Ryan Sullivan's fraternity brothers at Arkansas State University couldn't understand why he was so eager to leave campus every weekend.
It had little to do with a home-cooked meal or laundry. It had everything to do with the giant whitetail that liked to mug for his trail cameras, a buck he'd first seen in 2010.
The 20-year-old was obsessed with the deer, which had grown considerably since their first encounter.
During the second week of November 2013, the bruiser was walking in front of Ryan's camera every day, during the day. So when Ryan struck out on Friday, Nov. 13, he was prepared to hunt from dawn ‘til dusk.
Not long after daybreak, a friend sent him a text message saying he'd shot a buck. When Ryan looked up from reading the text, he saw a doe right in front of him. Not far behind her was the buck of his dreams.
The doe browsed in front of Ryan for 40 minutes, while the buck - shielded by a tree - watched. Eventually, when the doe moved on, the buck passed within 28 yards and paid the price.
To give the deer some time and to keep his curiosity at bay, Ryan got down from his stand and left. He spent the next four hours brushing in a duck blind.
When he did return to follow the easy trail, he was accompanied by a couple of his pals.
"I think my friends thought I would be jumping up and down and hollering, but I was speechless," he told Larry Jones, who's writing the story for Rack magazine. "I remember thinking What am I going to do now? I had just reached a goal that I had set four years earlier."
The Mississippi County 20-pointer has a BTR composite score of 214 1/8 inches.