Seventeen-year-old Kim Harden considers herself blessed to have been offered the opportunity at this incredible Missouri whitetail. She made quick work of filling both her doe and buck tags when the Show Me State's 2006 rifle season opened -- a feat she couldn't manage in '05.

By Kim Harden

Opening day of Missouri's 2006 rifle season was really sweet. Not only did I fill my doe tag (ending my deer drought from '05), but my cousin Matt also shot a great 9-pointer. Even my 10-year-old nephew, Colton, got in on the action, taking his first deer ever.

I will never forget the moment that Colton stripped down to his tee-shirt and rolled up his sleeves. Brandishing his new hunting knife, he announced, "I'll field-dress her, Grandpa!"

After that evening's family celebration, I asked my sister, Crissy, where she and my brother-in-law, Tom, would be hunting the next morning, a Sunday. They had planned to hunt our parents' property, too. Because I sing in our church's praise team, I had to be in from hunting early enough to get ready and be at church in time for practice.

This meant that I would be able to hunt for only an hour and a half.

When Crissy told me where she and Tom were going, she also suggested that I stake out a deer trail near a fallen treestand built by my dad and brother several years ago.

The next morning, Dad left the house while Colton and I were still getting ready. His plan was to return to the place we'd hunted the previous day. Crissy got there a short while later to pick up Colton, who was going to accompany her.

After making sure I understood where Tom, Crissy and Colton were going to be, I got the rest of my things together and left the house to walk to the far side of our property where the old treestand is located.

About halfway there, I bumped some deer. I was unable tell much about them as they ran through the timber, and I remember thinking I had probably just blown any chance for success. I hoped that they might run toward Tom or Crissy. Unsettled, I froze in place for several minutes before continuing my hike.

As I approached the area where I was planning to sit, I noticed a doe stepping out from the nearby woods. While watching her, I saw even more deer run out of the timber, including some bucks. One of them was very impressive, with a rack easily surpassing Missouri's four-point antler restriction.

The buck was not letting any grass grow under its feet; it was in hot pursuit of a doe, so I didn't have much time to think. I had to get on it quickly.

My shot caused some confusion with the doe. She ran toward me, quartering to my right. "Ol' Mr. Big," not to be left in the lurch, came right behind her. The doe kept on going as if she never saw me. But the buck spotted me and stopped about 40 yards out, giving me the perfect opportunity to render a lethal shot.

I saw the buck buckle with the impact of the bullet, but it still bolted for a nearby trail leading into the timber. As soon as it disappeared, I heard a loud crash. I knew that could mean only one thing: I had a big deer down.

In the excitement of the moment, I did everything wrong. I should have given the deer time to die, but I just could not keep from running to the place where I heard the crash. When I got there, the heart-shot deer was struggling to rise, so I administered the coup de grace.

I could not believe that I'd just taken the biggest buck I had ever seen. The antlers were incredible. The points duplicated all the way up the main beams -- one set of points up the inside and another row along the outside, which is why I call it my "two-for-one buck."

I called my dad and told him that I had just shot a monster buck. He asked how big it was, and I mentioned the double sets of tines. I said that the only place I had seen a bigger deer was at the Bass Pro Shop or Cabela's. When he asked how many points it had, I told him it had more than I could count.

Dad told me to settle down, stay on the phone and count while he listened. When I got up to 23, he said, "Kimberly, you can stop counting. Don't cut that deer's throat, and don't leave it. I'll be there as quickly as I can get there!"

And I thought I was excited!

When my dad arrived, he was on our tractor. We loaded the deer and drove it to the house for photographs and field-dressing. After checking in the deer via computer, we loaded it in the truck and took it to church, so I could enter it in our pastor's big buck contest.

The contest winner would win a Buck knife, but I wouldn't qualify if I missed church. My deer certainly caused quite a commotion that morning. We have quite a few deer hunters, and several of my pastor's friends from out of town had come up to hunt with him. They almost wore the paint off of the side of the truck from leaning in to gawk at my trophy.

After church, we took the buck to show to a number of our friends and family in the community. Nobody had ever seen anything like it. We eventually wound up at Hazel Creek Taxidermy and entered the big buck contest there, as well. The first-place winner would win a full shoulder mount, and Cally Morris, the owner, said I had a good chance of winning.

My buck ended up winning both of those contests! 

BTR Score: 206 3/8 

-- Kim Harden
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