Javin Mullet shot an incredible Buckeye State whitetail buck.
Javin Mullet’s 2026 whitetail is one for the books. The 4 ½-year-old Ohio buck stretched the tape to an impressive 171 4/8 inches, marking a major milestone for a bowhunter with more than two decades of experience in the deer woods.
The Buck at a Glance
Hunter: Javin Mullet
Location: Ohio
Harvest Date: September 26, 2026
Age: 4 ½ years
Score: 171 4/8 inches
Bow: Prime Form 30
Arrows: Easton FMJ
Broadheads: G5 T2
Shot Distance: 25 yards
A Buck Worth Waiting For
Going into the 2026 season, Mullet had received just a handful of summer photos of the buck. Before that, he had no history with the deer.
Still, years of experience hunting the surrounding properties helped put him in position for an unforgettable opening-day encounter.
“This is my first gross Booner. But I’ve been archery hunting since I was 13, so I’ve spent 21 years hunting whitetails. I’ve hunted this general area on permission farms for over 10 years.”
— Javin Mullet
Opening Morning in Ohio
On September 26, 2026, Mullet headed into the field in pursuit of the buck. Temperatures hovered around 50 degrees under clear skies, providing a pleasant early-season morning in Ohio’s rugged, hilly agricultural country.
Once settled into his stand, he began glassing the surrounding terrain.
“In front, I had a timber opening with multiflora bushes growing, leading up onto an oak ridge where I had a mock scrape and camera,” Mullet said. “To the left and behind, there was thick tree canopy that dropped off the ridge pretty quickly with more open floor timber. To the right, there was more open canopy and thicker cover wrapping around the point of the ridge.”
The setup offered a combination of thick cover, terrain features, and a nearby mock scrape—all within reach of an area where mature bucks could spend their daylight hours.
A 10-Pointer at 10 Yards, Then a Giant
As the morning unfolded, a 3 ½-year-old 10-pointer entered the area and bedded down just 10 yards from Mullet’s position.
Then, the bigger buck appeared.
Eventually, the mature whitetail turned, presenting a quartering-away shot at 25 yards. Mullet drew his Prime Form 30, settled in, and released an Easton FMJ arrow tipped with a G5 T2 broadhead.
The shot connected, and the buck went down.
“I’ve never been so grateful and overwhelmed with emotion on any other hunt in my life. I wasn’t sure I was going to get to hunt this morning, and my wife pushed me to go even though I had been gone all week leading up to this.”
— Javin Mullet
Mapping the Perfect Setup
Looking back on the hunt, Mullet credits some of his success to careful scouting and the use of DeerCast to identify the buck’s core area and select a specific tree for his morning hunt.
“I used DeerCast and marked my very specific tree where I had cut a shooting lane to my mock scrape set,” he said. “I used the map on my phone to climb the ridge right to my tree without walking around or wasting time.”
That direct approach helped him navigate the ridge without unnecessary movement through the surrounding cover.
Recovering the 171-Inch Buck
After finding the buck, Mullet called on his friend Ben Rising to help with the recovery.
“I had hiked 400 yards through a standing corn field and up onto this ridge,” Mullet said. “We strapped him onto the e-bike seat and got him out on the bike.”
The recovery capped off an incredible opening morning and a hunt Mullet won’t soon forget.
The Key to Hunting Mature Bucks: Getting Close to Bedding
For Mullet, the biggest takeaway from this hunt was the importance of understanding mature-buck bedding behavior and being willing to hunt close to those areas.
His success came on permission ground where other hunters were also active, reinforcing his belief that precision and stand placement can make a significant difference.
“I’m really keying in on buck bedding spots and figuring out these tendencies. This is on permission property with other guys hunting their ladder stands, cell cams, bait station sites, etc. I’m learning, in my scenario, I need to get super close to bedding for any mature buck daylight activity. And getting close enough on afternoon sits is harder than getting in early for a morning hunt.”
— Javin Mullet
For a hunter who has spent 21 years pursuing whitetails with archery equipment, the opening morning of Ohio’s 2026 season delivered a new personal milestone: his first gross Boone and Crockett-class buck, a 171 4/8-inch giant.
Story by Josh Honeycutt. Photos courtesy of Javin Mullet.
