After a few minutes, I realized he was looking at something on the ground. I slowly turned to look in front of my stand, and there - standing at 15 yards - was the biggest deer I've ever seen in the woods. The huge buck was focused on the 8-point, and I wondered if each buck thought the other had done the grunting I'd been doing. Knowing I didn't have much time, I brought my Excalibur crossbow to my shoulder and settled the scope's crosshairs on the big buck's shoulder. The bolt struck right where I had aimed, and the massive 9-point ran downhill and out of sight. The 230-pound buck was too heavy for me to drag out of the woods on my own. And its rack was officially scored at 135 inches, placing it into the Pennsylvania Big Game Records book. Did I finally bag the 3-D Buck? I think I did, but I'll have to wait and see if my archery target is still standing when the rut's over to be sure. NOVEMBER 2017 23