As he closed the distance, he could clearly see one side of the rack sticking up above the grass. When he got his first good look at the buck's awesome rack, he was in shock. He tried counting points and kept coming up with around 16. After taking a few moments to let things soak in, Parrish got out his cell phone and called his dad. He told his dad that he had just killed a giant 16-point buck. (The buck actually had 20 points.)

Parrish's dad got very excited saying: "I knew you were going to get a buck today. . . . I just had a hunch. . . . And you didn't even want to go hunting today!"

Parrish called his wife. Then he called the landowner who obligingly came and helped him drag the deer to a spot where they could load it onto a 4-wheeler.

The giant buck was the largest non-typical bow buck brought into the Illinois Deer Classic held in Bloomington, Illinois, in March 2007. The deer won "Best of Show" for an archery non-typical. Parrish's buck had a gross non-typical score of 224 6/8 inches, with a net non-typical score of 217 3/8 inches. It's believed to be the second-largest bow kill from Illinois during the 2006 season. On Oct. 7, 2006, Steve DeWitt of Zeeland, Michigan, arrowed a 226 7/8-inch monster while hunting in Adams County. (See the July 2007 issue for Steve's complete story.)

While reflecting on the incredible event, Parrish said: "I don't know if this was the same buck that I hit in the shoulder two years earlier or not. But it really doesn't matter. This entire experience has really energized me and now I'm ready to get back into some serious bowhunting!"

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