Mist hung lightly along the edge of western Kentucky's Tradewater River. Sunlight pierced through the hardwoods, creating a backlit, almost surreal setting. There he stood, poised to bolt off of the small rise overlooking the river's edge. His massive, long-tined 10-point rack seemed highlighted in gold. He snorted an alarm. It looked as if smoke was coming out of his nostrils, reminding me of a fire-breathing dragon.

The author shows off the rack of his wide-spreading Kentucky giant. Note the broken G-4 on the right antler.

There was no doubt he was the buck I was looking for, the one whose sheds we had found only a couple of hundred yards away the previous spring. Likely cast as he headed into his fourth year, they would easily score in the high 170s B&C with a minimum 14-inch inside spread. Now, as he stood less than 40 yards away, there was no doubt in my mind that he'd gross in the 180s. Side-to-side symmetry was near perfect save for a 2-inch kicker on his right G-2. He would easily garner a place in the all-time B&C record book.

I immediately alerted the cameraman to start filming. Then I maneuvered my Thompson/Center Encore .30-06 onto a log for a rock-solid rest. As I watched the deer, I knew that I had been waiting a lifetime to see a buck like this through my riflescope. The crosshairs rested gently on his shoulder. I cocked the Encore's hammer and waited for the cameraman to whisper, "Take him!"

I waited . . . and waited. The buck snorted. Again he looked like a massive-racked fire-breathing dragon.

"I'm not on him . . . don't shoot!" the cameraman whispered emphatically.

How could he not be on him? The deer of a lifetime was about to bolt. Still I waited, knowing how important it was for us to record the shot on camera. Just then I felt the slightest of breezes at my back, and the buck was gone, just that quick. I did my best to try to stop him with a grunt, then a snort-wheeze, but it was to no avail.

I couldn't believe it. I sat there dazed for several minutes. The biggest whitetail buck I had ever had a chance at taking in a lifetime of hunting had left unscathed.

"There's hunting, and then there's hunting for the camera! The only thing the two have in common is that you're in the woods." I had often spoken those words, and never had they been truer!

We spent the rest of the week trying to get on that same buck, but try as I might, I did not see him again the rest of the hunt. However, another hunter, Donald Shrader from Arkansas, did see him later during the Kentucky season and took a shot at him. At first Donald and others were convinced that his shot might have connected. But after a long and intense search, it was decided that Donald had probably missed.

A NEW START
That was in 2004. With the approach of the 2005 season, Kevin Gore, who helps manage Thompson/Center's Game Trails property where we had seen the big buck, began scouting. A few days later, he saw a monstrous buck near the spot where my missed opportunity had occurred.

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