Art Holden
Sun, November 21, 2021
Steph Genet, 29, of Nashville, shows off the 15-point buck she killed with a compound bow Oct. 31. She was hunting in Wayne County on her grandmother's farm.
Waiting for the chance to shoot an Ohio whitetail deer is nothing new for Holmes County hunter Steph Genet. She has enjoyed the process and knowledge she has garnered spending countless hours in the woods. Her patience finally paid off on the last day of October, when she shot a 15-point buck on her grandmother's property in Wayne County.
"It took me four years to shoot my first deer," said Genet, a 29-year-old who works for the Millersburg Police Department. "I was very particular. I wanted to make sure I could make a good shot, and, I was learning as I went."
Genet said it took years to learn the habits and deer movement on her grandma's farm, putting in countless hours of scouting. She got into deer hunting seriously in 2014, and shot her first deer, a big 10-pointer, in 2018 with a shotgun. Since then, she's killed two does with a shotgun, and her second buck with a crossbow. Her latest deer kill was with a Hoyt Klash compound bow set at 55 pounds and shooting a Montec G5 fixed-blade broadhead.
And while she has yet to put a tape to her big buck, she said its mass is as impressive as its forked tines, which give it "characteristic."
"I had a good deer on my trail camera last year, but to say this was the same deer might be a stretch," said Genet. "But, I did have this deer on my camera for a few weeks before Oct. 31."
'I turned around and saw this buck chasing three does'
On that now unforgettable Halloween hunt, Genet got in the woods at 1 p.m., and immediately had deer all around her.
"But, there was nothing close enough to actually shoot," she said. "Just before 5 p.m., a button buck was chilling in front of me and it kept looking behind me. I turned around and saw this buck chasing three does."
Wondering if she would ever get a chance to draw on the bruiser, the scenario soon turned in Genet's favor.
"The does left, and I think the buck smelled the scent lick I had hung up," explained Genet. "I think he thought the button buck was a doe, and he came my way. He came in broadside at 20 yards, it couldn't have been any more perfect."
Genet let her arrow fly, and the buck took off running.
"The arrow was still in him, and I waited an hour to get out of the woods," said Genet. "I called my parents to come help me look for it. They know that if I call them and I can't speak, they know it's something big."
But, in the dark, the three couldn't find the deer
"I think we pushed it, so I made the decision to come back at daylight," said Genet.
Genet had help again on the morning track, as she recruited her best friend, Brooke Yoder, who also brought along her 1 1/2-year-old Drahthaar dog, a cross between a German Shorthair Pointer and a Griffon. A bird dog by breed, Yoder is cross-training her Drahthaar to also track deer.
It took just nine minutes for the dog to find the buck, locating it 500 yards away from where it was shot. But, there's a little more to the story.
"I'm thankful for Brooke showing up, because she had her first child just a week earlier," said Genet. "She called her mom to stay with the baby, she brought her dog and trampled down through the woods."
Just another chapter in the story of Genet's memorable late October hunt, one born out of the love of the outdoors.
"I've logged hours sitting in the woods hunting," said Genet, who also squirrel, turkey, rabbit and dove hunts, and last year also learned to process her own deer. "When I'm hunting in the woods, that's where I'm most relaxed, it's a time to unwind.
"I'm very thankful for the opportunity to take a deer, especially a big buck like this. My patience paid off."
Outdoor correspondent Art Holden can be reached at letsplabal@yahoo.com.
This article originally appeared on The Daily Record: Straight shooter from Nashville grabs 15-point buck with bow
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