The author's majestic 4x5 whitetail possessed a rack that towered over his head, with an inside spread of more than 26 inches.

I was now sure this deer was the old buck I was hunting. I felt as if I knew this huge old monarch even though this was the first time I had laid eyes on him. For the past few years I had heard rumors from local hunters and residents that such a buck lived in the ridges and gulfs which surround my work place. I doubted the rumors. Even considering the remoteness of some of these gulfs, the chances of any one buck living for seven or eight years in this area was unlikely. This region receives heavy hunting pressure during the long four months of deer season. To make matters even more unlikely, there are a few thieves who work the area over hard. These poachers are constantly, night and day, out looking for deer to steel from sportsmen. So I dismissed the rumors as perhaps different middle-aged bucks with similar rack formations seen over the past few years.

That all changed in the spring of 2001 when I held, in my hands, a massive shed which a co-worker of mine found. It was difficult to judge his spread from the single shed. Also a whistler, which had developed during velvet, had stopped his main beam's growth. However, one thing was obvious; the buck that dropped this huge shed was something special.

I decided to hunt this buck next deer season. Without being too inquisitive I listened to every comment made concerning the big fellow. Tales were really floating around. Finding the shed had started the stories going in earnest. A few weeks later, I dug out some maps of the area. As I studied the maps and walked the woods it became apparent where I should begin my hunt. There was a long, narrow flattop ridge, which ran through the area. One side of this ridge dropped off to a blacktop road. The other side dropped off steeply into a large gulf. Big buck sign was scattered about along this ridge. The shed was also found on a wide spot on this same ridge in a green field. Around the field were several large productive white oaks. I decided on a stand about 300 yards from the green field. At this point the ridge narrowed because of a drainage that cut into its backbone. This drainage funneled any deer movement.

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After several trips from the green field to the spot where the drainage dropped off, I decided I was losing little, if any, deer movement to the gulf. The first trail that dropped off the ridge worked down the side of the drainage at my stand. Everything looked good. I added some cover to the tree I picked to hunt and trimmed a few shooting lanes. I then left the area, not to return until the second week of October.

Around the middle of October I revisited the area. On this trip I made a large scrape, which could be seen from anywhere on the ridge and from the trail that dropped off. The next day I returned to check the scrape. In it was large prints. They were three inches long, exceptionally wide, flat, and rounded. By all indications they were the tracks of an old buck. I assumed they were from the old buck that dropped the shed. I again tore the ground up in the scrape and the same big tracks were present the next day. That was all I needed to see to confirm that I was set up right. I would not return again until it was time to hunt.

I decided not to hunt the buck before the fourth week of October and only then if we had a cold snap. The cold front came in on the 24th. On that evening I began hunting my stand. I saw only does and a young buck the first and second day I hunted the stand. However, the big footprints were still showing up in my scrape. It was obviously dark before he made his way to my stand location. I felt I was hunting him outside the borders of his core area. If that were the case, it probably would be another week or more before I would have a chance to arrow him where I now hunted.

About noon on October 26, through a friend, I became aware of some large rubs about a mile and a half from my stand. From what I heard about the rubs, and considering the direction of the gulf that bordered the ridge, I felt this could be sign from the old buck.

That evening I entered the area to look around. There was a grown-over strip pit in this location with open hardwoods surrounding it. The area was indeed torn up with large rubs. Three of the rubs were as large as my calf and showed signs of being rubbed for several years. As I studied the rubs it became apparent they were not all made at the same time. I came to this conclusion from the age of the rub marks on the trees and from the number of rubs in the area. That was encouraging news. Two other things were also obvious: First, from looking at which side the trees were rubbed, I could see that the buck came through this area in the morning heading to the thick cover to bed. Second, the way the rubs were scattered, I knew I was close to his bedding location. Judging from everything I saw, I knew I should place a tree from which to hunt and hang a stand before leaving.