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You won't see many better seven-pointers than this beauty Jack Bryant killed on the opening day of the early muzzleloader season in Bedford County.

Those G-2s don't just look tall, they are tall, measuring over 13 inches. The buck's inside spread is about 20 inches.

Jack said his buddies are encouraging him to take this buck to the Virginia Big Game Contest next September. I hope he does because I'm really looking forward to seeing it in person.

I suspect it will be among the highest-scoring seven-pointers, if not the top one, at the contest. The thing is, because of the way that contest is set up, this deer will have a tough time winning its class because it will be in the category for seven- and eight-pointers. Even though the tines are long, it's just hard to make up for that "missing" eighth point, especially in the ultra-competetive muzzleloader class.

Unfortunately those rules sometimes prompt less-than-ethical actions. A few years ago at the contest one of the winning bucks won only because the hunter knocked off a short sticker point so the deer would be in the 7/8 class and not the 9/10/11 class. I know it happened because I saw pictures of the deer while the sticker was still there.

But, like I tell people who wonder how their deer will place, plaques and ribbons are nice but that's not what it's about. It's about sharing successes and letting others enjoy the trophies. Every year the Big Game Contest features deer that have people saying "Wow" but that don't win their category because of the way the contest is set up. This is definately a WOW buck.