I have been hunting this buck for about 4 years. Always finding lots of sign every season, but have only caught a fleeting glimpse of him two times.

Once I drove him right by Brian. He came from nowhere and nearly ran him over. He shot several times but missed as this buck bore right down upon him. Probably had a window of maybe 4 seconds from the time he appeared utill he disappeared.

The King was chasing a doe up through the woods and they ran past me and gave me my first opportunity to shoot at this big fella. My first shot took him right through the kidneys and then he turned towards me and kept coming. I shot again at about 20 yards and just grazed his left front leg and he turned to nearly be coming straight at me. Now out of nearly self-defense I shot a final time and hit him right in the jaw at maybe 10 yards.

As he passed by I picked up the blood trail, which was 12 feet from me, and followed it to where he dropped. He went yet another maybe 80 yards. From the time I first saw him until he passed by was no more than 4 to 5 seconds.

My trusty Ithaca 12 gauge

For a wild buck in a non-managed environment "The King" is a real trophy.

Turns out his left eye has been blind for a long time. I guess I was lucky to be on his blind side or he still would be The King.

Vickie's Doe taken in PA the previous Monday - Nov. 29