Hopper’s buck has one interesting rack with exceptionally long G-1 and G-2 tines, as well as an outside spread of 26 3/8 inches, plus two drop tines. It all adds up to a fine non-typical that scores 202 7/8. Photo by Dean Weimer.

Plainfield’s Greg Hopper has a unique and very important occupation, especially in times of war. He and his crew use a special sandblasting technique on the nation’s aircraft carriers. After stripping the old material from the landing and takeoff surfaces, they then apply a new coating of specialty paint.

He ends up traveling all over the country for his job, which is second nature to Hopper, so he doesn’t mind the fact that he has to travel from Hendricks County to Jennings County to do the majority of his deer hunting when at home in Hoosierland.

Most weekends find Hopper, and his brother, Clifton, meeting up for some deer hunting. They’d have it no other way. They have enjoyed deer hunting together for many years and have shared many successes together as well. However, they had no way of knowing that the ultimate success would greet them during the 2006 deer season. They would soon discover that a special buck inhabited their hunting area, and thus set the stage for an excellent hunt.

After the hunting duo finished bowhunting in their Jennings County hunting area on Tuesday morning, Nov. 14, they decided to take a drive to the far side of the property to have a look around. The rut was in full swing and they thought it beneficial to get in a bit of scouting time to see if they could locate some recent activity.

“We decided to do a little scouting. We got back to the backside of the area we call the Trash Pile. As soon as we got back there, my brother shouted ‘Deer!’ ” Hopper said.

The two hunters scrambled to put their binoculars up to their eyes to get a better look at the duo standing some distance away from their truck. “There stood a doe and a buck. She then bolted across the field and he bolted right behind here.”

Hopper vividly recalls seeing the buck’s huge drop tine (he only noticed the longer one at first) and rack lunging up and down with every bound. The huge, wide rack sprinting away from him left an indelible impression on his mind that he’ll never forget. Naturally, both hunters thought they’d like to harvest such an incredible specimen.

“That’s the first time we’d actually seen him,” Hopper recalled. “We might have seen that buck down there before, but that is the first time that we’d gotten to see him together. The deer all ran over the hill and were gone for that day. At that point, we knew we had a big one. We’d seen some big rubs on some cedar trees in the area.”

Hopper decided to make a move on the property that would allow him to take advantage of the rutting activity they’d just witnessed. “My brother had been hunting back near that area, and I’d been hunting near the front of it. After that, I decided I’d spend the rest of the week (the final week of the early archery season) back there,” he said.

Although Hopper had moved to this new locale, he never again laid eyes on the brute buck that last week of bow season. “We did see a good buck later on that week, but it wasn’t as big as the big one. We couldn’t get a shot at him though.”

Finally, the opening weekend of firearms season arrived. Hopper continued to hunt the backside of the property on opening weekend without sighting a single deer, let alone the trophy buck. Clifton had seen only antlerless deer on both Saturday and Sunday. Then on Monday morning, the two brothers woke up and discovered a nice surprise.