Perry Richardson doesn't spend a lot on broadheads or bullets.
He could easily punch his Kentucky buck tag every season, since the Meade County farm he hunts is crawling with whitetails. But the 29-year-old generally holds out for really good ones.
Perry says being picky means he might go two or three seasons between deer, though that wasn't the case in 2014.
On the Wednesday afternoon following opening weekend of rifle season, Perry got off work about 4:30 and took a friend, Jim Bussell, to a homemade blind. "It has cattle gates on all four sides and is brushed-in with vines and honeysuckle," he told Dale Weddle, who wrote the story for Rack magazine.
"I've killed four deer out of it, so it's a productive place," Perry added.
The guys' agreement was that Jim could should a doe, but Perry had first choice on any bucks they saw. A real giant chased a doe across the corn stubble in front of them, but it stayed in the open for only a few seconds.
It was almost 3:00 Saturday afternoon before Perry could return to the blind. He parked about 200 yards away and walked in dragging a scent rag.
Almost immediately, he spotted a little 6-pointer near a pond. When it disappeared, an enormous buck popped out of the brush at 200 yards. Had Perry not been looking in that direction, he might've missed it entirely.
He scanned the vicinity with eyes and binoculars for the next 30 minutes, debating whether to remain in the blind or to sneak closer.
Following the sound of sticks breaking, the deer burst out of the cover only 50 yards from Perry. It paused in the cornfield, looking back over its shoulder.
"Something had spooked it," Perry said. "As soon as I saw that buck's body, I knew it was huge, so I just put the crosshairs on it and pulled the trigger."
He did not even see the drop tine until after he'd fired.
The 17-pointer has a BTR composite score of 210 7/8 inches.