Ohio's Number 2 Typical

Thursday, November 12, 1998, only a few miles from downtown Cincinnati, Ohio, in the suburbs of Colerain Twp. a lone hunter sat quietly in his treestand. James Spears waited and watched, as the minutes ticked towards time to head for home and work.

Nearly two hours had passed and nothing had yet visited his mock scrape or came along either of the intersecting deer trails which crossed nearby. With his compound bow at the ready and a grunt tube hanging by its lanyard around his neck, just in case it should be needed.

“It was pretty cool and I had been on stand for quite some time, nothing was moving. I started thinking about leaving for home soon, but the day seemed right, I would stay a little longer,” recalled James.

“About twenty past nine, I heard something noisy coming through the brush, then I saw movement about 50 yards out. It was a buck, and it was following the same trail I used to get to my stand. He was downwind of me and had his nose to the ground. I was wearing scent shield so I was hoping it would not wind me,” he continued.

Remaining still, James watched as the buck continued through the brush, then lost sight of it. Spears said, “I didn’t know where he was headed, I decided it was time for action, so I gave a couple of short grunts on the tube. He stopped, then began moving towards me. When he once again came into view he was only 30 yards away and moving towards the small clearing where I had prepared the mock scrape using Buckeye Scents doe urine. This drew it’s attention and it looked about for a doe as it sniffed and pawed the mock scrape.”

“At this point, he was close enough for a shot but the angle was not the best and I wanted a good clean shot,” James spoke again. “Finally he raised his head, looked both ways, then took a few steps to the left, giving me a perfect broadside shot at eighteen yards.”

“I came to full draw and as the pin settled just back of the shoulder, I released the arrow. My mind went kinda blank, I didn’t see the arrow hit, but instead I heard it going through the brush beyond the buck,” he went on, “ I thought I had missed but couldn’t see how.”

“The deer ran off about sixty yards, stopped and then started back towards the tree stand, it dropped dead about 35 yards out,” Sears exclaimed. “I decided to stay in the stand for thirty minutes, then decided fifteen would do, but I guess I was out of the tree about four or five minutes after the shot.”

 “But I just had to see this buck, it was tremendous, by far the best I have ever seen while hunting.” James recalled.

The buck dressed out at 165 pounds and was an instant hit at the check station. The local wildlife officers judged the buck to be three and a half years old.

At 20, James who has been hunting for 9 years, said, “I had no idea how really big this buck was until a few days later, when a close friend urged me to get it scored as he was sure it would be a new state record.”

In mid January, after the 60 day drying period it was scored by Hamilton County Wildlife Officer Mike Serio using the B & C scoring criteria, the typical rack was given a score of 186 7/8 inches.

It contained 16 1/8 inches of deductions (203” gross score) with this system. A very impressive deer. This buck is currently the second largest typical taken by compound bow in Ohio as recorded by the Buckeye Big Buck Club, (the official scoring unit for Ohio State records).

In March of ‘99, the magnificent 15 point buck was scored using the Buckmasters Criteria by Buckmasters Master Scorer Ed Waite. The rack is a basic ten point with five short stickers, 2 on each base and 1 on the right P-3, totaling 10 1/8 inches. The true antler total is 190 4/8 inches typical with only 5.3% irregular antler. 

“When I first saw a photo of the deer, sent to me over the Internet, I knew I had to score this deer,” stated Mr. Waite after the scoring. “What’s most incredible are the P-2’s, they are 16 6/8 and 17 3/8 inches respectively, while the P-3’s are both over 13 inches. These are the longest P-2’s and P-3’s I have ever seen, let alone scored,”

It took James and me nearly two months to get together for the scoring, but it was surely worth the wait.”

The Spears Buck currently stands as number 5 in the typical category of the
compound bow classification in Buckmasters Trophy Records.

To view the official score sheet, click here.