Dennis Sharp of Brooksville arrowed this giant 23-point non-typical while hunting in Bracken County. His big buck scores 201 1/8 P&Y. Taxidermy by Lyle Fryman. Photo by Bill Cooper.

Dennis Sharp of Brooksville began bowhunting with his dad and brother in the early 1980s. Over the years since, he has hunted several Bracken County farms and taken a number of whitetails during that time. Unfortunately, his rigorous work schedule in recent years has somewhat limited his amount of time spent in the woods.

"Last year, I was given permission to hunt a nearby farm owned by my wife's uncle," Sharp said. "Her Aunt Carol had also been an avid deer hunter, but sadly, she passed away a couple of years ago.

"I was grateful for the chance to hunt a new area, particularly since the property was located near my home. There was no doubt that it would provide me with a few more opportunities to bowhunt."

During the summer, Sharp made a couple of brief scouting trips to familiarize himself with the farm's terrain and to check for deer sign.

In late August, needless to say, the state experienced extremely hot and dry weather -- not the type of hunting conditions he had hoped for to begin the archery season.

"After deciding to hunt a ridgeline near one of the farm's hayfields, I carried one of my stands to the location the week before the season opened," the hunter said. "I'd noticed one of Carol's old stands in a big oak along a fence line near the field. I figured I couldn't go wrong by positioning my stand in the same tree."

Except for a brief unproductive outing on Labor Day afternoon, Sharp did not hunt for the first week of the season because of the continuing hot weather. Midway through the second week, however, slightly cooler air moved into the state, and Sharp took advantage of a late afternoon opportunity to hunt the farm.

Around 3 p.m., he climbed into position in the big oak along the ridgetop fence line.

The cooler weather was a welcome change, and the hunter hoped it would trigger some late-afternoon deer activity. But as it turned out, most of the uneventful afternoon passed quietly. His only sightings were of two hummingbirds flying around tree limbs near his stand.

Then with less than 30 minutes of daylight remaining, two young bucks suddenly appeared near the edge of the hayfield and began sparring.

"The bucks were less than 50 yards away," Sharp said, "and I decided to take a picture of them with the camera on my cell phone.

"During the process of getting a photo, I happened to spot two additional bucks, one of them a wide 8-pointer, about 75 yards off to my right. I quickly took out a grunt call and blew it softly one time. All four of the bucks immediately turned and looked in my direction."

Within seconds, Sharp detected a sudden flash of movement across the field. As he looked on, a large buck ran out of the brush and stopped momentarily in the open field approximately 80 yards away.

At nearly the same instant, the other four bucks all took off running.

"In the rapidly fading light, there appeared to be whitetails going in every conceivable direction," Sharpe noted. "Luckily, the big deer headed my way. Realizing my only chance for a shot was to stop the buck somehow, I waited until the deer jumped the fence and then hollered as loud as I could."