Jonathan Dennis learned two things in December: that "failing to take a state record to a taxidermist" might be a crime in Grenada County, Miss., and that a shoulder mount ain't cheap.

While Jonathan knew the buck he smoked last year was bigger than any he'd taken previously, he had no idea of its true stature until a neighbor, who happens to be a sheriff's deputy, saw it.

"When I showed it to Jeffrey, I thought he was going to fall down," Jonathan laughed. "He actually got in my truck with me and MADE me take the deer to a taxidermist.

"I've never been a fan of scoring or taxidermy, even though I always save my racks," he added. "I have a storage box full of them. I've killed at least a dozen 150-class deer, but I've never had any mounted."

But seriously, he doesn't mind paying for what he calls a big dose of luck.

Jonathan usually hunts out of treestands. But faced with no climbable trees in a place he so dearly wanted to hunt -- beside a trail used that very morning by a buck he was certain was responsible for some extraordinary rubs -- he had no qualms getting down on his belly like a reptile.

When he discovered the network of rubs and where several trails converged nearby, he found the perfect tree for his climber. But when he scaled and hunted from it, he saw only small bucks and a few does, day after day.

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