Well before dawn during the second weekend of Kentucky's gun season, Dale Mustard arose at his Tollesboro home to begin preparing for the day's hunt. From a locked cabinet, he selected a gun and ammunition and placed them near the doorway to be picked up on his way out to the truck.

Following coffee and a quick breakfast, the hunter gathered his gear. Just before starting out the door, Dale walked over to the cabinet and exchanged the single-shot rifle he had selected for a CZ bolt-action rifle.

"Simply a gut feeling, nothing more," Mustard remarked. "I have deer-hunted a number of times with each gun, as well as a pistol. In fact, I hunted with a pistol the previous weekend and missed an 8-pointer on opening morning. The CZ just happens to be one of the most consistently accurate rifles I have ever shot, so naturally that gives me a great deal of confidence when I hunt with it."

Around daybreak, after parking his four-wheeler near the junction of two high Lewis County ridgetops, he began to slowly still-hunt along the crest of the ridge. Whenever he reached a good vantage point, he paused to do some rattling. After several hundred yards without seeing any sign of deer activity, he decided to retrace his path along the ridge.

"I had walked about 100 yards when I noticed sunlight reflecting off something through the trees on the opposite ridge," he related. "The distance across the hollow was pushing 300 yards. And unfortunately, I had left my binoculars in the four-wheeler. After turning the variable scope on my rifle up to 6-power, I leaned against a tree to steady the gun as I attempted to determine what the object was."

Eventually, the hunter realized the bright sunlight was shining on a deer standing motionless in a small opening on the hillside. Because of the distance involved, Mustard had a difficult time determining much detail through the scope.

"As I was watching, the deer suddenly turned its head, enabling me to see a giant set of antlers," he said. "In spite of the distance, it was obvious that the rack extended well out beyond the deer's head and body. I remember thinking, 'My gosh, what a buck!' I simply couldn't believe the deer's size."

Hurriedly maneuvering into a shooting position where there was a solid rest for the rifle, the hunter carefully aimed and squeezed the trigger.

At the shot, the buck bolted forward, running up the hillside. Quickly working the rifle's bolt, Mustard managed two more shots before the deer disappeared over the ridge.

Later, after crossing the hollow and climbing to the top of the hill, the hunter arrived at the approximate spot where he'd last seen the big deer. He scanned the ground, hoping to find some sign that he had hit the buck. After several minutes, he discovered one small splotch of blood in the leaves.

"Finding that blood was really important because I then knew for sure in which direction to continue the search. That particular ridgetop was rather narrow, and as I started down the other hillside, I spotted antler tines sticking up in the air next to an old blown down tree. Apparently, the buck had flipped in the air as it was falling and its body had slid under the trunk of the tree until the rack hung and stopped it."