“I had clipped a string onto my bow and was in the process of lowering it to the ground,” Jenkins related. “About the same time, I happened to glance behind me and saw a wide set of antlers coming through the trees.”

He hurriedly pulled his bow back up to the stand. The hunter managed to maneuver into shooting position just as the buck stepped out into the opening, 60 yards away.

The big whitetail began to feed, gradually moving closer and closer to the concealed hunter.

“When the deer stopped at 30 yards, I thought he was completely in the open and I released my arrow,” Jenkins said. “Unfortunately, in the fading light, I failed to see a couple of small tree branches. The arrow deflected downward, striking the ground just under the buck.”

Not surprisingly, the deer jumped into the air, and then trotted to the far side of the opening, some 80 yards away, before stopping to look back.

Realizing he needed to do something, and do it quickly, the hunter pulled out a grunt tube and blew several low grunts.

“Almost immediately, the buck bristled up, laid back its ears and began a slow, aggressive walk back across the opening,” Jenkins related.

“The deer actually walked to within two yards of where my arrow was sticking in the ground, still intently looking for the other buck.”

Granted an almost unbelievable second chance at the big whitetail, the archer was careful not to repeat his earlier mistake. In this instance, he saw his arrow disappear into the buck’s chest.

At this same moment, Darrell Stewart, a hunting companion of Jenkins, was walking toward a predetermined meeting location near the opening. He actually saw his friend, silhouetted against the evening sky, draw and shoot.

Within several seconds, he heard a loud crash in the brush, not far from where he was standing.

“Darrell told me what he had seen and heard, and both of us agreed it was probably the buck going down,” Jenkins said.

“Even so, I opted to wait until daybreak, rather than take any unnecessary chances by attempting to look for the deer in the darkness.”

The next morning, the two men returned to the area where Darrell had been standing. After walking a short distance in the direction of the loud crash heard the day before, they quickly discovered Jenkins’ buck.

Both men spent several minutes examining the big deer’s impressively wide 12-point rack.

Official antler statistics include an antler spread of 22 3/8 inches outside, and 20 6/8 inches inside. Both main beams measure 24 7/8 inches. Tine length, though not exceptional, was certainly impressive, with the four longest taping 9 4/8, 9 2/8, 8 6/8, and 7 5/8 inches.

After grossing 163 0/8, asymmetry deductions, plus two small abnormal points, reduce the final typical P&Y score to 153 3/8. The deer stands as the largest typical bow kill ever recorded for Fayette County.

“I would love to have seen the big double-drop-tine buck. But the instant I saw this deer, I knew it was a shooter,” Jenkins said.

“I was extremely fortunate to get two shots at that buck.”