But the adventure was really just beginning for the little band -- because they really weren't prepared for the reception the bucks would get.

Few people they encountered afterwards could believe the incredible story of such young twin brothers both getting 8-pointers on the same morning -- and on opening day, no less! It became something of a "shock-and-awe" type of show.

The biologist at the check station was the first person that they wowed. Cade's deer was unloaded first, and the professional outdoorsman manning the station pointed out appreciatively that the 8-pointer was really a great buck for Skyline. Aged at 2 1/2 years old and weighing 108 pounds field-dressed, the animal boasted a 15-inch spread.

And then they pulled Cord's buck out of the truck. The biologist's jaw really dropped when he laid eyes on the 4 1/2-year-old buck. Weighing 134 pounds field-dressed, its spread taped to 19 inches!

More and more people got a good look at the two deer, and heard the tale -- and all were more or less incredulous that a pair of 9-year-old twin brothers had really taken those bucks. Even Edwin and Rick's other brother, Andy, ragged them about it. "I think something is up," was his comment when he saw his nephews' kills for the first time.

Rick swears that everything happened just as Edwin and he reported -- though he admits to having trouble believing it himself sometimes. "I told them to pinch me on the drive home," he offered, grinning, "because it felt like I was dreaming."

"We could hunt another 20 years and never do this again," Edwin added. "Luck played a big role in it."

By noon of opening day, the Masons were back at their home on the outskirts of Guntersville, where a gang of hunters had gathered in the yard to marvel at the whitetails and to be regaled with the account of their taking.

This was the third whitetail for Cade, who's been crazy about hunting since he was old enough to walk. He'd shot one deer during the previous season, and killed a spike on the special youth-only hunt at Skyline a week earlier in about the same place as the two trophies were taken.

On the other hand, Cord had never shown a great deal of interest in hunting until right before the start of last season, and the 19-inch 8-pointer was his first deer ever. "I told him he might have a hard time ever getting one bigger," Rick said. "I don't know if there's much left in our spot now.

"I couldn't have been prouder of the boys -- it was just so unbelievable. I was more tickled than I've ever been with any deer I've ever killed."

The happy outcome of the Skyline hunt really lit a fire under the twins, who are planning on building on the adventure this year by camping out at the WMA the day before the hunt starts. "It will be hard to top last season," Rick noted. "But you can sure bet we're going to be trying this year."