Well let's see... it stood about two feet tall, gleeming in the last golden shafts of light on a beautiful September day. A testament to my ferocious tenacity of practicing all summer long, culminating in a trophy that I will never forget. With vertical golden tips flowing upwards to the sky, I was very humbled indeed. I claimed my prize with pride even though it was only myself and two other recurve archers that shot in the barebow class of a 28-target NFAA Invitational.

Good grief, Arthur... your knuckles must drag on the ground or you're nearly as tall as a baby giraffe.

Honestly, the biggest animal I've ever taken was not measured by it's weight, nor by the size of it's rack. More accurately, it was the size of his eyelashs blinking at a mere 12 feet away as I stood on the ground and put an arrow through him after watching him push and shove a smaller-bodied 8-pt. around for 15 minutes, then coming over to investigate my soft grunt calls behind a multi-flora rose bush on a Halloween morning. Etched in memory forever....

Equipment? Hmmm... a no-name 50# take-down recurve that I purchased from Dehner's Hardware & Sports and stacked like a pile of Aunt Jemimas. An old Bear cedar arrow tipped with an old Bear Razorhead.