On the next-to-last weekend of the season, the sportsman arrived at the hunt site about an hour before dawn, climbed into position and settled in to wait for daylight. The morning was quiet. Initially, there was no sign of activity in the surrounding woods.

Twenty-five feet above the ground, Dobbs was able to see certain areas of the hillside below the flat where he was located. Around 8 a.m., he spotted a deer moving up the hill in his direction. Minutes later, the same 4-pointer he had seen in the pasture two weeks earlier popped over the edge of the flat and began walking toward the stand.

"Almost immediately, I began seeing additional deer, and they were all bucks. Just behind and off to one side of the 4-pointer, a 120-class 10-pointer stepped into view. On the other side was a young buck with an unusual-shaped rack that had obviously been damaged in the velvet.

"Finally, about 60 yards in front of me, I spotted the big buck, with two smaller bucks just behind him."

The deer were spread out and moving slowly, feeding as they walked. Once on the flat, the bucks began to turn slightly to the right as they approached the concealed archer.

"The big deer was on the outside of the group and at first, I thought he was going to walk directly under the stand," Dobbs said. "But at about 15 yards, the buck suddenly veered off to its left and stopped, giving me a broadside shot."

Even though the buck was relatively close, brush and saplings covered much of the deer's lower body. Because of this, Dobbs aimed slightly higher than normal to make sure the arrow had an unobstructed path.

At the shot, the big whitetail lunged forward and, amazingly, collapsed almost where it had been standing. After kicking a few times, the deer lay still.

"My high aim point resulted in the blades of the broadhead clipping the spine. I'll be the first to admit, having the buck drop like it did was pure luck. But with deer hunting, luck has a way of balancing out over time. And I'm certainly not opposed to a little good fortune now and then."

The rack of Michael Dobbs' great whitetail has an awesome combination of height, width, and mass: all the features any hunter could hope for in a trophy buck. The 6x6 typical frame includes 27-inch main beams, an inside spread of 20 4/8 inches, and better than average tine length. The paired G-2s and G-3s average over 9 inches each.