Jerry Crawford’s long quest for his backyard buck finally yielded this beast. The buck’s rack had 17 scorable points and under the B&C system grossed 175 1/8. Photo courtesy of Jerry Crawford.

Jerry Crawford has traveled halfway around the world to pursue a wide variety of fish, fowl and furred critters, the evidence of which is represented by more than a hundred mounted specimens that cover the walls of his south Nashville home.

But this story began July 2007, when the retired financial planner first laid eyes on the buck of a lifetime -- and he didn't have to travel to see it: The buck was in his own back yard in Brentwood. His self-proclaimed obsession with the big non-typical would continue for more than four months and account for 190 hunting hours in his stands. Calling on his hunting experience alone wouldn't be enough.

"I had people at church praying for me," he confessed. "Every Sunday and Wednesday night my friends at church would ask if I got him yet." During his many hours on stand, he read the entire New Testament and started on the Old Testament of the Bible. In his quest for a once-in-a-lifetime buck, Crawford called on all his luck, experience and welcomed a little Divine Intervention, too.

During the four-month period, Crawford took several photos of the buck.

"I first saw the big buck July 25 and took his photograph while he was still in velvet," he said. "I told my wife, Janice, wouldn't it be something if that buck stayed around until hunting season." When he placed a digital trail camera in his back yard and got 40 photos of the buck the first night, it just fueled his enthusiasm. The buck hung around for more than a week but vanished just as quickly as he first appeared.

About a week before the late September archery season opener, the buck reappeared. "I became obsessed with hunting this buck," Crawford said. "I have a couple of red oaks on my place and they were loaded with acorns, and that's where I saw him the evening before the bow season opened."

But during a final practice session with his Excalibur crossbow on the eve of the bow season, a limb cracked, putting the bow out of commission.

"I had to sight the new bow in at 10:30 that night," he recalled.

Crawford's location is ideal for intersecting the travels of a mature buck. In addition to his three acres, he has permission to hunt his neighbor's adjoining woods, too. The small five- to 10-acre parcels connect with a larger 100-plus-acre wooded area. Across the road from his house are more small wood lots and brushy fields that connect to a large wooded ridge that offers more ideal habitat. For a big buck, the suburban setting offers little hunting pressure combined with ample food sources, good soils and escape cover, which is one of the reasons Davidson and Williamson counties have produced a high number of Tennessee Deer Registry bucks over the past several seasons.

Dawn was still a few minutes away as Crawford donned his camo, sprayed down with scent killer and walked 100 yards to his stand.