The moment the bowstring whacked his forearm, Brad Mills knew he was not going to recover the buck. That the arrow even hit the deer was a fluke.
The hunter from Bonner Springs, Kan., has no idea why he torqued his bow that day in 2011. He remembers only that it was a cold 12 degrees, he was aiming at the 3 1/2-year-old deer's left side, and he didn't hit where he was aiming.
He drew blood, but the shot wasn't lethal.
Brad saw the same 12-pointer the following year, and again (a little larger) in 2013. When he saw it in 2014, the buck's rack had sprouted several more points, all on the right antler, which was likely caused by the injury to its left side.
Brad saw the unique whitetail four times that year, the last on Nov. 7.
Brad was 20 feet aloft 45 minutes before sunrise. Five hours later, after determining the coast was clear, he ate a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for lunch.
"I had just turned around to stuff the wrapper in my backpack when I saw this buck - by itself - approaching from the northeast," he said. "My lock-on stand was facing south, and there was a southwest wind."
He was sure the buck would smell him, but it either paid eau-de-Brad no mind, or the thermals were carrying the scent to the ground.
When the buck with the familiar rack was at 18 yards, Brad released his arrow. That tine, only the deer felt the whack, and it ran for 60 yards, holes in both lungs, before running out of air.
The buck's BTR composite score is 219 2/8 inches.