An Ohio hunter set a world record after he shot a velvet antlered doe in Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge.
Michael LaLonde Jr. of Oak Harbor, Ohio shot the doe this autumn, Outdoor Life reports. And according to Buckmasters Whitetail Trophy Records, at 191 0/8 inches, the doe he shot is the world’s largest. The doe has 22 scorable points: 15 on the right side and seven on the left side.
Hunter Goes After ‘Buck’
LaLonde initially thought he was hunting a buck when he moved his hunting stand to a new location and spotted a deer in a thick bedding area. He returned to the stand on Oct. 2 and saw the same velvet antlered “buck” moving in his direction.
“I didn’t want to make a lot of movement and turn my body around to face the [deer],” LaLonde said. “So I carefully grabbed my crossbow and twisted my body to my left so I could shoot in that direction.”
The “buck” had its head down and was pausing occasionally to sniff the air. LaLonde then shot the deer in the neck.
“The deer ran to my left when I shot it and then dropped just 45 yards away,” the hunter said.
A Rare Find
After he shot the deer, LaLonde texted his friends and sent them pictures of the dead deer. One of them took a look at the pictures and told LaLonde to check and find out if the deer was in fact a doe.
So LaLonde checked. He then realized his friend was right.
“I was in shock,” LaLonde said. “I was just blown away and couldn’t believe what I wasn’t seeing.”
After he had gutted the doe and carted it out of the woods, LaLonde showed it to Ottawa County Wildlife Officer Reid Van Cleve. Van Cleve was impressed at LaLonde’s rare find.
“I was pretty excited to see such a unique deer in person,” Van Cleve told Outdoor Life. “I was very happy that such a nice guy like Michael harvested this unique animal.”
LaLonde then took the deer to a taxidermist, who put the deer’s age at around 6.5 years old.
