Corey Richmond with his big non-typical whitetail he arrowed recently in Adams County. (Provided photo)

By Tom Cross

This is one for the books. A mammoth non-typical buck was harvested by 28-year old Corey Richmond of West Union on Friday, Oct 16. The huge buck had 23 points, 19 of which were scorable points and the rack had an inside width of 20 inches. Richmond had known about the deer for some years when the first pics from a trail camera back in 2017 revealed the monster buck. In the years following it was captured several times on camera. This August the buck showed up again and Richmond had almost daily pictures of the buck before it disappeared for a month. Outside of Richmond and his brother–in-law, it is questionable if any others knew about it or had seen the massive whitetail.
Richmondkmj just recently had taken up hunting and this year purchased a new Mathews bow which he relentlessly practiced with throughout the summer. He had taken a couple of antlerless deer but had never before harvested an antlered buck.
Richmond already had a stand set near the spot where the buck was photographed on his trail camera months ago but had not hunted the spot for fear of spooking the buck out of the area. The old buck had a well-established pattern and Richmond knew that very likely he would have only a one-shot chance at the buck.
With the keen ability to smell, a buck’s nose is its first line of defense. If it smells you, he’s gone and most likely for good. That fact was not lost on Richmond that if he was to ever get an opportunity at this once in a lifetime buck he would have to play the wind.
That opportunity came last Friday evening with a north wind. Richmond knew the conditions were perfect and decided to give it a go. Just before he headed out on his huntm he did a final tune-up and shot a couple of practice arrows at 35 yards.
Richmond explained that he took the long way around to his stand to avoid being seen or smelled by any deer. After he got settled in that evening, two does walked near his stand but he remained undetected. A half hour later he saw a lone doe at a distance standing in an old forest road. That’s when the big non-typical showed up and went over to the doe. Then, as Richmond knew from the buck’s pattern, when the big whitetail left the doe, it begin following a trail that would take him past Richmond’s stand at about 35 yards.
It was a long few minutes and Richmond said he was fighting off a bad case of buck fever that was about to overtake him. Finally the massive non-typical stepped in an opening at 35 yards offering Richmond that once-in-a-lifetime shot at a truly giant whitetail. Ready and bow drawn, he sent the arrow toward the target.
After the release of the arrow, the big whitetail jumped and ran off like a bullet into the brush. After a run of about 50 yards the big buck came to a stop and slowly lowered his head and collapsed. Richmond’s arrow had pierced the heart of the giant buck.
This non-typical whitetail will likely go down as one of the top bucks taken in Ohio this year. It could possibly be the largest non-typical buck taken with long bow (compound bow) ever in Adams County. The buck was scored for Buckmaster by Rob Meade of Seaman, scoring an incredible 224-3/8 inches. Richmond will have to wait the required 60 days to have the buck officially scored by Boone & Crockett. In the meantime, the buck’s huge rack is at Jerry Copas taxidermy waiting to get mounted.
If Adams County kept a record book of the largest bucks taken in the county, it would look something like this with Richmond’s deer easily making the list.
– Top non-typical (with crossbow) John Schmucker (2006) –score 295-7/8 Boone & Crockett
– Top non-typical (with compound bow) Corey Richmond (2020) –score 224-3/8 Buckmasters
– Top non-typical (with recurve bow) Jon Campbell (1973) –score 184-2/8 Boone & Crockett
– Top typical (with muzzleloader) Gary Stevens (2015) –score 185-5/8 Boone & Crockett
– Top typical (with compound bow) Justin Metzner (2006) –score 196 Boone & Crockett
– Top Typical (with shotgun) Fred Burk (year unknown) –score 175-2/8 Boone & Crockett
As of Wednesday, Oct 21, Ohio bow hunters have taken 23,292 deer so far into the season which is up nearly 10 percent from 2019. In Adams County bow hunters have so far bagged 328 deer, 110 have been antlered, and 218 have been antlerless, which is also up 10 percent from 2019.
Ohio’s youth gun season is Nov. 21-22. Ohio’s deer gun season is Nov. 30 – Dec 6. Archery season continues through Feb, 7.
Acorns have been particularly abundant this year in the woods. An ODNR survey showed 27 percent of white oaks and 70 percent of red oaks bore fruit this year. According to ODNR, for the second year in a row red oaks were well above the 16-year average, while white oaks were below average. The abundance of acorns, or mast, is an important food source for forest wildlife, especially deer, turkey, and squirrels. Black bears and grouse also feed heavily on acorns and play a vital role for wildlife during the winter months when other sources of food are scarce.