Austin Sturgill and his family were certain the giant whitetail he shot on Thanksgiving morning - his second buck for 2011 - was the one that had set tongues wagging for weeks in that corner of Wise County, Virginia.
"He got a big 10-pointer, the biggest one ever killed in the family to that date," said his father, Jimmy. "We were very happy and proud, because we figured that was the big one people had been talking about."
That certainty lasted only a day.
While hunting the same knoll on Nov. 25, Jimmy shot a bruiser that dwarfs his son's 5x5, no doubt THE one that had stirred up the locals.
Two hours into his morning hunt, Jimmy saw the 27-pointer chasing a doe at between 150 and 175 yards.
"Even from that far away, I knew it was the biggest I had ever seen," he told Lisa Price, who penned his story for Rack magazine. "The best deer I had gotten before that was an 8-pointer. When I looked at this one in the scope, I could see it was much bigger."
The buck toppled at the crack of Jimmy's .30-06.
When Jimmy reached the deer, he spent considerable time counting the points. He originally tallied 31, though four weren't the requisite inch.
"I took him to three deer shows, and he got first place in one," he said. "I believe he is the second biggest taken in Virginia west of the Blue Ridge Mountains, and sixth biggest in the state."
By the BTR's yardstick, the deer is the runner-up to the Virginia rifle record. Its composite score is 222 4/8 inches.