LEAVING THE PHOTO CENTER with a handful of pictures from our 2002 Kansas bowhunt, I hopped into the truck and Jimmy and Glenn each grabbed for a pack of photos. It had been a successful week. On the first day Jimmy had arrowed a beautiful 130-class 10-point, I had bagged a tall 8-pointer with a big kicker off the right G-2, and Glenn had passed up numerous good bucks. With a couple of days left to hunt, he was still holding out for a big one and was willing to eat "tag soup" if it came to that.

Looking at the pictures, we really enjoyed the trophy shots. Then I got to the interesting pictures, the ones from my DeerCam. Several showed turkeys, raccoons, does, a small 8-pointer, and then...

"Oh my goodness!" was all I could say in looking at four photos of a nontypical buck. He had a mainframe 10-point rack with split brows, split G-2s, and stickers all around the bases -- a real Kansas slammer!

YOU CAN BET THOSE images were still vivid in our minds as Jim Purcaro, Glenn Hurley, and I left our New Jersey homes on November 7, 2003, for our second straight self-guided whitetail hunt in Kansas. Also along was Ed Picorale, who would capture the hunt on video. Ever since seeing those photos from our last trip, we all had daydreamed about an opportunity at the big nontypical. I remember saying, "If that buck is still alive, he could be over 200 inches."

He was a true buck of a lifetime. But none of us really expected to ever see him again.

The drive to Kansas took us 20 hours, straight through, but the telling of old hunting stories and friendly wagering made it seem shorter. Glenn, a compound shooter, even said that if he shot a buck with antlers measuring over 135 inches he would switch to a traditional bow. The rest of us agreed we would hold him to it.

THE FIRST DAY OF HUNTING looked promising for everyone. Just after first light a 2 1/2-year-old 8-pointer came right under my treestand, feeding on burr oak acorns. Later I did some rattling and three times pulled a little 4-pointer within range. Jim and Ed went together, and before shooting light they had a huge buck under their tree. Later they watched two good bucks, one in the 150 class, hot on the trail of an unwilling doe. Although the deer were out of range, Ed got some good video footage. Glenn had a few deer around him, and he saw several deer crossing a creek to the west. So after the morning hunt he moved his stand to that crossing, where he saw several more deer but none he wanted to shoot.

On the morning of November 20, we got up at 4 a.m. to a light, steady rain. The woods were silent, and the sweet smell of outdoors filled my nose as I made my way to the treestand. Despite the rain it was a comfortable morning.