"This was the buck of a lifetime for almost any bowhunter. To get his attention, I tried all of the calls in my arsenal, but to no avail. He wanted nothing to do with me. His mind was definitely centered on chasing the does he was with. The sun began to go down, and I never got a chance for a shot. I left my stand with high hopes of taking my largest trophy buck ever in the very near future.

"I've been hunting with a bow since I was 13 years old. I've harvested a multitude of whitetails, some of them reaching P&Y minimums. However, up until the 2007 season, I had never taken a truly great whitetail the likes of which all serious hunters dream about. However, I had long imagined what it would be like to finally have a monster buck appear and walk right in front of my stand. Little did I know that my dream would soon become a reality.

A DAY LIKE NONE OTHER
"On Wednesday morning, Nov. 7, the third day of our hunting trip, I climbed into my stand with a special feeling. I felt like something good was going to happen that day. As I sat in my stand in the dark, I envisioned what my shots would be like if a monster buck came sneaking by me from either the left or the right or straight in off the CRP.

THE KEITH MANICA BUCK
Scorable points....14(7R,7L)
Tip-to-tip spread.... 4 3/8
Greatest spread..... 17 4/8
Inside Spread..... 15 2/8
Total length of abnormal points: 00 0/8
Areas Measured	Right	Left	Difference
	27 1/8	27 3/8	2/8
1st point (G-1)	5 0/8	4 4/8	4/8
2nd point (G-2)	3 0/8	2 6/8	2/8
3rd point (G-3)	9 1/8	9 3/8	2/8
4th point (G-4)	10 7/8	11 1/8	2/8
5th point (G-5)	10 3/8	10 7/8	4/8
6th point (G-6)	6 5/8	6 4/8	1/8
7th point (G-7)	--	--	--
1st circ. (H-1)	4 4/8	4 7/8	3/8
2nd circ. (H-3)	9 4/8	8 7/8	5/8
3rd circ. (H-3)	4 7/8	3 6/8	1 1/8
4th circ. (H-4)>	4 3/8	4 6/8	3/8
Totals	90 0/8	90 5/8	2 5/8
Gross typical score.........................195 7/8
Subtract side to side differences........... -2 5/8
Add abnormal points......................... -00 0/8
FINAL NET NON-TYPICAL SCORE..................193 2/8
Taken by: Keith Manca
Date: Nov.7, 2007
Location: Southern Kansas

"As the rising sun started glistening off the frosty CRP grass, I noticed a few does feeding along the far side of the field. Then a small 9-pointer came out from behind me and started feeding near my position. He was a nice young buck with a lot of potential, but not the caliber of buck I was looking for. About an hour later, with no deer in sight, I began glassing the far side of the CRP field.

"After about 20 minutes, I sighted a deer crossing over from the river bottom into the tall CRP grass. I could tell that he was a shooter, but being so far away, I was unable to see his rack very well. Then at a most inopportune time, my binoculars began to fog up and I lost sight of the buck. Frantically, I tried to clear the fog from both lenses. Then I tried to find the buck again. For five tense minutes I scanned that CRP field back and forth -- unsure of where he might be. Finally, I picked up his antlers moving above the tall CRP grass way out on the other side of the field. Not knowing which way he might ultimately go, I sat and watched as patiently as I could.

HERE HE COMES!
"Luck was on my side! At about 500 yards out, he turned from his path and started walking straight toward me. I stared through my binoculars in disbelief as he came closer and closer. During all of this time I was saying to myself, 'Please let this be the one time that my dream of taking a monster buck actually does come true!'

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