Those who have patience will have good things come their way.
That’s the case for this persistent Ohio man who took down a buck after three years of tracking it. Brandon Sheets, an Ohio native, turns heads with his latest takedown- a beautiful 20-point whitetail buck. Getting this buck, though, came after years of sitting and waiting.
Sheets tells Field & Stream that his first encounter with the buck was back in 2022.
“I was sitting in a blind toward the end of bow season watching a couple bucks spar in a field when he came in from some tall grass and scared them away. He was probably a 150-class deer that year.”
After hoping he’d see the buck again that season, it wasn’t until 2023 when their paths would cross again on the private land Sheets hunts on in Pickwick County, Ohio.
“I didn’t see him again until the 2023 season when I had him and another nice buck… about 70 yards away…
He only showed up on camera a couple times that year… He was super smart and elusive.”
In 2023, Sheets believed that the buck scored roughly 170 inches. Even last year, many hunters dream of a buck that size. Although Sheets was devastated that this buck had gotten away from him two years in a row, in 2024, his prayers would be answered as he finally took down the massive animal.
On November 8th, Sheets saw the buck on his cameras and was stunned to cross paths with it once again. He spotted him at sundown but it was too dark outside.
The following day, Sheets returned to the land and recalled the crazed scene in which he had killed the massive buck.
“I had a 140-inch 9-pointer in front of me for about an hour on some hot does. I heard some rustling to the right of me and saw what I thought was a giant rack of horns coming up the creek bed. I was like: There is no way those were antlers. And all of a sudden, every deer in the woods just exploded—everything started running.
A doe ran right past me, and he trotted in behind her. When he stopped and quartered away, about 25 yards from my tree, I stood up and took the shot.”
After taking the shot with his crossbow, Sheets looked through his binoculars and watched the buck run through the brush.
Once Sheets found the buck, he and his brother Ryan, whom he credits with helping him scout this legendary buck, were shocked to witness up close and personal how massive the rack was on this animal. Sheets plans to take the deer to Toby Hughes of Ohio Buckmasters to have it scored and is expecting the buck to measure more than 200 inches.
After it was all said and done, Brandon Sheets was still in awe about his prize. That buck is a beauty, that’s for sure. His wife Madison provided Whiskey Riff with a few photos of this monster.
Sheesh, what an absolute beast:
