A few weeks later, a friend called and told him of a nice 10-pointer --with an identical kicker off its G-2 --that had been killed close to the same area.

Stout was crushed. He gave up on the deer and went on with his hunting season elsewhere, but his heart wasn't really in it.

He came home for Christmas vacation and received an unusual gift on Christmas Day.

That evening, his brother-in-law went outside to burn some garbage. Right down over the bank, two bucks jumped up and ran into the field. He assured Stout it was "the big one" again.

That was enough to convince Stout to put his camera back out. And a few days later, sure enough, the photos showed that the big buck was still out there.

With only the flintlock season left, Stout knew where he would be spending the following day. His dad had that next day off, and they decided to make a push to try to jump the big buck. Stout slipped into the woods at the edge of the property line, while his dad prepared to walk through the thick cover.

Stout gave his dad the OK, and he began the push. About five minutes later, Stout heard his dad getting closer, so he assumed the drive was over.

Suddenly his dad yelled, "Here he comes!"

As the buck jumped into the field Stout quickly cocked the hammer on his flintlock and gave a bleat.

At 15 yards, the big buck stopped and looked directly at Stout, who immediately pulled the trigger.

There was a flash, but no boom!

As the buck ran off, Stout was dejected. He fell to his knees, waited for his dad and explained what happened.

They went back to the house to test-fire the gun. Of course, on the first shot it went off just fine. That was just his luck!

Though Adam Stout was heartbroken, already he was counting the days till next year to try it again.

A LONG WAIT
In the spring, there was very little activity -- no sightings of the buck, and nothing on the new trail camera that Stout had purchased. Then mid-June, when Stout came home from work, his mom greeted him with news that was music to his ears.

"Adam, he's back!"

Stout immediately took his new camera back out to the same ATV trail, got it set up and waited about a week. Within that time, he got photos of the buck and continued to monitor the animal over the next few months.

By July, he realized that two more bumps were developing on the deer's rack, and that coming fall, he would be a giant typical 12-pointer!

As summer rolled on, the camera captured the big buck at all times of the day, walking the trail in and out of the fields. In fact, on August 23, Stout's birthday, he strolled by the camera at noon.