No doubt Helgie's amazing 38-point Canadian megabuck will have to be panel scored by B&C, but there is no question it will go down in history as one of Alberta's greatest nontypicals of all time.

"'After I saw him raise his head, only one thought went through my mind: I had to get that big guy on the ground."' Thus began the final few dramatic moments of a hunt that took place last November 29 for a Canadian megabuck.

The hunt had actually begun the year before. Helgie Eymundson of Edmonton, Alberta, is an avid whitetail hunter. Bowhunting is his passion, but late in the season, when the temperature in Alberta drops to below zero, he often substitutes a rifle for his bow out of necessity. In 2006, during a bitter, cold afternoon in mid-November, Helgie and his wife, Gail, found themselves braving the elements and watching a remote hayfield some 100 miles north of Edmonton. They were hunting along an old fence line near the field in frigid weather. The temperature was a bone-chilling -22 degrees. Suddenly, a massive nontypical buck appeared with some does several hundred yards out in the field.

"'We were both very cold and very excited,"' Helgie said. "'We each took a shot at the buck, and we both missed. I kept an eye on that field all winter long, but I never saw him again that winter or spring. Later, I put out some trail cameras, but never got a single picture. By the time the '07 season started, I thought something might have happened to him."'

During the early part of the 2007 season, Helgie did a lot of bowhunting in other areas. As the season started winding down, he planned to take off the last week in November to hunt with his cousin Sheldon Bolduc. One afternoon during that last week in November, Sheldon happened by the remote hay field where Helgie had seen the giant buck the year before.

"'He called me and said he'd seen a wide-racked buck in the field at about 500 yards,"' Helgie said. "'I told him I would definitely check it out."'

Helgie found some excellent sign in the area. On the bitterly cold afternoon of Wednesday, Nov. 28, 2007, he tried to put some tree steps in a tree near a rock pile that overlooked the field. However, at -30 degrees, the steps would not go in the tree. Helgie then sat in the rock pile and watched sixteen does and several small bucks until dark.

The next morning, Helgie parked his truck a half-mile away and sneaked up to the edge of the hayfield in the predawn darkness. He could make out the bodies of several deer across the field some 550 yards away. They were only twenty or thirty yards from the very rock pile where he had taken a stand the day before. As the light grew stronger, he could see several deer with their heads down. Suddenly, one of the deer lifted its head, and even at that distance the massive rack that loomed into view was undeniable.

"'It was him,"' Helgie said, "'the buck from last year. The wind was blowing toward the rock pile, and I knew that might be a problem. 'You've got to get him,' I told myself. Here I was, standing some 550 yards from about ten does and one mammoth buck. I knew the deer had to travel some 400 yards up the tree line to get back into the thick timber where they bedded. It was just a matter of time before they started heading back in that direction. I decided to make a big loop around the field and try to intercept them as they were heading back.