The 25-year veteran of Edward Jones Co., for whom he acts as a financial advisor, was born and raised in Siloam Springs, in the northwest corner of the state. He is a relative latecomer to deer hunting, having taken it up “seriously” only about 15 years ago.

A week before opening day of the 2007-08 modern gun season, Harp drove onto the “back side” of his 50-acre property to pick up his son, Jeremy, who was bowhunting there. As he skirted a large thicket, a large buck ran across the road ahead of him.

“I didn’t stop,” Harp recalls, “but after I picked up Jeremy, we were coming back out and the same buck was standing there alongside a fence row. He had a doe with him and we couldn’t tell how many points he had since her was facing us, but he was big!”

On opening morning of the modern gun season, Harp was sitting in a tripod stand in that same general area, holding his Browning BAR.

“I had originally planned on hunting with my muzzleloader,” he said, “I’ve never taken a deer with it. But I couldn’t find my sabots, so at the last minute I decided to carry my rifle.

“Jeremy was bowhunting northeast of me, and a friend, David Pitner, was blackpowder hunting on the other side of him. I actually heard David’s truck as I walked in before daylight.”

It was a beautiful day, the sky clear and temperature in the 40s as dawn approached. About 6:30 a.m., Harp caught movement out of the corner of his eye and watched as a doe stepped into the edge of the field. She seemed nervous, so he slowly shifted his rifle in that direction.

“Sure enough, the same buck we had seen before came out behind her,” Harp explained. “I had my gun ready, but they were moving straight in the direction where Jeremy was hunting, so I held off. As they crossed the field, the doe would run in circles, with the buck right behind her. Some of the circles were 50 yards or so. Others were much smaller, and there were times the buck’s antlers actually seemed to touch the ground as he chased her!”

When the duo was about 60 yards from Jeremy’s stand, the doe suddenly turned and ran back toward Harp, the buck right behind her.

“I saw him coming and got my rifle up,” Harp recalled, “then shot when he was about 60 yards away. Through the scope I saw blood shoot out of his neck when I shot, and then he stopped and just laid down!”

The Benton County rack outwardly looks typical, but a long drop tine on the left side and several abnormal points dictate that it be scored as a non-typical. At the Arkansas Big Buck Classic in Little Rock, it was given an official total of 195 1/8, making Harp’s buck eligible for the B&C all-time record book. It will be the first buck from Benton County to make that prestigious list.

This nice guy didn’t finish last!

BULL BY THE HORNS
Unofficially, 2007 was the “year of the crossbow” in the Natural State. In addition to B&C bucks taken by Ruger Estes and Greg McKnight, a third potential B&C crossbow buck was taken by 46-year-old Tommy Bull of Aplin about 10 miles southwest of Perryville in Perry County.

Bull, who works for Tim Hubbard Logging, spends nearly all of his time in the woods. In addition to his job, he hunts, fishes and traps, all pastimes that let him see nature up close and personal.