Owen County produced this impressive non-typical, scoring 194 1/8, for Frankfort hunter Steve Goins. Photo by Bill Cooper

Periodic rain during the night changed to an early-morning drizzle. Bobby Edrington of Caneyville quietly slipped through the dark, wet woods. Shortly before daybreak, the hunter settled down against the base of a big tree near the edge of an old overgrown field.

The mid-November rut had deer on the move and Edrington believed the recent weather change would enhance hunting conditions even further. The old field was a popular bedding area and as the heavily overcast sky began to lighten, he anxiously watched for deer activity in the surrounding woods.

Other than water droplets falling from overhead tree branches, the morning remained very still. About an hour after daylight, the hunter spotted a buck moving along a hillside, approximately 150 yards away.

"From the size of the deer's rack, I knew it was the same buck I had gotten a glimpse of on one other occasion," Edrington noted. "However, the timber and underbrush were just too thick for me to get a clear shot. The deer continued on down the hillside into a deep ravine, eventually disappearing in a thicket of young sassafras and walnut trees."

The hunter was also dealing with another problem, one that, potentially, had serious implications. Earlier that morning, while entering the woods, his rifle's sling had snapped, causing the gun to hit the ground quite hard. Realizing the scope's alignment could have been altered, he hoped any potential shot opportunity would be at a relatively close range.

"When the deer went out of sight, I assumed I had missed my chance that morning," Edrington said. "But about 10 minutes later, the buck came charging out of the thicket and stopped in a small opening, looking straight toward me. All I could see was the deer's head and neck. I really didn't want to attempt a shot at such a small target 150 yards away."

Thinking the buck might continue moving in his direction, the hunter carefully took out a call and grunted a few times. For several minutes, the huge deer remained standing in the same spot, apparently trying to locate the source of the sounds.

"I kept hoping the buck would come my way," Edrington continued. "Instead the deer abruptly swung completely around and began walking in the opposite direction."

Seeing the buck was about to go out of sight, Edrington made the decision to shoot. The deer was quartering slightly, going away, when he squeezed the trigger.

"My idea was to aim across the buck's back, hoping the shot would hit the base of the neck," Edrington explained. "When I fired, I could see hair fly and the buck kicked backward, but I really had no idea where the bullet struck."

After making his way through the woods to where he had last seen the deer, the hunter immediately found blood; however, as he continued along the trail, the droplets gradually diminished. The wet ground and light drizzle made the search even tougher.

"I had been trailing about three hours and was circling back and forth through a particularly thick area, when I heard the deer get up a short distance away," Edrington related. "I found a small amount of blood where it had been lying, but unfortunately, the trail quickly disappeared again"

After encountering a high bluff, the hunter decided to make a wide circle, hoping he would intercept the deer at some point. Luckily, while approaching the bluff from the opposite direction, he spotted the buck lying dead about 30 yards farther up the hillside.

"The deer had traveled approximately three-quarters of a mile," Edrington noted. "My shot had hit the buck's hip and never exited, which explained the poor blood trail. After calling my son-in-law, Donnie Frye, for assistance, it took us the rest of the day to get the deer out of the woods."

One look at the buck's rack and the term "big" somehow seems grossly inadequate. There are 23 scorable points, only eight of which comprise the basic typical frame. The remaining 15 abnormal points include seven drop tines, all of which occur near the ends of both main beams.

The massive 4x4 frame is amazingly symmetrical with only 2 3/8 inches of deductions. Measurements include main beams that exceed 25 inches, 6-inch brows (G-1s), paired G-2s that tape 12 6/8 inches each, and 10-inch G-3s. The outside spread is 27 5/8 inches, while the inside spread is 19 6/8 inches. Antler mass is exceptional throughout the rack.