A few seconds later the stillness of a mid-October morning was replaced by the sound of a Nosler 140 grain Ballistic Tip being hurled through the silent morning air toward the prized buck.

 

The buck was hit hard and didn't move from where it lay.

 As the group made their way up the steep, rocky terrain and saw up close what they had viewed from so far away over the past several hours, they were in awe of what they saw.  Rand walked up to the buck and with friends and family surrounding him, took hold of it's enormous horns and shook his head with disbelief.  Congratulatory handshakes and hugs turned quickly to admiration for the buck and Rand, along with everyone there, saw their vocabulary reduced to the same simple phrases the Taylor's had first uttered some seventeen hours ago, "I don't believe it".   Admiration quickly gave way to the excitement of the harvest with everyone recounting the events and the people that had made it all possible.

The only thing wider than the 42" spread on the deer, was Rand's perma-grin that measured a staggering 45".  A buck with thirteen points on each side will do that to a man.

 

The Taylor's were right.  This buck was definitely worth it.