Rack Report: 180-Inch 'Bama Bow Kill

As northern Alabama resident Andy Cobb settled into his afternoon treestand on the season opener, he couldn't help but think about the many other opening-day deer hunts he has enjoyed over the years. The veteran bowhunter has been chasing Alabama whitetails for nearly 40 years and so needless to say, he has many experiences to reflect upon.

One in particular was a heavy, chocolate-racked 10-pointer he killed in the same area back in 2008. He had watched the buck throughout the summer, and when he finally got the opportunity, he made a perfect double-lung hit. The deer, at 143 inches, was his best to date.

But Andy was jolted from his daydream when he noticed movement, and then a deer, headed his direction.

Like many successful whitetail hunters, Andy starts his season well before the opener. His 30-acre farm is part of a larger 400-acre chunk of ground that has been subdivided among family members over the years. Although he knows the whole property well, he's intimately familiar with his 30 acres of southern whitetail paradise. During spring green-up he scours his property searching for sheds, and he also establishes food plots, creates mineral stations and plants row crops so his deer herd has everything it needs to grow. Numerous trail cameras are scattered throughout his property, and because he lives only a few hundred yards away he's able to see his lush crop field from his back porch. Obviously, Andy has everything any whitetail junky could desire, and when he began seeing one particular buck blossom, he realized that he might have a true gagger on his property come fall.

Andy first noticed the buck in late spring, and it was obvious by the initial mass he was growing that he was going to be a special deer. As spring turned into summer, the buck really began to develop into a true stud, growing an excellent frame, extreme mass and even a dropper on his right main beam. As he developed, Andy affectionately began calling him "the big non-typical."

He watched the buck from his back porch on a regular basis, and during the summer got more than 100 trail camera photos of him. But when early September rolled around, the buck vanished. Andy searched for him daily and soon found him feeding in his neighbor's bean field. For the next few weeks, he would see the big non-typical nearly every day as he drove home from work. Andy had no idea why the buck changed his habits, but when the calendar flipped to October, it began showing back up on his trail cameras once again.

Needless to say, Andy was excited for the season opener. His stand was set up in a funnel that led to a half-acre chicory plot, a large bean field and a water source. For several hours Andy sat there without a hint of deer activity, but shortly after 6 p.m., he glassed movement through a screen of brush. There was a deer headed his direction.

As the deer eased into view, Andy couldn't believe he was seeing the big non-typical. With each step the buck took, Andy's heart surged with adrenalin. The buck walked to his shooting window at 10 yards. Andy pressed his bow into service and squeezed the trigger on his release aid. The hit was perfect, and the big non-typical soon crashed to the ground, flipping head-first onto his side. Andy couldn't believe his good fortune.

The monster buck netted 179 inches and grossed well into the 180s, but when the buck did his death flip, he broke off the 7-inch drop tine, so it was not included in the score. Regardless, Andy killed an exceptional buck, especially for Alabama.

Have a big-buck story you want to share? E-mail us at [email protected].