“It was a sight I will never forget,” he continued. “The buck had fallen in such a manner that the rack was sticking up in full view. I kept staring at the antlers thinking, ‘There is no way the rack can be that big!’”

Understandably excited, Dan attempted to count the rack’s points, but he kept getting the numbers mixed up. Finally, after several minutes, he began to evaluate the reality of his situation: He was two miles from the vehicle with little daylight remaining and no one to help with the deer.

“I really hated to leave the buck lying in the woods, but I knew there was no other choice,” Dan noted. “Before leaving, I briefly considered covering the deer with leaves, but decided that probably wasn’t necessary.”

A DAY LIKE NONE OTHER
It was nearly dark by the time Dan completed the two-mile hike to where the group’s vehicle was parked. Luckily, he managed to find two members of his hunting party, and the three of them headed back for the deer.

“They asked how big a buck I had taken,” Dan related. “I told them that I wasn’t positive, but I thought the rack had about 20 points and a 21- inch spread; both of them looked at me like I was crazy.”

David joined Dan and the others during their walk back into the area. While the group had no trouble returning to the hunt location, finding the big deer proved to be a little more difficult.

“I hadn’t thought to mark the buck’s exact location, and as I quickly found out, in the dark all the trees look the same,” Dan noted. “Nevertheless, I felt sure the deer was somewhere close by, and at that moment, I was very thankful for my decision to not cover it with leaves.”

Luckily, that particular section of woods had a fairly open understory, and by spreading out the group was able to quickly search a fairly large area. After approximately 30 minutes, they found the big whitetail.

“Everyone immediately gathered around to get a look at the buck,” David said. “The scene was a little surreal because for several seconds there was total silence, no one saying a word; then, all at once, the whooping and hollering started.

“Having listened to Dan’s story, and knowing he wasn’t one to exaggerate, I was confident he had taken a big deer,” David continued. “Even so, nothing could have adequately prepared me for my first look at the buck’s enormous rack; that memory will be with me forever.”

Following several minutes of celebrating and backslapping, it was time for the hard work to begin. Fortunately, the men had brought along a hauling cart; however, it was still necessary to drag the big deer approximately 200 yards to one of the state forest’s roads.

Not surprisingly, word of the buck had spread, and when the group eventually reached the state check station, a crowd of hunters was waiting to get a glimpse of the big whitetail. For Dan, who had just walked over six miles within a few short hours, and not had any sleep, excitement was now rapidly being replaced by fatigue. But regardless of being tired, he was happy to retell the hunt story a countless number of times and thoroughly enjoy every congratulatory handshake; it truly was a day he would never forget.

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