Last fall, a week before Thanksgiving, Burchard took a bowhunting trip to Illinois where he arrowed an impressive 130-class buck, the biggest whitetail he had ever taken with a bow. Still on a high from the most successful hunting trip of his life, he seriously considered not packing his bow and equipment for the Kentucky trip.

"Finally, at the last minute, I put my gear in the vehicle," Burchard said. "I do enjoy hunting the farm, plus I knew my dad didn't get a deer during gun season. I was pretty sure I could at least take a doe so he would have some meat for the freezer."

Initially, the late November weather was less than cooperative for bowhunting. After two days of rain, strong northerly winds seemed intent on blowing the tops out of the trees.

"I really had not planned to hunt in Friday's strong winds," Burchard said. "However, when I heard that Saturday's weather forecast was quite promising, I decided to carry my stand out that afternoon so that it would be in position for the following morning."

The hunt site was a strip of hardwoods, approximately 250 yards wide and several hundred yards long, lying between a large bottomland corn field and a smaller upland field. Deer were utilizing a natural ridgeline within the hardwoods as a travel corridor and Burchard selected a nearby stand location, within 30 yards of a well-used trail. A number of impressive rubs and scrapes were scattered all along the ridge. Although he had hunted this same general area a couple of days during gun season, only does and a few small bucks were sighted.

"After getting the stand positioned, there was still an hour of daylight left and since I had my bow with me, I decided to sit there until dark," Burchard related. "Unfortunately, the wind was still rocking the trees, which greatly reduced my expectation of seeing any deer activity."

About 45 minutes later, and with light beginning to fade, the hunter detected a flash of movement through the woods off to his right. Rising to his feet, he picked up his bow and continued to watch in that direction.

"With poor light conditions and looking through a maze of tree limbs, about all I could make out was a moving deer, plus a brief glimpse of antlers," Burchard said. "At that point, I really wasn't excited because I assumed it was probably one of the small bucks I had seen during gun season."

The buck's destination appeared to be the upper end of the big corn field, about 75 yards away. However, when the deer reached the ridgeline, it made an abrupt turn and began heading directly toward the stand.

"I finally got my first clear view of the buck at about 45 yards and the sight literally took my breath away," Bouchard remarked. "Without a doubt it was the biggest deer I had ever seen in the woods and I remember thinking, I can't believe I'm about to get a shot at this huge buck!"

With the wind blowing into his face, the hunter knew there was no possibility of the buck picking up his scent. At full draw, with the big deer walking broadside in front of the stand, less than 30 yards away, Bouchard mouth-grunted to stop him.

"Either the wind prevented the buck from hearing me or he simply chose to ignore the sound; whatever the reason, the deer never quit walking," Bouchard said. "By this time, the buck was beginning to quarter away and within several steps of being out of shooting range. Realizing I couldn't hesitate any longer, I released."

In the late evening light, the hunter was unable to follow the arrow's flight, but there was no mistaking the sound of it hitting its intended target; the buck instantly bolted straight ahead and disappeared in the trees. Remaining in the stand, Burchard listened to the sounds of the running deer fade into the distance. After getting out of the tree, he used a small pocket light to find his arrow; thankfully, it was covered with blood.

Quickly walking to the truck, Burchard used a cell phone to contact his dad. After excitedly recounting the unbelievable events of the afternoon, he requested some assistance with finding the deer. Fortunately, trailing the buck proved to be an uncomplicated task and they eventually found the big whitetail lying dead along the opposite woods line.

As the two men stood in the darkness, staring down at the huge buck illuminated in the glow of their flashlights, neither said a word for several seconds. Finally, the elder Burchard knelt down and grasped its massive rack.

"This is really an incredible buck," he uttered, while slowly counting the rack's 16 points. "It's just unbelievable that a deer of this size was on the farm."

Later, official antler statistics make these statements quite understandable. The basic 5x5 typical frame includes long main beams of 28 2/8 and 27 4/8 inches, and antler spreads of 21 3/8 inches outside, and 17 5/8 inches inside. Additionally, the paired back tines exceed 11 inches and the rack displays exceptional antler mass. The 10-point frame nets 162 1/8, and after adding in 13 5/8 inches of abnormal points (6), the final non-typical P&Y score is 175 6/8. Burchard's great whitetail ranks as the third biggest non-typical bow kill in the state for 2003.