It will be a few months till deer season and the new big-buck stories start rolling in. Until then, enjoy these giants from the Big Deer archives.–MH

Mike: October 27, 2007 my dad, a friend and I hunted until 8:15 am. We all had plans for the day so we ended early. I decided to walk around the perimeter of my 47 acres just to see if anything was around. I have an old Christmas tree farm in Illinois, about 45 minutes from St. Louis.

I had walked about 300 yards when I saw this massive rack lying under a pine tree. I kept walking 3 feet past the buck and, nocked an arrow, slowly walked 3 steps backwards and drew. As I pulled back on the buck at 20 yards, I reminded myself to take a deep breath and shoot carefully because I would only get one chance.

I shot and the arrow pierced the deer; he jumped up and ran off. I ran around the pine tree and saw him stop 40 yards away before he trotted off. I called my Dad and friend on the radio and told them I had just shot the big boy we all had seen for the last 3 years.

I found my arrow, full of rich, dark blood. We looked but couldn’t find a lot of blood. I decided after 40 minutes to stop and let the buck bleed out. My Dad and I went home for about 2 hours. We came back and in 15 minutes I saw this huge rack rising from the ground. My dad was so excited. He said, “That’s some trophy deer son!”

The buck scores 211 and 2/8 Pope and Young. I already have a full body mount back, he looks so cool.

Thanks, Jeff Powell.

A 211-inch deer with a bow on the ground at 20 yards…wow, way to go Jeff, epic accomplishment!