Robin's Delaware bruiser is a main-frame 5x5 with five additional abnormal sticker points that added up to 16 5/8 inches. With both G-3s measuring over 11 inches in length, the heavy rack netted 192 6/8 non-typical B&C points. Robin's buck is the fourth-largest non-typical ever taken in Delaware.

I began hunting small game with my father in 1961 when I was 7. At that time, the deer population in Delaware was very small. You could hunt all week without ever getting a glimpse of a deer. With one week to hunt and a one-deer bag limit, your chances were not very good.

After I turned 16 and obtained my driver's license, it was easier to find time to hunt and I became an avid deer hunter. When I was 23, I finally took my first deer, a 64-pound doe.

That doe was a trophy to me in every way. After my two sons came along, they also began hunting at age 7. Not to be left out, my wife soon joined in the family tradition.

She became an avid hunter like me, as well as my favorite hunting partner. Since Delaware does not allow any rifle hunting, we've all hunted together over the years using muzzleloaders, bows and shotguns.

FAMILY TRADITIONS
I've worked for a farmer in Bridgeville for 33 years. We grow small grains like soybeans, corn, wheat and barley. It's a lot of hard work, but with that work comes the hunting rights to about 2,500 acres. Sussex County, Delaware, contains a lot of agricultural land.

It also contains a fair amount of wooded acreage. Like most of the East Coast, the whitetail population has exploded in recent years. Bowhunting begins on Sept. 1, and the shotgun and muzzleloader seasons are intermittent until the end of January. Each hunter can bag two bucks and four antlerless deer.

On opening day of shotgun season our family has a longtime tradition of getting together for a breakfast of scrapple (pork scraps and trimmings that are fried) and eggs before the hunt. My wife Carol, our sons Shane and Blaine, and our 9-year-old grandson, Gunner, can hardly wait for that first day of the season. Gunner, not to be outdone by his father, took his first whitetail with a muzzleloader at the age of 6. Soon our 2-year-old grandson, Parker, will be joining us as well.

As usual, our family enjoyed its breakfast tradition on Nov. 14, 2008. Although it had rained throughout the night, the rain tapered off by morning. I was greeted with a southwest wind at about 10 mph. Since I usually try to hang my deer stands in anticipation of a northeast or northwest wind, I knew I was taking a chance getting into my stand without being busted. Because I like to be in my stand before daybreak, we left home at 5 a.m. for the 10-minute ride to our favorite hunting spot.

OPENING DAY FERVOR
We planned to hunt a 150-acre tract in which 75 acres had been cut over several years earlier and the other 75 acres consisted of a harvested soybean field. The timbered area was now thickly grown up in hollies, pines and red briars. It contained some choice bedding areas. While scouting before the season, it was not uncommon to see 40 to 50 deer feeding in the field.

In the past, we'd harvested several 130-class bucks from this farm, but it's hard to manage 75 acres surrounded by other farms that are not practicing any sort of quality deer management. Most of the local farmers would like to see the deer numbers cut way down, so they have no restrictions on shooting younger bucks. Our past success is probably due to the amount of pressure from nearby farms and the fact that I only hunt this property a few times each year.

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