The message Kevin had left for me said, "The 'legend' lives. Saw him not far from where you saw him last year. He's bigger with more mass, and he now has matching forks on both G-2s. I think he'll easily gross in the high 180s."

Those were magic words! The 2005 Kentucky rifle season arrived with a warming trend. Some quick scouting confirmed a tremendous mast crop. I knew the deer would be in the woods rather than in the recently harvested corn and soybean fields. I planned my hunt accordingly. Once again the hunt was to be filmed for our Thompson/Center "Game Trails" TV show, as well as for my new show, "One Good Shot," also sponsored by Thompson/Center.

For five days, the cameraman and I used my electric Bad Boy Buggy to get me silently into areas I wanted to hunt. We hunted hard and all day long and always on the ground -- still-hunting, rattling, easing into an area and setting up on the ground next to a tree where I could watch trails. I saw some really good-looking bucks, including several that would in time be absolute monsters. One long-tined 8-point sorely tempted me. But he was not yet mature. We closed the camera hunt without taking a buck.

The sixth morning arrived a bit cooler than the days before. Now hunting by myself, I headed to where I had first seen the big buck. At first light I saw a 160-class buck, but he was young. Easing out of the river bottom at 8:30, I spotted five bucks courting a doe. All were big, but only two appeared mature. From well over 700 yards away, I could see one of the bucks had massive antlers with split back tines.

I moved toward the deer, cutting the distance to about 300 yards. All I could see of the big buck was his head and rack. The rest of his body was obscured by tall grass. I felt certain it was "my" buck. He was chasing a doe. The other bucks were big also, scoring between 160 and 170.

I watched my buck and the doe disappear into a woodlot. I followed, moving slowly. Taking advantage of the wind and sun, I slipped to within 100 yards of where I thought the courting pair might be. Through the trees and underbrush, I finally spotted the buck through my binoculars. Immediately I raised my T/C Encore Pro Hunter rifle, chambered for a .280 Remington loaded with Nosler bullets. I knew that with this combination I could place a shot precisely through a small hole in the brush.

The buck walked toward a cleared power line right of way. I followed him through my scope. If he kept coming, the shot would be easy. Just then I heard what sounded like a helicopter. The buck stopped behind a dense screening of brush. The sound grew louder and louder.

I finally spotted the chopper over my right shoulder. It headed directly toward the deer and then hovered over the power line. The buck spooked into the timber. I watched in disbelief as the helicopter, oblivious to what was going on below, continued to fly along above the right of way.

FINAL SHOWDOWN
My buck was gone! I could only guess where he and the doe had run. I walk to where he had been standing. Thankfully, there were tracks indicating his direction. Slowly

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