They called him FRANK!!!

Ladies and Gentlemen - here is the story of Frank. As my brother will tell you below, this is one legends are made of - and indeed it is. You see, hunting in the piney woods of south Mississippi doesn't have the glamorous appeal of the river bottoms of the MS River, the soil of the Black Prairie or the agriculture of the delta. Trophy bucks are measured many ways but for those who consistently harvest mature bucks (regardless of rack size) in the piney woods...well, they can get it done anywhere in my opinion. Kevin, aka Chunk, was not only able to harvest a mature piney woods buck but one that unofficially measured 137 inches...Congrats Brother!

The buck's name was Frank and the quest for him was one of legend. It began the first day of December. It was then my brother in law, Mark Rogers, first photographed the brute. As the month progressed, we continued to get several photos of him within a half mile area. Chad Odom, Mark Rogers and myself theorized on every aspect of Franks day to day activity. It got so intense I was cross referencing weather patterns with the trail cam photos we had taken. Crazy huh! My conclusion was Frank always moved on a southwest wind. Fast forward to the December 31st and guess the wind direction.... that’s right, southwest! I had decided that with the moon half full the deer may move mid-day. So, I caught up on a little sleep and got to the lease around 8:00 a.m. Figuring I would continue my pattern of trying a different strategy, I parked just inside the gate and walked a half a mile into the lease. Typically, I drive most of that route. At any rate, I toted my climber to a pine that over looked a three year old cutover. My plan was to get high. I’m talking so high I needed an extension on my pull-up rope....yea, that high! I was surprised how well I could see throughout the cutover. I couldn’t have been in the tree no more than 10 minutes when I spotted a doe coming up an old dummy line. This was a road we theorized the deer were using. As she continued up the road, I soon noticed her yearling bringing up the rear. My heart sank! I was confident that since she hadn't abandoned her yearling then she wasn't in estrus therefore no buck would be trailing. Any how, the two dumped into the cutover and I figured that was that. As I began to settle down from the encounter, I noticed a third deer following the same trail. I threw up my .308 to find that this deer had head gear! He gave me just enough time to know he was one of our better bucks but at 300 yards I wasn't sure which one. He progressed up the road but soon ducked back into cover. My heart sank thinking he was surely gone. Thankfully, he popped back out on the dummy line. Like a blood hound, he had picked up the does trail and was about to enter the thicket she had disappeared into only seconds sooner. It was then that I used the deer call that has worked for me many times in the pasted. In fact, I've found that 60% of the time, it works every time...I yelled HEY!!!!!!!!! He stopped dead in his tracks. As he stood alert, I settled my cross-hairs along his spine and tripped the hammer. "I pulled", I said audibly as the report from my rifle still lingered in the air. I knew I pulled and now, there was no deer was in sight. Immediately I called my brother-in-law to tell him what had happened. To say I was shook was an understatement. HAHA...don’t take much for me! Anyway, Mark advised me to stand in my stand and calm down. I'm glad he did too. It gave me time to sit and reflect and thank the Lord for the opportunity. Feeling as though my shot was off, I tried to just be thankful for the encounter. When Mark got there the two of us proceeded to the place where I thought the buck was standing. Panic began to set in. This idea of just being thankful for the encounter didn't seem so good. Mark asked me if I was sure the buck wasn't further down the road. He began walked on down the road when I heard him holler, YOU KILLED HIM....YOU KILLED FRANK!!!! Just as expected, I had pulled my shot. The bullet struck the buck in the neck, dropping him instantly.