September 22, 2010
Going into the fall of 1993, 18-year-old Kevin Lovett of Tishomingo, Oklahoma, was a rookie bowhunter who didn't know what to expect. Within two hours of climbing into a bow stand for the first time, he'd broken a state record.
Kevin's historic hunt occurred on the afternoon of Oct. 3, in a funnel between a thicket and a field on his family's Johnston County dairy farm. The young sportsman had been sitting in the tree for only a little over an hour when he heard something jump the fence to his left. It was a monster 12-pointer, the biggest buck Kevin had ever seen, and the hunter's heart began pounding. But then, just as Kevin was about to pick an aiming spot, another big buck jumped the fence and started coming down the same trail. This buck's rack had at least 20 points!
Although this second buck's rack wasn't as wide or tall as the 12-pointer's was, Kevin decided to try for him instead. After the first big deer passed without spooking, the archer drew and made the 18-yard shot on the second one. The shot wasn't as far forward as Kevin had intended, but an 8-person search team located the deer at 11 p.m.
After the 60-day drying period, the monster whitetail netted out at 190 5/8 P&Y points, making him the state's top non-typical by bow. The Lovett buck held that ranking until 2001.
