"I knew that was my chance," said Jacob, "so I got my gun up and took careful aim." Squeezing the trigger on his Remington 870 slug gun, he took the shot. "I think I was on the ground before the deer was," exclaimed Jacob. At this point Jacob had no idea what kind of trophy he had taken.

Nathan met Jacob at the halfway point to where the deer fell. The brothers hustled up to the deer together and shared the excitement, because they knew this was a once-in-a-lifetime buck. It wasn't until Jacob put his hands on it did he realize that it was indeed Booner.

The three reminisced about finding the sheds, and of how much fun and a challenge it had been.

After tagging and loading the deer, Jacob drove into town to the local gas station to register the buck. "Adam is my neighbor and lives right near the gas station," said Jacob, "and I wanted to go over and surprise him with the good news." Adam answered the door and Jacob said he had a deer over at the station. Adam grabbed his coat and was out the door. As the two walked toward the station, Jacob gave in and broke the news. "I shot the biggest deer I have ever seen," exclaimed Jacob. "I think it's Booner!" The rest of the distance to the truck wasn't a walk, but a run, to inspect the trophy. After a quick inspection, Adam knew that it was Booner. Kale met Adam and Jacob at Jacob's parents place around 10 a.m. He had received a phone call from Adam saying that Jacob had killed Booner. The three began to analyze the rack.

As a 7 1/2-year-old, Booner was now a 6x5 with small sticker points on each main beam. His official gross green score was 214 3/8, and the net was 184 0/8 typical inches, making it No. 4 in the Minnesota Deer Classic Record Book, Fifth Edition's "typical, archery" category. A large amount of inches lost resulted from the deer not growing a sixth point on its right side. If that tine would have grown, the rack could have surpassed the John Breen buck from 1918 at 202 0/8 inches.

Jacob retold the story of the hunt and about the events leading up to him harvesting Booner. "Without the quick thinking of my brother Nathan, he would still be out there," said Jacob, "and I wouldn't have had my deer by 7 a.m.!"

"It's gratifying to see one of my friends harvest Booner, since we had put so much time into searching for his sheds and looking for him throughout the year," explained Kale. "I'm just glad to have been a part of it!"