After waiting a few minutes, Watkins walked up to within 75 yards of the buck. The supposed "dead" deer leapt to its feet and charged the frightened bowman. Watkins turned to run toward a small tree -- the only one in the vicinity -- but heard the buck collapse a few yards behind him. Shaken, but supercharged with adrenaline, Watkins carefully approached his buck again.

The buck, now expired, was a perfectly symmetric 10-pointer with a spread of more than 24 inches, the tines long, perfect -- truly a trophy of a lifetime. The buck rates as the largest typical ever taken in McCurtain County, and ranks as the third-largest archery typical in Cy Curtis records.

Another notable whitetail was taken in LeFlore County by Destiny Kitchens. While hunting with her husband on opening day, Destiny noticed movement in the woods that turned out to be a big buck. Kitchens steadied her rifle and shot, fatally wounding the buck, which collapsed after running a few yards. The buck had a perfect 8-point typical rack that boasted good mass and spanned nearly 22 inches between the main beams. It later scored near 160 inches.

TOP NON-TYPICALS OF 2006
The top non-typical taken last season was a 218-inch bruiser killed by Mark Hanaway in Oklahoma County. The 24-point giant was living near Oklahoma City on a small tract of land bordering a busy highway. Hanaway took advantage of an afternoon hunting opportunity when he finishing his chores early. He grabbed his trusty muzzleloader and heading to the field with his wife Wendy at his side.

In hopes of taking a nice 10-point buck that the couple had seen earlier, the Hanaways settled in. Soon they noticed some does and a buck heading their way, but from behind their stand. Two does walked directly under the Hanaways' doublewide hunting location, but the buck took a different path and emerged 30 yards away. Hanaway, ready at the moment of truth, fired a perfect shot to drop the buck on the spot.

When the Hanaways approached their trophy, they got a pleasant surprise -- the 10-point buck they thought they'd taken had several more points. "I was totally speechless," Hanaway remembered. "The buck had 24 points and was much larger than I had ever imagined."

That's the kind of surprise a lot of Sooner deer hunters will be looking for this season. Let's hope one of them is you!

Find more about Oklahoma fishing and hunting at: OklahomaGameandFish.com