The stand on the Watkinses’ Monroe County property had produced a couple of 130-inch bucks last season, so it’s been popular with the family. So it was no surprise that Kenny Watkins decided to sit the stand – even though it was technically his father’s – when he arrived on the afternoon of Dec. 2.
As Watkins sat in the box stand overlooking the food plot, he was less than enthusiastic. A misty rain was falling, and it he didn’t have a lot of daylight left by the time he climbed into stand.
“It was 4:20 (p.m.) before I got in the stand,” Watkins said. “I was mad I was so late.”
But about 4:30 I saw two white spots on the edge of the field.
“I said to myself, ‘Well, that’s too big to be a deer,’ so I didn’t even scope it,” Watkins said.
Five minutes later, the white spots were still there, and curiosity finally won out.
“I scoped the white spots, and I couldn’t believe it,” he said.
The white spots were part of a huge set of antlers.
“I could see the antlers before I could see the deer,” Watkins said. “He was standing there about 10 minutes on the edge of the field checking things out.”
Nerves kicked in, and Watkins was soon a shaking mess.
And then the deer finally stepped into the open.
“He was just standing out there looking straight in my direction,” Watkins said. “I couldn’t believe when I first saw it.”
While he knew it was a heavy, wide rack, the hunter still hadn’t gotten a great look at the antlers.
“He finally turned and I could see how big he was,” Watkins said.
The man’s rifle quickly was shouldered, but the crosshairs were jumping like frog legs in hot oil.
“I’m just shaking and thinking, ‘Oh gosh, I’m going to miss this deer,’” Watkins admitted.
So he did what few hunters would have dared: He pulled off the deer and pulled out his telephone.
“I texted my dad and my friend and told them, ‘I’m looking at the biggest deer I’ve ever seen,’” Watkins chuckled. “I was just trying to get my mind off of it.
“My dad texted back and asked why I didn’t shoot it. I told him I was scared I was going to miss.”
During this time, the massive buck eased closer to the stand and, at 110 yards, Watkins finally put the .45-70 back on his shoulder and settled in to wait for a shot.
“He was facing me, so all I had was a brisket shot,” Watkins said. “I’ve taken that before, but on a buck like this I didn’t want to take that shot.”
A few minutes later, the animal finally quartered, exposing its front shoulder.
“I shot him in front of that shoulder,” Watkins said. “He took off, and I could see him running through the thicket (on the edge of the field).
“I saw him stop, and then he just disappeared.”
Now shaking again, Watkins grabbed his phone and called his father.
“I told him, ‘Dad, I’m probably exaggerating, but I’m going to say it had 14 points and was 20 inches wide,’” he laughed. “My dad said he knew I was exaggerating.”
When Watkins finally climbed out of the stand and hurried into the thicket, he found his trophy – and was stunned.
“I told my dad that it had 14 points and was 20 inches wide, and that’s exactly what it turned out to be,” he said.
The deer’s rack was just massive, indeed carrying 14 scorable points around a 21-inch-wide frame.
“I just couldn’t believe it,” Watkins said. “The pictures don’t do it justice.”
The non-typical rack isn’t an easy score, since it has an extra beam on the left side and just tremendous mass all along the beams.
Two green scorings have resulted in a 202-inch measurement and a 189-inch tally.
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