Randall Britton of Morristown, Ohio, climbed into his ladder stand about 3 p.m. on Oct. 28, 2013, eager to see if the rut had started in that corner of Belmont County. That was his first day to go afield with a crossbow that season.
He was only about 300 yards from his house, within the 12 acres his neighbor had given him permission to hunt. And he didn't have to wait long before whitetails began filtering out of the nearby swamp.
"Two does walked up from the creek bottom and fed near my treestand," Randall told John Phillips, who's writing the story for Rack magazine. "Then an older doe came up the trail."
Close to 4:00, he heard a deer grunting. He could see only a portion of its rack, but the long tines were impressive.
Randall's setup allowed only for shots between 20 and 25 yards. Had it not been for the older doe, the buck might've stayed well beyond the periphery.
Its mistake was in choosing to get a closer look at her.
Randall was hunting with a neighbor's crossbow, since his was malfunctioning. He had left the quiver attached and was resting it on the shooting rail encircling him.
He wound up having to turn the crossbow sideways to make the shot. And when he squeezed the trigger, his thumb was protruding above the bowstring.
As a result, the string peeled off the top layer of skin and part of his thumbnail.
"I forgot all about the deer," Randall admits. "I knew the buck was the biggest I'd ever seen in the woods. However, blood was running down my thumb and all over my clothes.
"I wrapped paper towels and a handkerchief around my thumb, got down the ladder and went to the spot where I'd last seen the buck. I found a lot of blood and half the arrow after searching for maybe five seconds. I then headed for the house to clean the wound, dry it, roll the skin back in place and use Band-Aids and tape on my thumb."
Randall's son, Scott, and a neighbor, Henry Stewart, returned with him later to retrieve the 11-pointer that is among Ohio's top 20 Typicals felled by crossbow. Its BTR composite score is 182 1/8 inches.