Two For The Record

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Two For The Record

By Etta Pedijohn

Doug May

Shotgun 2004

Lawrence Township

Buckmasters (Green Score) Typical -- 196 7/8

Doug May, his wife Jennifer, and his four children spend a lot of time in the woods together.

While Doug and his wife Jennifer hunt, and have harvested game for the dinner table, the family’s time together outdoors is a chance to learn firsthand the interaction between the creatures that inhabit the woods, and the ethical responsibilities and stewardship bestowed upon those who have the ability to share this environment.

For this reason Doug prefers to shoot a bow. He feels bowhunting gives a human a chance to become more intimate with the majestic whitetail deer that roam the Ohio Valley and his property in Lawrence Township. Like many hunters in this region he enjoys the opportunity to interact up close and intimately with a deer, pursuing it with a bow.

Doug is not a trophy hunter, but usually manages to put a doe in the freezer each year. His wife and hunting partner Jennifer tried her hand at hunting recently and her first kill was a beautiful six-pointer taken from 30 yards, with a perfect double-lung shot. Her first deer fell to a crossbow.

2003 Buck

He has used a compound bow while hunting until the 2003 season, when an injury sidelined him to using a crossbow.

He said his favorite time to hunt is during Thanksgiving week, and, from what the last two seasons have produced for him, there’s no doubt why.

On Nov. 22, 2003 Doug was hunting with the crossbow during the gun season in Woodsfield and decided to hunt from the ground because of the wind direction. He had found some decent tracks earlier, and while hunting had used some Doc’s Dominant Buck Lure scent to hunt the area. As he was walking he paused and watched as two "awesome" and huge bucks with swollen necks sparred for a nearby doe’s attention.

"I stepped behind a tree and tried to calm myself to keep my heart from beating out of my chest," he recalled. "One of the bucks came close and I drew my bow, but then he disappeared for a while up over the ridge. Eventually he came into range and I hit him in the lung and through the liver."

He eventually found the buck bedded about 300 yards away from where he was hit.

What he found there was a semi-irregular typical that weighed 300 pounds before field dressing. The 11-point buck would be serious contender for the Boone & Crockett Ohio Big Buck taken with a gun in the B&C record books.

2004 Buck

During the 2004 season Doug found himself again hunting during the Thanksgiving week. On Nov. 30 he looked out the window of his home in Lawrence Township when he spotted the silhouette of what appeared to be a huge buck being harassed by some other bucks as they pursued a deer. They were at the edge of a mowed hay field putting on a show.

He said he was enjoying the show and it didn’t cross his mind to go out and kill the animal until his 10-year-old daughter Morgan said "Daddy why don’t you go out and get him?"

Morgan, like his other three kids, was skillful at woodsmanship, although she hadn’t really shown an inclination to hunt any of the creatures she knew so much about.

Answering Morgan’s question, Doug scrambled around for something to take afield and ended up grabbing an heirloom Ithica 16-gauge his father had given him, along with some slugs that were given to him years before. He also grabbed a grunt tube and gear.

He doused his boots with Doc’s scent and headed for a spot about 1,200 yards from his house, while his family watched from a window. As the buck’s location drew closer he ended up crawling about 40 yards on his stomach until he was in the gun’s range of the bow. He looked again and realized the doe was standing in front of the buck .

As the big buck was challenging the other subordinate bucks, he managed to get his attention with a grunt. Both the big buck and the doe stopped what they were doing and looked at Doug.

Doug could see hunter orange from behind the treeline just across his property line and knew he either had to take this buck now or he would fall to the hunters just across the property line. He waited for the magnificent beast to lower his head and took his shot.

Meanwhile the scene was playing out before his family members as they watched in amazement from the window.

"As I went to retrieve the buck I was amazed at the massive beams," he said. "I could see the front beams, it looked like something you’d see on the cover of a hunting magazine."

He then looked up to see Morgan running across the field in her pajamas, with his wife and son Austin, seven, following behind. When Morgan reached the buck she started counting the points.

"There’s 17 Daddy," yelled Morgan, to which Jennifer replied "Huh Uh!"

While the family gathered around Doug explained to the children what a great gift this was and how such a magnificent beast, which has survived so long and survived the wild and all its dangers, is rarely so easy to harvest.

Although Morgan had been on hunts with her father before, her reaction this time surprised Doug.

"I’m ready to take my hunter safety course now Daddy," said the girl who loved the outdoors but had never quite wanted to harvest a deer.

Once the taxidermist arrived he and the others estimated the deer was close to 300 pounds, and it weighed in at 200 pounds once field dressed. Once hung for butchering the buck’s body was longer than the taxidermist is tall.

Doug had the taxidermist remove the cape he had it green scored by a Buckmasters scorer at 196 7/8.

Doug has hunted since he was 12 years old, and now wants his children to appreciate and respect all the creatures in the outdoors, whether they hunt them or not.

With two potential trophy whitetails crossing his path and now hanging on his wall, and one harvested right beforetheir eyes, the Mays family is well on its way to an education few outdoor enthusiasts achieve in a lifetime.