Green Hamlin, a native of Man-chester, took this awesome buck in Wayne County during the 1966 season. His trophy rack scores 180 2/8 Boone and Crockett Club points. Photo courtesy of Green Hamlin.

Hunting during Kentucky's early deer seasons of the late 1950s and through the 1960s was truly an exercise in patience and perseverance. Annual harvest figures for those early years were calculated in hundreds rather than thousands. Even by 1970, the yearly total of whitetails bagged by Bluegrass hunters had barely reached 10,000. To put this in perspective, consider that today's harvest rates are more than 10 times this number!

For those fortunate hunters who lived in counties where deer hunting was allowed, the annual season ranged from one to four days. In those early years, many hunters considered their season a success if they merely managed to see a whitetail. Actually taking a deer was the icing on the cake.

Regardless of the odds, most Kentuckians were excited to have an opportunity to hunt a big-game animal within their home state. The ongoing deer restoration program, initiated in the 1940s by the Game & Fish Division, a forerunner of the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources (KDFWR), continued trapping and restocking efforts during this period. And as time passed, more and more of the state's counties were eventually opened to hunting.

In spite of a small deer population and low hunter success rates, there may never have been a better time to take a big, trophy-class buck than during the 1950s and '60s. Years of protection, combined with short seasons and low hunting pressure, allowed a disproportionately high percent of bucks to reach the mature age classes beyond 3 1/2 years. Understandably, however, most hunters of that era were simply happy to take any deer, regardless of the size.

Unfortunately, little information was available at that time regarding record books and antler measuring. Hunters who took big deer often had their photo published in their local newspaper, but that was usually the extent of the recognition. Afterwards, the rack or mount was hung in the home or barn and eventually forgotten. It's impossible to estimate the number of record-class bucks taken during those early years. Sadly, many of the racks are probably lost forever. But on the plus side, a few continue to turn up from time to time.

THE JOSEPH R. WOLF BUCK
Such an occurrence took place in the fall of 2004 when Michael Parker, a teenager from the Lexington area, walked into the taxidermy shop of Harry Whitehead, carrying an exceptionally large set of whitetail antlers. After examining the rack and listening to Michael's asking how he could have it officially scored, the taxidermist readily supplied him with the necessary information.

In many cases involving racks from the past, questions regarding the trophy's history and origin cannot be answered. In this particular instance, fortunately, that was not the situation: Michael knew his great-grandfather, Joseph R. Wolf, had taken the huge buck in 1961, while hunting in the Cox's Creek area of Nelson County.