Rick Gosser took this massive 20-pointer, scoring 202 1/8, on opening weekend of the firearms season in Pulaski County. Taxidermy by Jimmy Barnett. Photo by Bill Cooper.

For many families across the Bluegrass State, the opening of the November gun deer season serves as a special social gathering. This was certainly the case for Rick Gosser of Somerset and his son, Mitch, who always spend the first weekend of the season hunting with Rick's dad, Gene, on his farm in eastern Pulaski County. Last year was no different, except that on opening day, the rainy and windy weather somewhat limited their time spent in the woods.

Before daybreak on the second morning, Mitch dropped off his dad near the stand he would be hunting, and then continued on to his hunt location.

Rick's stand was positioned on a hardwood ridge where a number of trees, damaged by an earlier fire, had been cleared with a bulldozer. Grass had been sown in the cleared areas around the scattered trees that remained.

After sitting for about an hour, Rick suddenly spotted a doe about 150 yards farther down the ridge. As he continued to watch the deer, a large-racked buck abruptly stepped into view a short distance behind her.

"I had to turn almost completely around in the stand to get into shooting position," Rick said. "But fortunately, the buck remained standing where it was, its full attention directed toward the doe.

"When I fired, the buck jumped into the air and took off running, disappearing into the thicker woods that bordered the cleared area."

Feeling somewhat confident of his shot, the hunter left his stand and walked to where the buck had entered the woods line. His search proved to be quite short, as the huge deer had fallen just a few steps into the woods.

Rick knew that the buck was big. But up close, the size of the massive antlers seemed almost unbelievable.

After he used a cell phone to contact Mitch and his parents, everyone arrived on the scene fairly quickly. Following congratulations and several examinations of the huge rack, Mitch helped his dad field dress and load the big deer.

Officially, the rack has 20 scorable points, but the giant 10-point typical frame is truly awesome. Measurements include 30 0/8 and 28 2/8 inch main beams, an 18 6/8-inch inside spread, paired G-2 tines that tape 13 7/8 and 13 6/8 inches, followed by 11 2/8- and 10 2/8-inch G-3s.

In regard to scoring, the 10-point frame grosses 182 5/8 and nets 176 0/8. After adding in 10 abnormal points totaling 26 1/8 inches, the final non-typical Boone and Crockett (B&C) score is 202 1/8. This qualifies the deer for B&C's Awards and All-Time record books.

The Pulaski County buck ranks as the No. 2 non-typical of the 2006 season. Last year's top non-typical, a 19-pointer scoring 246 3/8 B&C, was taken on Pennyrile State Forest by Dan Miller of Horse Cave.

BART BERTRAM'S CUMBERLAND COUNTY MONSTER
Named for the wild and scenic river flowing through it, Cumberland County is located along the Tennessee border in Kentucky's Pennyroyal region. While the predominant landscape can be characterized as gently rolling, the river corridor includes several rugged areas of densely forested ridges and hollows.

Wherever there is sufficient acreage, the adjacent bottomlands are utilized for pasture and row crops.

Having grown up in neighboring Clinton County, Bart Bertram has hunted deer in this area of the state all his life. Three years ago, he -- along with his father-in-law, Johnny Pickens, and Pickens' two brothers -- acquired hunting access to several hundred acres of farm and woodlands along the river.

This included nearly 100 acres of bottomlands in pasture and row crops, primarily corn and beans. The remaining acreage is mostly forested, with high hardwood ridges, narrow brush-choked ravines and scattered pockets of cedar thickets.