"The deer looked bigger, but since it came from the same direction where the buck disappeared, I naturally assumed it was the same animal," Key said. "Problem was, I couldn't see any antlers. The deer had obviously been rubbing on trees and had somehow broken off a branch that was still lodged in its rack; the large cluster of leaves completely covered the antlers.

"When the buck first walked out, I immediately raised my shotgun, but without being able to see the rack, I hesitated, eventually putting the gun back in my lap. My dilemma was possibly shooting a buck that I might normally pass up in hopes that my son would eventually get a chance at the deer."

The buck had initially stopped behind a small hickory tree that partially blocked Key's view of the entire shoulder and chest cavity. However, as he continued to watch, the deer took a couple of steps forward, moving most of his body completely into the clear.

"At that point, the buck looked really huge, too big to let go I decided," Key said. "Having only a few acres to hunt, I realized the odds were high that neither I nor my son would probably ever get another chance at the deer."

Still slightly nervous about the shotgun slug's accuracy, he carefully aligned the front bead with the buck's shoulder and pulled the trigger. At the shot, the buck bolted straight ahead and quickly ran out of sight.

"The deer gave no indication it had been hit," Key said. "In fact, the buck ran like it had been shot out of a cannon. There was never an opportunity to even think about shooting one of the buckshot loads. I remained in the stand for several minutes, but I knew I couldn't afford to wait too long or the rain would wash away all traces of a blood trail."

After walking to the approximate spot where he had last seen the deer, the hunter discovered there had been no need to worry about finding a blood trail. The buck hadn't gone far and was lying behind a big log with part of its rack sticking up in the air.

"When I first saw the antlers, I thought, Good gracious, what a buck," Key said. "I hurried to where it was lying, reached down and pulled up the deer's head so I could see the entire rack, and my legs actually buckled from the shock. I simply couldn't believe the size of the buck's antlers, much less that I had killed the deer a short distance from where I lived."

The left side of the rack included a long drop tine with dried velvet covering the end of the point. Key had remembered seeing the dark brown tine sticking out from the cluster of leaves on top of the deer's head, but he thought the antler was part of the tree branch.

"While kneeling next to the deer, I decided to make a quick count of antler points and came up with about 25 or 26," Key related. "I immediately thought of Brother Turner's blessing the previous evening about me killing a deer big as two 10-pointers, and remarkably, this buck even exceeded that figure. Never in my wildest dreams could I have imagined a buck of this size and I truly thank the Lord for allowing me to take such a great animal."