The story behind Ginormica - an Illinois trophy buck.
With permission to hunt several family farms in the area, Cockburn and his hunting buddies -- Dad Jim, brother Trent, and friend Jason Hoffard -- the four rotated hunting spots, hoping that Ginormica would eventually make a mistake.
Shotgun season approached and the group sat on pins and needles wondering if the massive brute would make it through with more hunters being afield and thankfully, he did.
On Sunday, November 27th, with temperatures dropping, Cockburn was hunting a travel corridor that he'd discovered earlier. With not a lot of cover available, he set his stand very high and got settled in around 2:30 p.m.
Around 4:20 p.m., Cockburn caught movement out of the corner of his eye to his left, and there was Ginormica, knee deep in a creek, quietly sneaking by!
The buck then stepped out of the creek and crossed Cockburn's stand at 18 yards, who didn't hesitate drawing his Bowtech Allegiance and let loose an Easton Carbon arrow tipped with a G5 broached that found its mark.
The buck ran 70 yards, but Cockburn didn't see it crash. Excited but cautious, he got down from his stand and returned home, ready to wait a bit more until attempting a recovery.
After church with the family, Cockburn and his hunting buddies headed out together, looking for sign. The G5 broached did its job as the blood trail was big enough that eight-year-old Caden had no problem leading the group to Cockburn's buck of a lifetime, which was piled up 70 yards from where he was shot.
Celebrations ensued as neighbors from all around showed up offering congratulations on Ginormica.
"That's when the real fun began," shared Cockburn.
The buck green scored 258 & 5/8 inches and featured 30 scorable points. The base measurements were 7 4/8- and 8 4/8-inches. There were 49 total inches of mass measurements!
The buck is expected to be either the #4 or #5 all-time archery deer in the state of Illinois.
When a summer picture showing mangled mass splayed about in all directions appeared on one of Travis Cockburn's trail cameras in the area he hunts in southern Illinois, his eight-year-old son took one look at the trophy deer and appropriately named it "Ginormica." Whether the boy got the name from the popular children's movie Monsters vs. Aliens or not, it didn't matter€¦the name was fitting. There were too many points to count and Cockburn knew that this was the buck he'd dream about heading into the season.
"Once he shed his velvet, we never saw him again," shared Cockburn.
Naturally, The buck would become the focus for Cockburn and his hunting buddies as they'd never seen a deer of this size. Over the summer, more and more pictures showed up, but as the early season approached, the buck disappeared.
