MIKE BEATTY'S BIG DEER

After The Kill

EDITOR'S NOTE: Avid deer hunter Mike Beatty from Xena, Ohio, has been hunting since he was 12-years-old. In the 2001 hunting season, he took the buck of his lifetime -- a monster buck that scored 304 6/8 Boone and Crockett points. This week, Beatty will tell us about his hunt of a lifetime and share his passion for bow hunting whitetails and enjoying the outdoors with family and friends.

QUESTION: What was the terrain like where you took your big deer?
ANSWER: There were two wood lots behind me and in front of me about 300 yards in each direction. To the right of me was a standing corn field, and to my left was a field of cut beans.

QUESTION: Could you see the enormous size of the deer's rack when you shot him?
ANSWER: I could see it was a big deer, but I didn't know it was that big. I didn't know for three or four days that the buck might be a record. I just thought it was a big deer. It was surely the biggest deer I'd ever seen.

QUESTION: How far away was the buck from where you shot him?
ANSWER: He was approximately 300 yards away from where I shot him.

QUESTION: What did you think when you first saw the massive size of his antlers?
ANSWER: I couldn't believe it. I just kept staring at him. The buck died with his head upside down, and a piece of firewood lay across him on his wrack where he'd bumped into a pile of logs. I got the piece of wood out of his antlers, and I just kept looking at him. I was in awe at his size.

QUESTION: What was the first thing you did after you found the deer?
ANSWER: I kissed and hugged my son. Then, I got him to take a picture -- the only field photo we have. At that point, I took my son back home. I tried pulling the deer, but I couldn't budge him. So, I put my boy in the truck, took him back to the house and dropped him off for school. Then I went back to the spot with my 4 wheeler. I grabbed some bagged ice because the weather actually had warmed-up that night. I packed the deer's chest cavity full of ice after I field dressed it. I loaded it up on the truck. A friend of mine met me out there to help with the deer. We loaded the deer up and took him straight to the Division of Wildlife to check him. The Division of Wildlife's headquarters is right in the middle of Xena, and it's actually on my way home. In Ohio, we have to check our deer in and get a tag put on the antlers before we can start cutting on the deer. After that point, it just seemed like everyone found out about my big buck.

QUESTION: How did everyone find out about the deer?
ANSWER: By word of mouth.

QUESTION: How did Mossy Oak find out about the deer?
ANSWER: I called Mossy Oak to tell them thanks because I wore Mossy Oak camouflage on that hunt. I didn't expect anything from them.

TOMORROW: LIFE ON THE MOSSY OAK PRO STAFF