Farmer David Hostetler of Caledonia, Ohio, prefers hunting bucks during the rut. But because crops must be tended and farming is a nonstop job, Hostetler settles for hunting whenever he gets an opportunity.
And on Sept. 12 — Ohio’s special early archery opener for Marion County — he got a rare chance to deer hunt before the fall harvest cranks up. That evening found Hostetler 20 feet above the ground in a hang-on stand. He was overlooking a 10×100-foot food plot of clover and radishes.
“It’s a perfect small spot for a bow stand, with a creek, pond, and lots of fields nearby,” Hostetler, 35, tells Outdoor Life. “I had some trail cameras in the area and I’d patterned ‘Flyer’ coming to the plot late in the afternoons, and my stand was set up just right.”
Hostetler says the massive buck was easy to distinguish from other deer because of its incredible rack, with plenty of kicker — or “flyer” — points jutting off its antlers.
“I’d seen the deer often, and so had some neighbors. I even had a chance to take him two years ago with a 12-gauge during a deer drive. But I missed him at 50 yards.”
Sept. 12 was hot and slow, and it wasn’t until about 7 p.m. that Hostetler spotted a pair of small bucks near the creek a few hundred yards away. He saw some movement beyond the deer — then spotted Flyer’s distinctive antlers.
“I saw him at 70 yards take a drink from the creek, then he crossed it, following a small buck headed my way. I watched him for about 15 minutes nibbling browse and feeding, slowly coming closer behind the little buck.”
When, at last, the big buck closed to 20 yards, he was facing Hostetler head-on.
“I was standing and ready to shoot, but the angle for an arrow was poor. Finally, he turned a little, then a little more, and then gave me a decent chance so I drew and shot.”
The buck was quartering toward Hostetler, and the 2-blade mechanical passed through the buck’s chest. The deer jumped and ran just 15 yards and stopped, head down. The hunter knew he’d hit the buck a little far back, but he still felt confident he’d made a lethal shot, thanks in part to the lighted nock on his arrow.
“I watched him through binoculars walk about 60 yards and then he stopped and just stood there,” he says. “Then he laid down in some tall grass, so I could just see his antlers.”
Hostetler watched the buck until dark, then climbed down. As he descended, he spooked another smaller buck. Initially, he was worried the younger buck may have spooked Flyer, but a quick glance through his binoculars confirmed the deer was still bedded in the same spot.
He decided to back out. That night he returned with his brothers, Bennie and Sam, his nephew Elmer, and his buddy Lester Miller. Using a thermal-equipped drone, which is legal for recovery in Ohio, they quickly located the buck where Hostetler had left him. But the buck was still alive.
“We decided to leave and come back the next morning. I didn’t sleep well that night. At 7 a.m. the next morning we flew the drone to the spot where the buck had been. He was gone.
“At that moment,” says Hostetler, “I felt awful.”
But they flew the drone over the creek and quickly found Flyer dead just 80 yards from his bed.
“I was worried that the meat may have spoiled overnight in that hot weather. But I took it right to a deer processor and he said it was fine. That was a relief,” says Hostetler.
The following day, Buckmasters master scorer Toby Hughes taped out the deer with an official score of 231 4/8 inches. Unlike the Boone and Crockett and Pope and Young clubs, Buckmasters does not require a 60-day drying period (and does not take deductions from antlers).
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“The best part of the hunt is that it’s really fired up my nine-year-old son, Oliver. He wants to get a big buck now, and I saw a couple smaller deer that eventually just might fill the bill for him.”
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