After several years of delay, Randy Coffey's big bow-killed non-typical now sits atop all Alabama record lists. Photo by Zack Glover.

Knowing that I'm a regular font of information when it comes to Alabama's most bodacious deer, an antler collector called the other day to inquire about our state record non-typical.

"Gun or bow?" I asked.

"The biggest," he responded.

"Depends on who you ask."

"I'm asking you."

"Well, it's not a cut-and-dried situation," I sighed. I went on to explain that, depending on which of three standards you apply, three different bucks could claim top honors. Thus, the Boone and Crockett Club recognizes as biggest the 259 7/8-inch Perry County whitetail that Jon Moss killed in 1989, while the homegrown Alabama Whitetail Records goes with the 1956 buck shot by the late David Melton, which carried 310 inches of antlers without deductions for imperfect symmetry. And Buckmasters -- whose scoring system is similar to a B&C gross score without the inside spread added -- designates as best Danny Forrer's 1994 Bullock County buck, which tallied 247 points.

"So which is the biggest?" the collector pressed.

"Take your pick," I suggested.

"OK: What about a bow kill?" he persisted. "The biggest taken by bow."

"Oh! That's easy."

The answer is: Randy Coffey's buck from the year 2000. And that holds true regardless of the yardstick used!

Randy has had to wait a while to get his full due, but his name is now etched in each of the three record books, all of which unreservedly accept his Lawrence County deer as a new Alabama state-record non-typical. You can also add to that list the Pope & Young Club list, which deals strictly with bowkilled deer.

The net P&Y score is 222 4/8. In the Alabama Whitetail Records, the 27-pointer is listed as boasting 231 5/8 inches of antler (again, that's without deductions for asymmetry). And the buck's photo is on the cover of the most recent edition! Buckmasters lists the score as 206 6/8, even without an inside spread measurement.

It's clear-cut: The whitetail with the "bloomin' onion" rack has no equal among Alabama bow bucks.

I've actually hunted with Randy Coffey, and you'd be hard-pressed to find a nicer guy. And very few people know as much as he does now about the deer hunting inside the Bankhead National Forest -- information, incidentally, that he generously and enthusiastically shares. In fact, the state ought to hire him as a tourism ambassador. Not only did he come forward with the details behind the public-land hunt that resulted in his state record, but he also managed to assemble a half-dozen other guys with splendid Bankhead bucks for a group photo.

A lot of hunters would be far less willing to have the spotlight cast on their hunting grounds, especially since that property is open to all comers. Randy, however, wants the national forest and, specifically, the Black Warrior Wildlife Management Area within it to get the attention that they deserve. That said, here's the man's story.

LEMONADE FROM LEMONS
When Randy learned that his employer, a north Alabama paper mill, was shutting down his department -- meaning, basically, that he was out of a job until the company could find another place for him -- he had to stifle a smile: The "temporary" pink slip was delivered on the eve of Alabama's 2000 deer season. Career anxiety aside, it would be the first time in more than a decade that Randy could hunt to his heart's content!

An old adage comes to mind here: When life gives you lemons, make lemonade. And that's how the guy from Moulton wound up in a tree stand inside Black Warrior WMA -- in the heart of the 180,000-acre Bankhead National Forest -- on Tuesday, Dec. 12.

As do many hunters in Lawrence and Winston counties, Randy regards Bankhead NF as a personal playground. The forest might well offer the most diverse habitat of any piece of public ground in the Heart of Dixie, harboring vast tracts of mature hardwoods and pine and dissected by numerous well-maintained roads and horse trails.

The place is a hunter's paradise, offering easy access for both for those who don't want to stray far from a road and for people who want to hike deeper into the wilderness by following the long ridges. The hardwoods offer deer a virtual all-you-can-eat mast buffet; the interspersed pine plantations are perfect cover. And the many gorges and creek bottoms, liberally adorned with Bankhead's famed waterfalls, are choked with honeysuckle. Finally, there's a different breed of deer dwelling within this forest -- literally.