"Fortunately, drawing my bow had a calming effect. It forced me to focus on the familiar routine of aiming to make an accurate shot. I aimed for the heart and released. My arrow hit a little high, but I knew I still made a good shot."

The fact that the buck was down within 80 feet confirmed the arrow was well placed. The distance the arrowed whitetail traveled after the hit was reduced, no doubt, because it slammed into the fence it walked around moments earlier. The force of the whitetail hitting the fence broke four posts off at ground level.

Flanery said she had feelings of shock and disbelief about what happened after it was over. She shot the buck with a 45-pound pull Hoyt Sport Rebel XT bow that has a 65 percent let-off at full draw. She was shooting aluminum arrows tipped with four-blade, 90-grain Wasp broadheads. Her bow is fitted with one sight pin set for 35 yards. She shoots her bow with bare fingers, not using a glove or tab.

The buck was 4 1/2 or 5 1/2 years old. After shooting the deer, Flanery talked to someone who has trail camera photos of the buck over a three-year period -- 2004 through 2006. But what many people don't realize, is the buck Flanery shot was the smaller of the two she heard sparring.

The one she didn't get is the one she thought was a big buck, although the one she ended up shooting proved to be bigger than she thought it was. The Flanery buck is a mainframe 10-point, with three sticker points more than an inch long on the bases of the antlers.

"The mainframe on the buck my deer was sparring with was at least a 10 like the one I got," Flanery wrote, "but it was much bigger, wider and taller. It was definitely bigger."

It's clear from Flanery's description that the second buck most likely had antlers large enough to qualify for all-time listing in Boone and Crockett Records. Since her whitetail scored in the 180s, it's safe to conclude the other deer would have measured at least in the 190s.

Flanery said the feeling of taking a buck of the caliber she did is like winning the lottery. She also had a hard time believing the antlers were of state-record proportions when CBM's Lonnie Buck measured them. "A lot of people hunt all their lives and may never get the opportunity I got that morning," Flanery wrote, "but it just goes to show you that you never know when a chance and luck may happen. Hunting is relaxing as well as exciting and a great gift. Just seeing the woods come to life in the morning and anticipating what could come by you are a couple of the reasons I hunt."

She hopes her story motivates other women to try deer hunting.