Blake Whelchel says the nearly 200-inch Oklahoma buck he shot in 2016 was between 20 and 30 inches bigger the previous year, and he has the trail camera photographs to prove it.
Understandably, the 25-year-old from Ada, Oklahoma, was obsessed with the whitetail that was able to avoid him for three straight seasons.
Their introduction came in January 2013, when the deer was a mature mainframe 10-pointer. Blake was bowhunting his brother-in-law's 1,700-acre ranch, where they strive to shoot only 4 1/2-year-old or older bucks.
"It saw me draw my bow," he sighed.
The next year, the buck's rack peaked. It sported at least 25 points and tallied well north of 200 inches, possibly in the 230s.
Blake's second encounter with the deer came on opening day of the state's 2014 muzzleloader season. When he squeezed the trigger, the percussion cap popped, but the powder didn't ignite.
Although Blake was caught off guard by the buck's unexpected appearance, the shot should've been a gimme.
The deer was only 75 yards away when Blake's rifle poofed. Unable to do anything besides try another cap, Blake was digging around in his bag while the deer walked out of his life. It was gone by the time he could put on a new one.
Their paths never crossed during the 2015 season.
The 2016 season had a sweeter beginning. Blake actually filmed the buck - still in velvet - on Sept. 10 from his treestand. Although it was still a stud, the rack obviously carried fewer points.
On a rainy Oct. 26, Blake went to the stand where he'd attempted to shoot the buck in 2014. He saw the deer of his dreams chasing a doe at 400 yards, and he spotted it a second time right before dark.
The next evening, Blake took a different route to the plum orchard where he'd seen the buck, walking a mile to be closer to where it exited the timber. Because there was no stand, he hunkered down in a patch of foot-tall grass beside a creek.
At 6:15 - 45 minutes before dark - the familiar buck stepped out at 140 yards.
"I'd reloaded prior to the hunt that day," Blake said. "Because of what happened in 2014, I made sure everything was clean and fresh. I wasn't about to go through that again."
His efforts were rewarded with a kapow and a dead buck.
When news of the whitetail's demise spread, the neighbors told Blake they had eight years of trail cam photos of it, which didn't surprise him. The animal was practically toothless, though it was still very healthy in body.
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