In seconds Folsom was standing over the fallen buck, listening to a December breeze rustling against the South Texas brush as it has done for centuries.

"How many hunters have witnessed ground shrinkage?" he asked. "Well, this one got bigger and bigger as I approached."

With a gross score of 175 6/8 inches and a net score of 171 6/8, the 6 1/2-year-old buck was the top typical archery whitetail reported in the 2004-05 TBGA program!

Something tells me that, with a Boone and Crockett Club certificate now hanging on his wall, Kirk Folsom will make doubly sure that a particular stone arrowhead is in his pocket when he heads into the Brush Country this fall.

GEORGE G. TUCKER
171 1/8, Webb County

With the approach of New Year's Day, 56-year-old Midland hunter George G. Tucker perhaps found himself pondering a few resolutions as he hunted deer in the brush on his ranch in South Texas' Webb Country. Might those have included finding a new spot on the wall to hang a taxidermist's mount of a mega-buck? Because by the time Tucker's late-December hunt ended, the archer would be tagging one of the state's best bow bucks!

"I had seen him cross a sendero with some does (the day before)," Tucker said. "I put up a Double Bull tent blind and covered it with brush, except for the one window that I was shooting out of."

With the wind just right, Tucker climbed into his blind early the next morning. As the cool day unfolded, the form of a familiar whitetail that Tucker had first observed as a 3 1/2-year-old 150-class buck came into view. "He came in with some does and was extremely alert," he recalled.

When the big buck's edgy demeanor had been calmed by the does around him, the bowhunter eased his Mathews LX bow to full draw. The buck closed to within 28 yards. "I was trying to concentrate on him, but my heart was beating pretty good," Tucker said.

At the shot, Tucker knew that he'd got a good hit on the buck, but stayed in the blind for about 30 minutes. "It was a difficult half-hour," he observed.

Finally, the Midland bowhunter began his search for the deer. The blood trail was pretty well played out before he found the deer, so Tucker retreated for a couple of hours before returning with a tracking dog. It didn't take long before the canine had recovered his bow buck of a lifetime at a distance of 200 yards.

"He just kept getting bigger and bigger, and I was pretty excited," Tucker said. "When I got the antlers in my hands, I realized that he was bigger than what I thought, and that he was going to score pretty good."

"Pretty good," indeed! The rack had a typical gross score of 178 2/8 inches and a net score of 171 1/8, making it the No. 2 typical archery buck reported to TBGA last year.

JASON ALLEY
174 0/8, Tom Green County

While South Texas produces its fair share of Muy Grande headliners every year, the truth is that big-buck lightning can strike just about anywhere in the Lone Star State.

Buoyed by such knowledge, 26-year-old Bastrop archer Jason Alley had plenty of reasons for optimism when he climbed into a tripod stand on his Tom Green County lease last October. Unfortunately, the distant flash of lighting and roll of thunder threatened his evening hunt.

Finally, with legal hunting time winding down and the threat of rain on the horizon, Alley decided to call it a day. As he turned in his seat, however, the sight of a huge whitetail approaching at 60 yards caused him to abandon any such thoughts.