# Update On Giant Buck



## Bone Collector (Dec 26, 2005)

Okay, here is the info on this big buck. I have attached a couple more photos and a news article. The deer was Killed by Mike Rex in Athens County, Ohio. Also, I am told this deer will be on the cover of North American Whitetail.

Darrell

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Friday, October 21, 2005
D'Arcy Egan
Plain Dealer Columnist

Deer hunter Mike Rex is putting together a new game plan for his vacation.

The Athens County sportsman began the archery season on a mission. An exceptional trophy buck had been roaming the wooded lots near his home, and he would devote his season -- including all three weeks of his vacation -- to tracking down the large-antlered deer.

To Rex's delight, Lady Luck smiled on him on opening morning of the four-month bowhunting season.

"I'd known about this deer for a couple of years, but had only seen him once from a distance and never in a hunting situation," said Rex, past president and secretary-treasurer of the Buckeye Big Buck Club and a field engineer for an industrial chemical company.

He knew it was one of the biggest deer to roam the area. A neighboring hunter had a photo of the deer snapped by a remote camera pinned to a tree, and Rex had found the buck's big antlers from the previous year.

Deer annually lose their antlers, called "sheds" in winter. The bucks grow a new set of antlers throughout the summer. Antlers are scored as either typical, meaning symmetrical; or nontypical, which means they grow randomly.

The antlers Rex found last spring were something special.

"I estimated the nontypical antlers would score about 230 inches," said Rex. If they were still attached to the deer, that is. "That would make him one of the largest bucks ever taken in Ohio."

Devoted to hunting deer, Rex, 41, plants food plots and puts out mineral licks for deer on the land he hunts to help deer and their antlers grow large. The best time to hunt the big buck would be during the breeding season, or rut, and Rex blocked out his vacation time to match that special time when male deer throw caution to the wind.

Opening morning was slated as just another warm fall day in the southeastern Ohio woods. Rex felt he wouldn't see the magical buck until the rut began, but he enjoys time in a tree stand, watching and videotaping deer and the plentiful wildlife in Athens County. 

Rex positioned his stand near small pockets of water in a creek almost dry after a summertime drought. He figured deer would be eager for a sip after snacking on plentiful white oak acorns.

"I saw a few does about an hour into the hunt," said Rex. "They browsed toward me, then turned to go down the creek bank to water. The buck appeared behind me and was eating acorns, just like the does."

Rex expected the huge buck to follow the females and was surprised when it turned and walked toward his tree stand.

"At 25 yards, as if on cue, he stopped and turned broadside," said Rex. "It was almost surreal, being offered such a perfect shot. It was incredible luck."

Rex is still flying high after tagging his eighth deer that qualifies for the Buckeye Big Buck Club, a buck he estimates will score at least 220 inches. To qualify for the Ohio club, a deer must score 140 inches for typical and 160 inches for nontypical antlers using a formula of antler lengths and thickness.

Rex's sons Ryan, 13, and Cory, 11, enjoy bowhunting as much as their father and both have taken trophy bucks.

"Now, I'll devote my vacation to helping the boys have a great deer season," said Rex, with a laugh.


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## dominantpredator (Dec 26, 2005)

Good gosh man.


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## Jim Thompson (Dec 26, 2005)

yes he is a beast for sure


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## Bruz (Dec 26, 2005)

Iwould pack up, climb down out of the stand and wave to him as I headed back to the truck....My nerves just couldn't take it.


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## bukhuntr (Dec 27, 2005)

It's a huge deer, but I'll be danged if it doesn't look like the tines have been edited to look larger.  Check out the brows.


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## IdRatherBHunting (Dec 27, 2005)

It looks like they attached some long spike horns to the end. Reagrdless that thing is unreal freaky big.


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## GA Hunter (Dec 28, 2005)

*Wrong horn*

Look at the pic.  The tag is on the right horn.  On the other posts when the buck is in the truck, the tag is on the left????


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## bull0ne (Dec 28, 2005)

GA Hunter said:
			
		

> Look at the pic.  The tag is on the right horn.  On the other posts when the buck is in the truck, the tag is on the left????



Thats what happens when the negative gets reversed by mistake......ever notice all the left hand rifles in some of the kill photos?


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## GA Hunter (Dec 28, 2005)

Haven't noticed, but I'll look for it next time.


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## Dub (Dec 29, 2005)

I'm jealous!!!  Can't help it...that is one freak of nature there.


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## huntfish (Dec 29, 2005)

Yep,
Rex's deer is on the cover of NAW.  I got my copy in the mail yesterday but saw it 2 weeks ago at BooksAMillion.  Not his only 160+ animal though.


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## red neck in rut (Mar 24, 2008)

one in a million man


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## gobble157 (Mar 25, 2008)

this buck was killed only miles from my hunting camp in ohio. Mike rex is a prostaffer with hunter specialties. I live in dayton, ohio, but frequently live in the southeast of the state. Some of the  best bow hunting in the country takes place in Ohio. I love it and will live the rest of my life here. You should see the Beatty buck killed a couple of years ago in ohio. Amazing! Check out the link below. Every year a huge buck is killed in Ohio. We have some of the best genetics in the whitetail population. Here's the link to the beatty buck.

http://www.northamericanwhitetail.com/trophybucks/naw_aa901beatty/

David E.


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## leo (Mar 27, 2008)

*I do not know if the vague accusations*

that were made are true or not, ...... If y'all want to continue this "discussion" on them please start your own thread on a more appropriate forum .....

This is the Bragging Board .... where we share ..... our successes from the field and family" ...... please help us keep it that way...


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