By Nicholas J. Kopp

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 If anyone ever wanted to know what a “perfect hunt” looks like, this was it.

The story begins with my dad and me driving a couple of hours from our home state of Kentucky to our good friend Sean’s farm in Indiana. Over the years, our families have built a great relationship, often sharing hunts on our farm in Kentucky as well as his in Indiana. This time, we were heading down hoping to harvest a big Hoosier buck during the rut. I was 15. On the opening morning of rifle season, my dad and I climbed into the shooting house with great optimism. In the past, we had seen and killed some really nice bucks on this farm. As soon as the sun began to rise, the deer started moving. Within the first hour, we had already seen double digits. Several smaller bucks were chasing does, and others were cruising, looking for a hot doe. We were excited. Suddenly, a single doe came sprinting out of the woods to our left and ran full speed across the power line we were overlooking. Instinctively, I knew something was chasing her. Right then, a massive buck, moving just as fast, came flying out right behind her. I yelled at him, trying to get him to stop. This was no doubt a shooter.

After the third or fourth call, they both finally stopped about halfway into the clearing. My adrenaline was so high, and I was panicking. I figured I had to fire quickly or they’d be gone forever. In a rush, I fired a shot—and missed. Quickly, I loaded another bullet and fired again as they just stood there, confused. This time, he hunched up a little. As he took a few more steps, I fired a third time. After that final shot, the buck was nowhere to be seen.

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My dad, who was right next to me watching through binoculars, said he thought the buck went down but couldn’t tell for sure. I was elated. I had never reacted like that before. I began jumping up and down, screaming and yelling uncontrollably. After a few minutes, we decided to look for blood. Our search began, but we found nothing. The grass was tall, and the ground was uneven. Doubt started creeping in. Maybe I’d missed altogether. Then suddenly, I caught a glimpse of what appeared to be the beast. It was! There he was on the ground.

I couldn’t believe my eyes. I had never seen anything like him before. At that moment, we knew he was big, but it never crossed our minds that he could be this big. Even though neither of us had ever seen a deer close to 200 inches, this surely looked like one. After calling everyone and celebrating, we went home the next day with smiles on our faces. This will truly be one of the most unforgettable moments of my life. 

The Future of Fair Chase 

We know that the future of conservation rests squarely on the shoulders of tomorrow’s hunters. That’s why we’re celebrating the stories of our youth hunters in this section called The Future of Fair Chase. Many of these stories are plucked straight from the pages of our 32nd Big Game Awards Book. Other stories have been submitted by young hunters, who are rightfully proud of their achievement. If you are a young hunter or know a young hunter who might like to submit a story, please email it to [email protected].