Back pain kept Bobby Cook indoors during much of the 2013-14 Alabama deer season. When he was finally up to it, he invited two friends from Pennsylvania to join him for the last few days.
On Jan. 24, 2014, Bobby drove his customized truck - a deer blind on wheels - down a logging road where he'd seen lots of deer tracks. He'd hunted that same trail for five years and taken eight bucks and six does off it.
The 66-year-old paraplegic from Carbon Hill, Ala., backed his vehicle behind three cedar trees and cut some branches to clear a shooting lane, never leaving his truck.
At 3:30 p.m., he spotted three does coming down a trail perpendicular to the logging road. When the does stepped in the road, Bobby saw a huge buck standing behind them.
"Instantly, I knew that buck was a shooter," he told John Phillips, who wrote the story for Rack magazine.
Bobby didn't have time to gawk at the deer's antlers or to count points. He rested the fore-end of his rifle in the palm of his hand and laid his hand on the rolled-down truck window for a steady rest.
"I aimed at the doe standing in front of the big buck, and I waited," he said.
When the doe moved out of the way, Bobby took the shot with his .300 Mag. Afterward, he called a friend and his brother, and they dragged the 13-pointer out of the woods for him.
Ever since the motorcyclist was struck by a hit-and-run driver back in 1974, Bobby - paralyzed below the waist - has been confined to a wheelchair. He gave up hunting for the next 10 years, but returned to the woods in 1984 after buying a four-wheeler with hand controls.
The four-wheeler, however, didn't keep him warm enough, which is a huge concern for victims of paralysis. That's why he bought an old International Harvester truck from a brother. Another brother helped him rebuild the vehicle, adding a new engine, transmission, better tires, hand controls and even a propane heater.
Without those modifications, Bobby would've wheeled away from his favorite pursuit a long time ago.
His Fayette County buck's BTR composite score is 177 5/8 inches.