: Chad Hartman stands by the mount of his trophy 10-point typical from Koscuisko County. His big buck scores a fine 175 6/8 and was taken during last year's bow season Photo by Dean Weimer.

All great stories involve a great setting, and the setting where this one takes place is darn near as interesting as the actual story itself. In the midst of Kosciusko County is the city of Warsaw, also referred to as "Lake City." Winona Lake, just south and east of Warsaw, is actually more than just a lake, it is also a small town. While two distinctly different cities, these two have all but merged into one larger city.

With a population of just over 17,000 combined, you can't really call this a "big-city" situation, but Winona Lake could be considered a suburb of its bigger sister to the northwest. Like many other areas of suburbia, subdivisions have popped up all around the lake

Nestled in between, adjacent to, and intermixed with all the new housing is enough timber and brush to attract and hold a fairly large herd of whitetails, known as one of the most adaptable of all woodland creatures.

While bowhunting is not allowed inside of Warsaw's city limits, it is allowed inside of Winona Lake. It is this phenomenon that sets the stage for a world-class bowhunt for 34-year-old Chad Hartman, who actually lives on Winona Lake in Warsaw.

Hartman got a tip from a co-worker about this huge deer he called "Big Boy" that he had seen around his property. After seeing the somewhat blurry pictures of this giant framed typical, Hartman knew that he was looking at a special buck and was ecstatic at the chance of possibly getting a shot at him. After garnering permission to set up a deer stand and hunt on his friend's property, Hartman realized that he had a golden opportunity.

Soon after the serious planning began, the hunter got down to business. "I researched topographical maps, scouted where the does were bedding, and deer traveling routes, etc. I knew it was only 2 1/2 acres, but doing this does help; this also adds excitement, builds anticipation, and makes me feel much better about my hunting abilities when everything comes together as a plan. This is by far the biggest buck I had ever seen in the wild."

Hartman initially decided to wait for the rut to near before he would try to harvest Big Boy, but after hanging his stand on the day before the bow opener, he decided to try his new spot the next morning.

Legal light finally arrived that morning and Hartman started to see deer -- plenty of deer. "Doe after doe walked by my stand. They walked 50 yards past me and lay down. For the next hour nothing else but does came along and not one deer winded me. I realized then that my first plan to hunt when the rut kicked in was the one I needed to stick with."

Hartman then opted to hunt his grandpa's place until the rut would warm up a few weeks later.

"I ended up hunting Grandpa's and was making the half-hour drive every morning to Fulton County. I would sit there and daydream about Big Boy. There were two nice bucks at Grandpa's that would score between 140 and 150, both were terrific deer, but I knew I would have to pass on them. I knew I'd get my shot at Big Boy if I was patient," he explained.

The end of October arrived and he began to notice that bucks were grunting, and searching for does in his Fulton County spot. After three straight days of watching bucks become more active, all the while becoming more careless, he knew it was time.

He awoke on the morning of Oct. 27 at 5 a.m., and made the five-minute drive to his friend's property across the lake. "You could smell the cool, crisp air that any deer hunter strives for. I hurried and got my clothing on and headed into the woods. I got in position in the tree stand with ample time before daylight. I had only been there a few minutes and deer were already moving around," he recalls.