This deer, Minnesota’s top non­typ­i­cal at 268 ⁵⁄₈, was felled by Mitch Vakoch in 1974. It grossed 295 ⁶⁄₈, and fea­tures a large drop tine on the right beam. Vakoch was 17 years old and it was his first buck kill. He was on a fam­i­ly and friends par­ty dri­ve between Thief Riv­er Falls and Ada. “They weren’t hav­ing much luck, and they had decid­ed they would do one last dri­ve of the day,” Nola Lebrecht said.

Moments before he fired with his 12-gauge shot­gun, anoth­er hunter in the par­ty had tak­en a shot, caus­ing the deer to flee direct­ly in the direc­tion on Vakoch. “It’s hard to top that,” she said.