Danny Scott struck a deal with his grandson, Ben Turner, when they retrieved trail camera photographs of an enormous buck with an unusual buck. First, they agreed not to pressure it until Kentucky's 2013 rifle season opened.
Second: Whenever Ben was home from college on the weekends, he'd have dibs. While he was away, Danny would go after it.
Danny is the patriarch of the Loggy Bayou Hunt Club, covering a quarter of the ground known as Kentucky Bend. The land is a toe-shaped appendage off mainland Tennessee, but it's considered Fulton County, Kentucky, even if Kentuckians would have to swim the Mississippi River to reach it.
"The club's made up of several generations of our family, along with a few friends," Danny told Dale Weddle, who chronicled his 2013 hunt for Rack magazine. "We own or control about 5,000 acres of the northernmost part of the bend."
On his sixth day afield, a Monday following his grandson's second weekend attempt, Danny went to the clover patch where the big buck was initially photographed. He was aloft in a ladder stand by 1:30.
"With about 15 minutes of shooting light remaining, I saw a deer coming from about 110 yards to my left. It was crossing the bean field with its head down," Danny said. "When it raised its head, I whispered, 'Oh my goodness. That's him!'"
Danny raised his .270, steadied the crosshairs on the big 19-pointer and squeezed the trigger.
The deer was even more impressive in person.
Fifty-three irregular inches account for nearly a third of this buck's BTR score, and nearly all are visible from the side – a view vastly different from how the rack looks head-on. The final tally (composite) is 197 4/8.
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Think Proximity: Bo Holcombe / BTR Composite Score: 194 7/8