Kevin Sears took this outstanding 11-pointer in Logan County. His buck has an impressive inside spread of 22 2/8 inches and scores 174 0/8 net typical points. Photo by Bill Cooper

By Bill Cooper

Kevin Sears of Elkton spent a number of late summer afternoons in 2003 watching bean fields near the Logan County farm where he deer hunts. Spotting whitetails was not a problem, but the one particular buck he was looking for never appeared.

"During the 2002 season, I saw a buck on the property that I felt would come close to making the Boone and Crockett (B&C) record book," Sears said. "I never had an opportunity to take the deer. I felt reasonably sure if another hunter had gotten him I would have heard about it. That was confirmed during the following spring turkey season when I happened to find one of the buck's shed antlers. However, without a single sighting of the deer throughout the summer, I couldn't help but wonder if something else might have happened to the buck."

The hunter didn't have to worry about that possibility for very long. On the opening weekend of archery season, Sears' friend and hunting companion, Neal Pulley, saw the buck twice. On one occasion, the big whitetail and two additional bucks passed within 20 yards of the bowhunter, but the three deer were moving too fast for him to attempt a shot.

"When Neal saw the buck, he was hunting a small bean field that bordered a larger field, overgrown with weeds, briars, cedars and sumac," Sears said. "Over the following several weeks, both of us periodically hunted that area and an adjacent hardwood hollow, but never sighted the big deer again."

Several large cedars, all freshly rubbed, stood along the upper edge of the old field. Beyond the cedars, the land sloped upward to a wooded ridgetop, which had been partially logged two years earlier. The timber operation had created a maze of standing timber and sapling thickets; a tough place to hunt, but as the November rut approached, Sears felt it might be a good spot to intercept this particular trophy buck as it searched for does.

A few days prior to gun season, Sears, carrying a portable climbing stand, made the somewhat difficult trek through the thick understory along the side of the ridge. After positioning the stand at a location that provided the best possible view of the sloping hillside, he quickly left the area.

"The ridge was part of a much larger wooded tract that Neal and I had purposely stayed out of during bow season," Sears explained. "We didn't want to put too much pressure on the buck and risk pushing him out of our hunting area."

The location of the stand in relation to the terrain dictated that the spot could only be hunted with a prevailing northerly wind. Surprisingly, that opportunity came about on the very first day of gun season.

"Weather conditions were perfect that morning and I got to the stand a full hour before daybreak," Sears related. "Just before 8 a.m., I heard a deer coming up the hill from the direction of the old field. Within seconds of determining the deer was a doe, I spotted the big buck trailing a few yards behind her."

Already standing, in shooting position, the hunter watched the deer move along the hillside. The big whitetail had to constantly maneuver its wide rack around trees and under limbs as it hurried to keep up with the doe. At approximately 80 yards, both deer abruptly stopped; unfortunately, two trees blocked a clear view of the buck.

"All I could see was the deer's back end and I wasn't about to take that type of shot," Sears said. "Two more steps and the buck would have been in the open, but it wasn't my lucky day. The doe turned in the opposite direction and the buck went with her. It was extremely frustrating to watch them disappear in the trees, but there was nothing I could do."

Sears continued to hunt the area throughout the gun season, selecting stands in relation to the weather and wind direction, but he never spotted the buck again. Afterward, he decided it might be best to give the area a rest until the late muzzleloading season in mid-December.

"During that rest period, I moved my stand to a small drainage along one corner of the old grown-up field," Sears noted. "The location provides a good view of not only that field, but also the small bean field, then planted to winter wheat, where Neal had seen the buck during bow season."

A cold front, with strong northerly winds and subfreezing temperatures arrived in the state for opening weekend of the late muzzleloading season. Early on that Saturday afternoon, Sears climbed into his stand by the old field, while Neal opted to try hunting the ridge location where the buck had escaped during gun season.

By midafternoon, the temperature seemed to have dropped several degrees and it began to alternately sleet and snow. Around 4 p.m., a doe suddenly came out of the woods with a buck right on her heels. The buck, a battle-scarred 10-pointer, with two tines broken off its rack, quickly chased the doe across the field and out of sight. Minutes later, a smaller 8-pointer appeared, following the same trail the buck and doe had taken.

As the sleet and snow continued to fall, the gray overcast skies darkened the surrounding woods and reduced visibility in the open field. For at least 30 minutes, the hunter had observed no further activity; there had been no sound, no movement. But as Sears glanced down the woods line, 130 yards away, standing almost ghostlike at the edge of the field, was the buck he had been hunting for over three months.

"The instant I saw the deer, even before he turned in my direction, I knew it was him," Sears related. "Fortunately, on that side of the stand there was a large tree limb I could use as a solid rifle rest. I simply aimed and squeezed the trigger until the gun fired, and the buck dropped in its tracks.

"I never really got nervous until after I climbed down and walked to where the deer was lying, but I would have to say that was truly an emotional experience," Sears said. "I think it's something only another deer hunter can relate to. For me, it was particularly special that Neal was along that evening to share the moment with, because he had hunted the buck just as hard as I had."

One look at the buck's huge 6x5 frame and it becomes easy to understand the hunter's feelings. Without question, antler spread is the rack's most impressive feature, with measurements of 24 1/8 inches outside, and 22 2/8 inches inside. Additionally, the main beams exceed 25 inches and there are six tines that tape between 10 and 8 inches.

While these may not be exceptional measurements, it is also true that the rack has no weaknesses. It is simply a near-perfect combination of antler mass, spread and tine length. In fact, the only major symmetry difference is an unmatched G-5 tine on the left antler.

After grossing a great score of 181 1/8, minor deductions drop the final B&C figure to 174 0/8. In addition to qualifying for both B&C record books, the deer will also rank high in Longhunter's record book for big-game trophies taken with a muzzleloading firearm. In fact, Sears' whitetail is the highest-scoring blackpowder buck taken in the state during the 2003 season. It is also the second-biggest typical whitetail ever recorded for Logan County.