TL;DR
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Jackson Berner, 21, shot a 16-point buck in southwest Ohio on Oct. 21 after a trail camera photographed the deer still in velvet the day before. A Buckmasters scorer measured its rack at 191 inches; the reason it retained its velvet so late in the year has not been established.
Jackson Berner, a 21-year-old bowhunter from Springfield, Ohio, killed a 16-point buck measured at 191 inches on Oct. 21 after a trail camera captured it still in velvet the previous morning. The unusually late velvet, along with the rack measurement, makes the deer a notable Ohio hunting report, though the cause of its retained velvet has not been confirmed.
Berner was working in southwest Ohio when his remote camera photographed the deer near his treestand at 7:50 a.m. on Oct. 20. He told Outdoor Life he had never seen the buck before. After showing the image to his boss, Berner got permission to take the following day off and hunt the area.
He was in a lock-on stand about 22 feet up a tree on the morning of Oct. 21. Berner said legal shooting time was 7:22 a.m.; the deer appeared at about 7:30, following a smaller four-point buck along the trail. He drew his 62-pound Darton bow when the larger deer lowered its head and shot at 15 yards. The arrow passed through, he said.
Berner left the woods and returned about an hour later with his father, cousin and brother-in-law. The group followed the blood trail and found the buck dead about 50 yards beyond where Berner had last seen it. The deer was later measured by Toby Hughes, a Buckmasters scorer, at 191 inches. Outdoor Life reported that Hughes called it one of the biggest velvet bucks ever taken in Ohio; that characterization is his assessment, not a state record designation.
A Late-Velvet Ohio Buck
The story stands out because Berner’s camera and hunt records place the buck in velvet in late October, well after the usual seasonal timing described in the report. The 191-inch measurement also makes it an unusually large deer by the account’s scoring, while the timing of the velvet has prompted questions about the animal’s condition.
Berner told Outdoor Life that he and his family wondered whether the buck lacked testicles while preparing it for field dressing, a condition he said can occur in late-season velvet bucks. He said the deer did have them and that the group could only speculate that an injury might explain the retained velvet. That is a hypothesis, not a veterinary finding, and no examination establishing the cause was described.
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From Camera Image to Shot
The sequence unfolded over two mornings. Berner said the buck appeared near his treestand on the trail camera on Oct. 20, then returned to the same area around the time legal shooting began the next day. The close timing gave him a specific reason to hunt that location, but the appearance of the deer was not guaranteed.
According to the report, Berner saw a smaller four-point buck first, followed by the larger deer. He waited until the animal lowered its head before drawing and releasing at close range. He said he watched it run out of sight about 60 yards away, then chose to leave and return with help rather than immediately follow it.
After the recovery, Berner took the deer to a meat processor. He told Outdoor Life that the processor found a bullet in the buck’s hindquarters and that the hide had healed over, with no visible sign of an earlier wound. The report does not establish when or how the animal was shot, or whether that injury had any connection to its antlers or velvet.
“I said ‘Holy Smoke’ when I saw the size of the deer and its velvet.”
— Jackson Berner, speaking to Outdoor Life
Why the Velvet Remained
The reason the buck still had velvet in late October is not confirmed. Berner said his group suspected an injury to the testes after finding them present, but there is no reported veterinary examination or other evidence establishing that explanation. The bullet found in the hindquarters was reported by the processor, and Berner said the hide had healed; the report does not say when the buck was shot or link that wound to the velvet.
The 191-inch figure is the measurement reported by Buckmasters scorer Toby Hughes. The source does not identify it as a certified state record or provide a separate official record ruling. No further details about the buck’s age, the bullet’s origin, or the biological cause of its late velvet were provided.
Scoring and Processing Details
Berner took the deer to a meat processor, and the report says the rack was measured by Hughes at 191 inches. No additional scoring review, record submission or state wildlife agency finding was reported. Unless Berner or another source provides further documentation, the cause of the unusual velvet timing and the circumstances behind the healed bullet wound remain unresolved.
For now, the account rests on Berner’s description of the hunt, the scorer’s reported measurement and the processor’s reported discovery. Any later confirmation about the deer’s condition or official record status would add information not included in the Nov. 6 report.
Key Questions
When did Jackson Berner kill the buck?
Berner said he shot the deer on Oct. 21, 2026, in southwest Ohio, after a trail camera photographed it the previous morning.
How large was the buck’s rack?
Outdoor Life reported that Buckmasters scorer Toby Hughes measured the 16-point rack at 191 inches. The report does not say that the measurement was certified as a state record.
Why was the buck still in velvet?
The cause is unknown. Berner said his group wondered whether an injury to the buck’s testes was responsible, but the report provides no veterinary confirmation.
Was the buck previously wounded?
Berner told Outdoor Life that a meat processor found a bullet in the buck’s hindquarters and that the hide had healed over. The report does not establish when the buck was shot or who shot it.
Source: outdoorlife.com
