After taking a few moments to let it all sink in, Justin gave thanks to the Creator for a great hunt, tagged the buck, dragged it to the creekbank and field-dressed the deer.

Then reality set in. He had to find a way to get the mature buck up out of the creek bottom and back to his vehicle.

After being officially scored by the Ohio Big Bucks Club, Metzner’s trophy ranks as the second-largest buck taken by a bowhunter in Ohio.

Justin went in a search of Jeremy, and found him on the edge of the field he was hunting. Jeremy had shot a 4-point buck and was just tagging it.

Now each hunter had a deer on the ground! They contacted the landowner, who let them use his tractor to haul the bucks back to their vehicle -- Justin’s wife’s compact car!

Finally on the road, the hunters stopped at some check stations, only to find they had all closed. In his frustration, Justin called his brother Bill for advice on checking in their bucks.

Bill told Justin to relax: After church tomorrow, they’d go check the deer in. (Ohio hunters must tag their deer within 24 hours of the kill.)

After being officially scored by the Ohio Big Bucks Club, Metzner’s trophy ranks as the second-largest buck taken by a bowhunter in Ohio.

It is also the fifth-largest deer taken in the world, according to Pope and Young records.

The rack has a total of 12 main points, with just 4 1/8 inches of deductions.

Its inside spread is 19 5/8 inches, and the longest tine is 15 6/8 inches long.

Its gross score was 206 5/8, and its net score is 196 6/8.

A few weeks after that hunt, Justin and his brother, Chad, hunted in Indiana during the gun season and Justin took a nice 130-class buck.

Hats off to Justin’s dad and brothers for doing such a good job of teaching him to hunt and to be a woodsman!

This young man has a lot of skill, and with a little luck on his side, who knows what may happen this season?

I don’t know about you, but this writer is getting hungry for a bowl of my own Hunter’s Soup!