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Mike Beatty: A World Record and Still a Union Man
Tony Hansen
On Nov. 8, 2000 Ohio hunter Mike Beatty, a member of Communication Workers Local 4322 and the Union Sportsmen’s Alliance, killed a buck that would set a new world record. The buck, which scored 294 4/8 and is the largest whitetail ever taken by a bowhunter, changed Mike Beatty’s life. But it has not changed who he is.
"I tell people pretty much the same thing- I am not a world record deer hunter. I’m just a deer hunter who happened to have killed a world record. I’ve learned so much since killing the Beatty Buck that I feel like I’m a much better deer hunter now," Betty said. "I still work 40 hours a week for the phone company. When I’m not working, I’m busy working in the hunting industry and I’m pretty excited about a new venture I’ve started called Tag’D Out."
When Mike tagged the Beatty Buck in 2000, the hunting world was just starting to change. Outdoor television was peaking, DVD sales were at all-time highs and this new thing called the Internet was starting to take the outdoor world by storm. News of Beatty’s buck spread like estrous scent in November and made him a celebrity overnight.
"Things happened so fast and were so crazy, in a way, we don’t even really count the Beatty Buck. It’s kind of sad to admit that but I know that’s the biggest deer I’ll ever kill. I know that it’s a once-in-a-lifetime experience," Beatty said. "But all of the attention and chaos, in a way, sort of took away from what actually happened and what was accomplished. So I almost don’t even count that deer.
"It’s all about having a passion for the sport. I still get excited and shaky when a good buck walks in. It may not be a world record, but it’s something that I’ve been pursuing. It’s hard to explain really. I just love hunting and the outdoors."
While the Beatty Buck earned him almost instant fame, Mike was not content to simply let that one deer define his path. Instead, he chose to use the opportunity to align himself with companies and people that he believes in and to use his success as a way to introduce more people to the sport that he loves.
"I’ve been very fortunate, because of the Beatty Buck, to have relationships with some great sponsors and people in the industry," he said. "I’ve been very careful about who I partner with - and they are companies that are careful about who they partner with as well. Groups like Primos, Cuddeback, Rocky and Antler King - they’ve all taught me so much about hunting. They’ve allowed me to be part of their product development process and I get to see first-hand just how much research and care goes into producing something."
For the past few years, Beatty has appeared at numerous outdoor shows and made appearances on a number of different TV shows and DVDs. In December, he was at a sport show and ran out of the photographs that he signs for folks who visit with him.
That chance event spurred Beatty’s latest venture - Tag’D Out. "When I ran out of photos, I was putting together an 8X10 picture that had not only the Beatty Buck but several of the other trophies I’ve taken since then because people always ask me about what I’ve been doing," Mike said. "And my son, said, ‘hey why are you just giving out photos? All of those hunts are on video.’ That got me thinking. He’s right. A lot of people had asked me why I don’t have my own show but I just wasn’t real comfortable with that. Well, now we’ve created a DVD series called Tag’D Out and the response has been great. "It’s just kind of snowballed into this big deal. Now we’ve got a full team of prostaffers and editors and video guys. It’s kind of crazy really."
While Beatty may be known for killing the Beatty Buck and as the creator of the Tag’D Out DVD series, the bottom line is that he’s just a hard-working union member from Ohio.
"That’s really what I am. I’m no one special. I’m proud to be a Union member. I’m proud to work hard every day," Mike said. "I got involved with the union because I wanted to fight for our member’s rights. People laugh at me because I always put things in hunting terms but, to me, I see the union as a way to ensure that bargaining is done under fair chase terms. That’s what a union does. They ensure fair chase."
Beatty said he’ll be hunting hard this fall in between shifts with the phone company. He also said he plans to spend plenty of time in the woods with his family and a few quiet moments thinking about the state of the nation.
"Everyone is worried about our country right now. I won’t say that I’m not but I will say that America always bounces back," Mike said. "This is one vicious cycle. It goes up and it goes down. We’ll rebound. We’ll come back. That’s what we do."
