The excitation function for production of 262 Bh in the odd-Z-projectile reaction 208 Pb( 55 Mn, n) has been measured at three projectile energies using the Berkeley Gas-filled Separator at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory 88-Inch Cyclotron. In total, 33 decay chains originating from 262 Bh and 2 decay chains originating from 261 Bh were observed. The measured decay properties are in good agreement with previous reports. The maximum cross section of 540 +180 −150 pb is observed at a lab-frame center-of-target energy of 264.0 MeV and is more than five times larger than that expected based on previously reported results for production of 262 Bh in the analogous even-Z-projectile reaction 209 Bi( 54 Cr, n). Our results indicate that the optimum beam energy in one-neutron-out heavy-ion fusion reactions can be estimated simply using the optimum energy rule proposed byŚwia˛tecki, Siwek-Wilczyńska, and Wilczyński.