Big Buck 411 Blog

Sometimes a Guy Has to Make His Own Tree

Sometimes a Guy Has to Make His Own Tree

By Mike Handley

Kenneth Zimmerman might've left Casey County, Ky., in his rearview mirror when he followed a construction job to Pennsylvania a couple of years ago. But familial ties and deer season keep him coming back.

Prior to his home state's 2013 rifle season, Kenneth began fixating on a fencerow between hay fields bordering a whitetail bedding area, part of a 140-acre farm. He knew the local farmers had seen a large buck in the vicinity, mostly at night, and someone had even found its shed antlers the previous spring.

"The fencerow didn't have any trees big enough to build a stand in, and none that were suitable to climb," he told Dale Weddle, who's penning the story for Rack magazine. "So I bought a tripod stand in Pennsylvania and had it shipped to Kentucky."

Kenneth drove home on the day before the season opened, assembled the tripod and hauled it out to the fencerow. He was sitting in it, rifle in hand, when dawn broke that frosty Saturday morning.

As soon as the sun cleared the treetops, he heard what first sounded like two bucks fighting. About the time he realized the noise was more like a buck chasing a doe through the woods, a doe ran out into the field and stopped, followed by a giant buck with greenbrier dangling from its rack.

When the antlered giant also stopped at about 75 yards, Kenneth shot it.

"The last thing I saw were (its) legs going up," he said.

After news of the buck's demise spread, Kenneth learned that a lot of people had seen it within a 2-mile span. Those who were hoping to find it in their sights weren't talking about it. One person even had trail camera photographs.

The buck's BTR composite score is 202 7/8 inches.

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Send your 2014 big buck photos to mhandley@buckmasters.com. Please include hunter’s name, where the animal was hunted, and its score (if known). Remember: The BTR has no drying period.

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