tips, to getting on deer early and all things whitetails. I had a list of names that I would type into Apple Podcasts. I was like a sponge, soaking up every ounce of knowledge I could. The guys I was listening to have done this at a high level for such a long time. The more I listened, the more confidence I was gaining (I owe these guys a beer or several for all the free knowledge they give out on those podcasts). I now had the setup and the information I needed. I was just missing a key piece to the puzzle — the deer. He was nowhere to be found!

Boots to the Ground

Fast-forward to opening morning of deer season and I still had not seen hide nor hair of Double D. With no more pictures or sightings, I set my sights on the next best thing — a big mature doe. I had a pre-hung set of climbing sticks in a maple tree on a small, one-acre field that had quite a bit of doe activity. I made my way up the hill with an XOP Cold World on my back. Giving myself plenty of time, I was able to slip in under the cover of darkness and hang my stand. After setting up all my camera equipment, I had an arrow nocked and was ready for daylight. Not long after legal shooting light, I had a mature doe filter under my stand and give me a clean, 15-yard, quartering-away shot. Unfortunately, as I released my arrow, she decided to take a step and the arrow impacted her back in the hip. The deer made a half-circle and stopped broadside at 20 yards. I was then able to slip another arrow into the vitals, and she dropped on the spot.

Having harvested a doe so early in the morning, I knew I had time to do some scouting. I got the deer tagged and field dressed, put it in the bed of the truck and off I went back into the woods. I shifted some cameras around and slipped in on two bucks sparing in a bowl on the edge of the property. Seeing those deer in that bowl gave me hope that Double D was still around and I was just missing him with my cameras.

The weekend that followed was very special to me. My parents had moved to Tennessee a few years back, and this was the first year my dad had purchased an Ohio hunting license since they moved. I was able to get him permission with me on a few properties I had access to and we bounced around the trees of central and southern Ohio for three days.

I had one deer — and one deer only — that I was willing to shoot. I didn’t even take a bow with me, just my camera equipment. We had a few other mature bucks breaking daylight and with a cold front making its way into Ohio, we had high anticipation.

Unfortunately, the cold front didn’t yield exactly what we had hoped for. We had some deer activity, but that was it. Mom and dad headed back to Tennessee after our Sunday morning hunt, and I was back to the drawing board on Double D.

At this point, we were creeping into the middle of October. From the time my oldest daughter was 3, I had her in the woods with me for a hunt at least once a year. That weekend just happened to be the weekend that I promised to take her out. The weather forecast for Saturday morning was rainy and dreary — not really ideal conditions for a 5-year-old — so I made a change in plans. Instead of taking her out in the morning, I decided to use that time to do another scouting mission.

That scouting session would turn out to be exactly what I was looking for. After walking the top field on the property and the trails that access it, I found a really fresh scrape. I knew if the buck was going to be on this property, he was definitely going to hit this textbook mid- to late-October scrape.

After scouting the top, I made my way along the backside of the property just like I had done several times before, trying to find something that might lead me in the right direction. When I did not find the sign that I wanted, I started to make my way back to the truck. On a whim, I decided to pop up over a ridge I previously had a camera on. At first glance, it didn’t look like a spot I wanted to place a camera, but after finding fresh rubs on three trees next to each other, I decided to put my last one out. I wasn’t confident in the location, but I knew I could always move the camera later. Boy, am I glad I put it out!

Double D Returns

Sun., Oct. 15, was a morning to remember. Much like anyone else who runs cell cams, I woke up and rolled over to check my app. After scrolling only a little bit, much to my surprise there he was. I screamed, “He’s back, he’s back,” to which my 5-year-old replied, “He’s back, he’s back.” To say I was relieved to see the buck alive and well, and on my property, would be an understatement.

I got two more sets of nighttime pictures of Double D on the Monday and Tuesday. Then he disappeared again. Knowing he was on the move and out checking and making scrapes everywhere, it was a mad dash to come up with a plan to put the deer on the ground.

That Friday was another rainy, dreary day, and I was able to slip out of work a little early and headed to the property I was hunting. Although I wasn’t going to hunt, I did have my XOP stand and sticks on my back. Double D had been using the back right corner of the property for access, and I set up the stand and sticks roughly 10 yards from the camera where I had gotten my most recent photos of him.

After an uneventful morning hunt on Sunday, Oct. 22, I elected to pull my stand and sticks for the afternoon hunt. I had a gut feeling I was in a good area, but I wasn’t exactly in the right spot. I then picked a tree 50 yards from the original stand location. This spot gave me many more shot opportunities on several travel corridors that entered the property.

After getting everything set up, I was ready to hunt. Throughout the evening, I had several does filter by me, some well within range and some not so close. At roughly 6:25 p.m., I could hear hoof steps directly in front of me. After seeing a pair of legs and a glint of antler, I still had no idea what deer it was. All I knew was that the buck was heading my way on the path to my left, which was a huge part of the reason I decided to move in the first place.

As I lifted my binoculars to my eyes, they more or less bounced off my face. That’s how quickly I realized what I was looking at. As Double D closed the distance, I grabbed my bow, came to full draw and settled my pin in the center of my shooting lane. After what seemed like an eternity — it was really only a couple of seconds — the buck appeared in the lane. He then stopped perfectly broadside at 22 yards, and I buried my pin in the “Vital V” area, cut the arrow loose and watched the lighted knock track directly at his heart.

The arrow impacted the buck perfectly, he ran up over the hill and I heard him crash after running approximately 50 yards. Following the shot, I came unglued. I called my wife and children, my parents and the small group of buddies who knew of this deer. After building my plan and remaining mobile to give me the best opportunities at him, I had taken down my largest-ever buck!

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