Tim Grigsby’s amazing typical crossbow buck has G2s over 11 inches long and a final score of 180 2/8. Photo courtesy of Tim Grigsby.

Tim Grigsby didn't know it at the time, but a knock on the door by a neighbor running for local office would result in the buck of lifetime -- and perhaps the largest typical whitetail taken with a crossbow during Ohio's '07 archery season.

The state's crossbow season continues to yield big results for deer hunters. In 1976, the Ohio Division of Wildlife first allowed crossbow use during the statewide muzzleloader season. But not until 1984 were crossbows incorporated into the general archery season.

The popularity of crossbows has grown among Ohio hunters. In 1989, crossbows took over the lead from vertical bows (longbows, recurves, compounds) in the number of deer harvested during the state's archery season. That trend continues in the state today, with an average of 55 percent crossbow to 45 percent vertical bow out of the total archery kill.

Given that popularity and Ohio's penchant for producing record-book bucks, it's no wonder many of Ohio's giant whitetails are taken by hunters using the horizontal bow.

Here's a look at one of the Buckeye State's top bucks taken with a crossbow in 2007.

Tim Grigsby had previously always hunted leased land in Pike County. But due to a turn of events, he didn't renew his share of the lease and decided to hunt locally in Preble County.

"I deer hunt ever year, but I work at GM and don't get to hunt every weekend," Tim said. "I try to take a week off during the rut and then take a couple of days off during gun season. I'd been hunting on lease land in Pike County, but got switched to day shift and didn't have any time off, so I didn't rejoin the lease this year."

That turned out to be a good move for Grigsby! A record-book buck was just waiting down the road.

Tim is no stranger to deer hunting. He has been hunting since he was 14 years old and has over a dozen deer to his credit.

"This is the first time I hunted locally," said Tim. "I've driven by this farm for the past 12 years, thinking it would be a great place to hunt, but never did stop and ask. So this year, knowing I would be hunting close to home, I stopped by three times to ask for permission. But the landowner was never home.

"Then he knocked on my door one day because he was running for trustee. So I asked him if I could hunt, and he said yes.

"I traded a vote for a hunt. I couldn't have planned it any better."

By the time he received permission to hunt, it was late October. So the next day, Tim did a quick scouting trip and then went hunting on the day following.

"I found a place I thought would be a good spot and hunted there three days," he recalled. "The second day, three guys come out on horseback and rode right under my tree stand. I never saw a deer."

Tim was laid off temporarily, but got called back to work at GM in Dayton and didn't get to hunt again until Nov. 9.

"That Friday, I got home at 4:00 in the afternoon. I grabbed my stuff and went over to the farm where I was hunting," he said. "When I got there, somebody was parked where I usually park, so I couldn't go in to where I had been setting up my climber."

Tim then drove around to the other side of the farm and parked in an open pasture field. "And I went to a place I had never hunted before."

That late afternoon was windy and cloudy, he recalls, with gusts of wind blowing in all directions.

"I just left my climber in the truck and went in on foot," he said. "The area is thick dried-up creek bottom, grown up in saplings and honeysuckle, with some old trails where the owner used to let 4-wheelers ride."

Tim hiked about 150 yards into the thicket following an old 4-wheeler trail to a steep hill. He found a spot to sit about 30 yards on the hillside behind a big tree. He watched the old 4-wheel trail because it offered his only clear shot.