You can shoot and tag only one buck a year in Kentucky, except when you can shoot and tag two.
Jeffrey Byrd was among the latter in 2015.
He shot his first buck on opening day of the state's rifle season, while hunting his father-in-law's 109 gnarly acres in Hart County. He's hunted that brush-choked farm for 14 years.
Jeffrey saw a lot of action from his treestand between 7:00 and 11 a.m. But it wasn't until he got down and began still-hunting that he jumped the 12-point runner-up to the state record.
He was easing down a mowed strip through the property's thickest area when the giant 6x6 jumped onto the path, which it must've deduced would offer the fastest retreat.
"By the time I got the scope on the buck, it was 60 yards away and running flat out," Jeffrey told Dale Weddle, who's writing the story for Rack magazine.
Jeffrey's only option was to take the Texas heart shot, which rolled the deer. When it got back up, he fired twice more.
That normally would've ended his season, but because Jeffrey had been drawn for a quota hunt at Fort Knox Army Depot near Louisville, he was back in the saddle eight days later. He had two bonus tags, one of which could be used on another antlered deer.
Dale says killing a second buck wasn't Jeffrey's priority. The man was more interested in putting meat in the freezer.
The first day of the quota hunt was a bust.
"When we got up Sunday, it was 19 degrees with sleet and a 20-mph wind – just a horrible day to hunt," he said. "About 8:00 that morning, I texted one of my hunting partners and told him I was going to the truck.
"On the way, I shot a doe and field-dressed her. The guys texted me and said deer were starting to move, so I kept walking, thinking: Well, I still have a tag.
"About 9:30, I started down a fire break and a doe ran out. Right behind her came a giant buck," he continued.
When the whitetail froze at 60 yards, Jeffrey dropped it with one shot from his slug gun. He didn't have time to study the rack before he squeezed the trigger, so he was pleasantly surprised when he walked up to the downed animal.
The 6x6 has a BTR composite score of 191 5/8 and falls into the perfect category. The Fort Knox buck, a 4x6 Typical, tallies 172 6/8.
— Read Recent Blog! Plan B: Logan Wilson / BTR Composite Score: 201 3/8