The author poses with Cason Walwer and his 273 0/8-inch deadhead at the 2024 Illinois Deer Classic. The unbelievable buck also scored 258 4/8 net inches.
April 22, 2025
By Cam Coble
Many deer hunters use the late-winter months each year to do some postseason scouting and shed hunting. For Mike Schuler, son-in-law Ross Walwer, and 7-year-old grandson Cason Walwer of Watseka, Illinois, February 25th, 2023 will forever be etched as one of their best days spent in the field.
Ross had gotten permission on a new piece of property and was anxiously looking forward to scouting it. While he was at it, he figured he'd do a little shed hunting in the process.
Arriving around noon on that memorable February day, the trio headed out to do some walking. Ross and Cason had soon split up from Mike and began walking the CRP grass which had a hedge tree row running through it. Scouring over the property, Ross had located a potential stand site. Mike had also picked up a nice matching set of sheds while he was walking a different part of the land. The two men had decided to meet back at the truck around 1:30 for a break and to talk things over. Before arriving at the truck, Mike purposely placed the sheds he’d found on a well-used deer trail that ran through the CRP.
“I wanted Cason to find an antler that day," Mike said. "So I thought what better way?”
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Once back at the truck, Ross, Mike and Cason took a break. Cason was getting tired, so Mike said “let's go on one last short walk.” The three went back to the CRP one last time, splitting up again in the process. Mike took Cason and placed him on the aforementioned deer trail and suggested he walk down it. With Ross and Mike flanked on each side, the three began their walk.
Shortly into it, Cason picked up "his" sheds — a nicely matched set. Mike heard his excitement through the waist-high CRP grass and told him to keep walking to the end where they’d all meet to head home. As Cason continued walking, both Ross and Mike heard Cason yelling “daddy, daddy, daddy.” Ross and Mike were only 25-30 yards away, but were unsure of what was going on.
The CRP grass was too tall and thick to see Cason and thought maybe he’d fallen and had hurt himself or something of that nature.
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They arrived at Cason's location shortly thereafter to see what all the commotion was about. When the men arrived, both of them were speechless — they couldn’t believe the size of the dead buck lying at Cason's feet.
"What do you think it’ll score?" Ross asked Mike.
Mike replied, "I know it's over 200.”
After observing the giant deadhead, a local conservation officer was notified and a salvage tag was issued.
At Ross’s place of employment, talk of a giant deadhead buck was circulating. One of Ross’s co-workers asked if he could share the picture with one of his friends. As it turns out, that friend claimed he’d been hunting the deer a little over a mile from where the dead deer was found. A summer velvet trail-cam picture solidified that statement.
Several months had passed, and after a bunch of friends and family members had seen the buck, many were curious as to what the buck would score.
Ray Holahan, a local official and a Boone and Crockett scorer, was contacted to complete the task. Ray said he’d never seen anything like it before and was overly impressed by the size.
After the numbers were crunched, the giant Iroquois County, Illinois buck came in with a staggering 273 0/8-inch gross score. The net score was 258 4/8 inches, thanks in part to an 18-inch left G2 and over 80 inches of abnormal points. The buck will rank 7th all-time among Illinois non-typical bucks with any weapon, including pick-ups.
