The smaller buck was on a beeline for my tree when the larger buck spotted him. All at once the quiet timber turned into noisy chaos as the big buck changed his mind and decided to claim his territory.

The smaller buck passed within 15 yards of my stand with the big buck hot on his trail.

Now the task was to slow down the big boy. I grunted, hoping he would stop, but he was on a mission. I grunted again. He was in front of me now and I could see that both his body and his antlers were huge. He wasn't going to stop and I knew I couldn't wait any longer.

Coming to full draw with my BowTech Patriot, my finger squeezed the release, and the arrow sailed toward the moving deer. Tipped with a Grim Reaper, the arrow did its job, entering just behind the shoulder blade and hitting him hard as it passed through.

Seconds later he collapsed near a fallen tree at the very spot where he had stood only moments before. After a short wait, anticipation got the best of me. I quickly climbed down to make sure that there would be no heartbreaking rally. It was only after reaching the deer's side that I realized what a true monarch I had harvested. A quick count produced over 30 points. I reached for my cell phone. My first call was to my wife, Jan. I knew she would fill in the rest of the family. The next call was to Gordy, and then to my brother-in-law Kevin Staggs.

Before long, help had arrived, along with the realization that this was indeed a very special whitetail! My son, Cody, made the official tally and came up with 40 points -- 15 on the right side and 25 on the left. It was the best of hunts, made even better by sharing the moment with family and friends.

A LOT TO BE THANKFUL FOR
Later on, the 2006 season would be remembered as the finest year I've ever experienced in the southern Iowa countryside that I've always called home. Jan took her first tom turkey; my daughter, Haley, took her first deer; and my son, Cody, arrowed another nice buck. All of this took place within three miles of where I shot that first doe 34 years ago.

After the 60-day drying period, Dale and Joe Ream of Unionville, Missouri, who both serve as B&C and P&Y scorers, measured the rack. With 40 measurable points, the huge rack tallied up a gross non-typical score of 264 3/8. It netted 249 1/8. This makes my buck the second-largest non-typical archery buck ever harvested in Iowa, as well as the highest-grossing non-typical ever!

In March 2006, I entered the buck in the Big Buck Contest at the 2007 Iowa Deer Classic in Des Moines. Out of more than 300 deer entered for the 2005-2006 hunting season, my buck was the highest-net-scoring deer at the show. It won first place in the non-typical archery division and also won the "People's Choice Award."

If it hadn't been for that other, smaller buck charging in, I don't think I ever would have taken him!

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