it was one of those things when hunting just "clicks" like learning math or science. it was 5 years ago (i was 18) and it was the last weekend of rifle season. my dad and grandpa had been up hunting and had seen another "bruiser" of a deer and had told me where they saw him. i went therefriday afternoon and followed the trails the deer had been walking...crossed the road and saw they were walking a trail parellel with the road...lots of sign on it....next morning my cousin dropped me off and i just sat right on that trail....had a view looking down the hill into hardwoods (view of only about 100 yards or so) the wind was hitting me in the face and i knew that they came from down the mountain and crossed the road in the morning (lots of road hunting/scouting over the years led me to this discovery) it was about 830 and i looked over to my left where the oak trees met the pines and the pines were thick and a caught a glimpse of something shining...then there he was...just walking out of the trees....all i could see was a monster body and a huge rack (for a blacktail) i went to make the shot but his vitals were behing a buttom branch of the pine....i made the decision NOT to shoot...then he walked up the ridge some and i lost sight of him....felling like a big pile of %#*% i sat there and visioned him for a minute keeping my eye over there just in case he were to come back out.....and then i saw him....he walked up the ridge and was on the same trail i was sitting on walking right for me....with his head down walking on the trail i took my shot at about 18 yards ( yea i know, but it was now or never as there were pines between me and him and this was my only oppurtunity) he jumped up and fell over then rolled down the hill some......an awesome 5x4 (western) or 11 pointer (eastern) ...

this was my first encounter of a true monster buck......we guessed his age at around 5-7