Ohio Hunter Bags Trophy Buck On Opening Day

October 4, 2006

For the second year in a row, an Ohio hunter has killed a 200-class trophy buck on the first day of Ohio deer archery season.

Once scored, the Adams County buck will easily score over 200 (non-typical). It has 33 points on its antlers and an inside spread of 24 inches. Jonathon Schmucker of Seaman, Ohio killed the buck with a crossbow on the evening of September 30. Last year on opening day, Mike Rex of Athens, killed a buck that scored 218 6/8. This is the first year deer season has started in September.

“Trophy bucks on opening day are getting to be a tradition in Ohio,” said Steven A. Gray, chief of the Division of Wildlife. "The state’s deer management program is designed to manage for trophy-sized bucks while controlling the state population through hunting of deer, especially does."

Ohio is gaining fame as a trophy buck state. The famous 39-point Beatty Buck was taken in Greene County in the fall of 2000. With a rack score of 304 6/8, it stands as the world's largest non-typical white-tailed deer ever taken by a bowhunter. A white-tailed deer killed in the fall of 2004 in Warren County, known as the Jerman buck, became an Ohio typical record with a score of 201 1/8. These two bucks and many other trophy bucks have focused national attention from the hunting community on the Buckeye state in the past few years.

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