Bowhunter Hurley Combs Jr. of Somerset took this fine non-typical velvet buck, which scores a whopping 205 6/8 P&Y. Taxidermy by Mark Thomas. Photo courtesy of Hurley Combs Jr.

On a busy workday in late August, Hurley Combs Jr., -- who manages the 84 Lumber Store in Somerset -- paused momentarily to check a message on his answering machine.

He immediately recognized the voice of Hagan Wonn, a friend and hunting companion. But Hagan's entire message included only a few words: "Hurley, it's awesome, awesome. I'm speechless!"

"For a moment or two, I was puzzled," Combs said. "Then it dawned on me. Hagan must have checked the trail cameras we'd set up on our Casey County hunting tract the previous week. Needless to say, I was interested to see what had prompted his remarks."

When the two men got together that night, Hagan's comments became immediately understandable.

Over a period of approximately nine days, the cameras had recorded numerous photos of deer, including one truly giant buck.

"The big deer's rack was massive and had exceptional tine length," Combs noted.

"Neither of us had a good estimate as to what those antlers might score, but we both agreed that the deer was definitely the buck of a lifetime.

"Additionally, there were photos of several other bucks, including a typical 10-pointer that we thought would score over 160," Combs went on.

"Since both big deer were often captured in the same photo, it seemed reasonable to assume that they were traveling together."

During the fall of 2006, the hunters' trail cameras had also recorded a number of antlered deer on the property. Most of those photos included bucks that appeared to be in the 1 1/2- and 2 1/2-year age-classes, but also a couple of older deer with racks definitely pushing the 150 mark.

"Neither of us took a single buck on the tract last year," Combs noted, "so we were looking forward to the upcoming season with a great deal of optimism.

"We fully anticipated having some trophy-class bucks on the property, but the giant deer photographed by our trail cameras greatly exceeded our wildest expectations."

After completing a quick survey of the photos and noting the camera's recorded times, it became obvious that the big whitetail was following a very predictable movement pattern.

With opening day of bow season only three days away, the timing for a successful hunt couldn't seem any better. But unfortunately, there were additional complications.

"Due to an out-of-state business trip, Hagan could not hunt on opening weekend," Combs recalled. "Needless to say, the buck had both of us pretty excited. Because of Hagan's work situation, I planned to wait until he returned, so we could hunt the big deer together. However, he insisted that I hunt the property that weekend, before the buck had a chance to alter its movement pattern."