Adams County Hunter Bags 224-3/8-Inch Non-Typical Whitetail Trophy

Rob Meade of Seaman measured a non-typical whitetail at 224-3/8 inches using Buckmasters scoring protocols, and the deer’s rack is currently at Jerry Copas taxidermy in Adams County awaiting mounting and the Boone & Crockett 60-day drying period required for official certification.

The antler set carries 23 points, with 19 scorable points and an inside width of 20 inches, measurements recorded at the Buckmasters scoring session. The harvest has drawn attention because a Buckmasters score at 224-3/8 would place the animal among the larger non-typical whitetails associated with southern Ohio archery harvests.

Accounts differ on the hunter’s identity. One detailed local account names 28-year-old Corey Richmond of West Union as the hunter and places the harvest on Friday, Oct. 16, with a trail-cam history that began in 2017 and produced near-daily photos in August before the buck disappeared for roughly a month. An initial brief circulated elsewhere identified Noah Ward as the harvestant; that discrepancy remains unresolved while local authorities and scoring organizations are contacted for confirmation.

The deer’s background in remote photography is notable: one report says trail-camera images first captured the animal in 2017 and that it reappeared repeatedly in subsequent seasons, providing months of sightings before the reported October harvest. The rack now at Jerry Copas will be dried for the standard 60 days before any Boone & Crockett Club official entry can be certified.

If the Buckmasters figure is upheld and Boone & Crockett certification follows, the buck would rank alongside some of the largest Ohio archery non-typical entries on record. Historic Adams County and regional entries include Tracy Laird’s 2003 archery non-typical listed at a gross 252 3/8 and net 236 1/8 with 26 points, and a 2006 33-point nontypical from the Seaman area that has been cited with varying gross and net totals and an inside spread recorded at 24 inches by the Ohio Division of Wildlife.

Statewide bow-hunter harvests have been strong this season. As of Oct. 21, Ohio bow hunters had taken 23,292 deer, nearly 10 percent above 2019, while Adams County totals were reported at 328 deer taken, 110 antlered and 218 antlerless, an increase of about 10 percent from 2019.

Next steps for confirmation include formal Boone & Crockett measurement after drying, Buckmasters paperwork from Rob Meade, and verification of hunter attribution and harvest date with local game officials and the taxidermist who holds the rack. If certified, the mounted rack will be entered into the official record-keeping channels for national comparison.