Ball remembered a conversation he had with Moss earlier in the hunt.

"I was just joking with him and I told him I wanted a bull over 400 and he just laughed and said, 'Yeah, so does everybody else,' " Ball said. "Doyle came through. He always does. I would have been happy with whatever. It was my first bull and it was awesome."

The bull ended up scoring 408 gross Boone and Crockett points and 401 net. It missed the Utah state typical record by just 1 1/2 inches.

A CLOSE-UP VIEW
Moss said the bull's antlers were deceptive.

"The bull had 59-inch beams and one of his royals was 22 inches long with 30 inches of mass. His thirds were 21 inches long," Moss said. "The main thing is the beam length. He was gaining 20 inches over other bulls there."

Moss, like Ball, was not positive what they were shooting at, but he had seen enough to know it was the bull to go after. "I didn't get a good look when they were fighting, but I knew he was an awesome, awesome bull," Moss said. "It wasn't until we walked up to him that I realized just how big he was."

Moss, who guided a Utah resident to the state record non-typical bull -- 412 net B&C points -- in 2002, said he had been hearing rumors about the big racks on the Boulder Unit.

"I was excited, but not really surprised," he said. "That area has the genetics and mass."

Back on the mountain excitement reigned supreme. Ball passed around his cell phone. Doyle went first and called his wife. Then it was Ball's turn to tell Angie that he had finally unwrapped his birthday gift.

"I told her my part was easy, well sort of, and that she had done the real hard part. She saved and saved and saved to get the money," he said. "I thanked her for the opportunity and told her it was the best present I could ever get."

In retrospect, Ball says he would only have paid the price they did to spend time with Moss.

"I wouldn't have done it if she had bought the hunt with anyone other than Doyle," Ball said. "He knows animals and the land. Sometimes you go hunting with a guide and there is something you don't like about the trip. I've never had that happen with Doyle. I pretty much like everything about him and his guides. He has become a good friend."

The hunt was special one for Moss as well.

"Larry just wanted a bull and that was great. I love to see guys who just really enjoy the mountains and the experience and appreciate the animal more than those who just wonder what it will end up scoring," he said. "Larry is one of those guys that it takes a while for it to sink in what they have done. It is nice for the guide to have higher expectations than the hunter. There is no greater feeling than being able to be a part of taking a really neat animal with hunters like that. It just makes it all the more rewarding."

When Ball's feet and wallet recuperate he says it is likely the only person he will hunt with again is Moss.

"I've got some things going on that will probably keep me from hunting for a while, but when I do it will be with Doyle and we will be going after a big mule deer buck," he said.

If you are wondering what Larry Ball did to deserve such a gift from his wife the answer will probably just be that he is a great man with a strong passion for hunting. Then again there was the time he surprised his wife with more than 100 family members and friends on her 40th birthday.

"I had her believing that I was having some things done around the house and we spent the night in a motel," he said. "I told her I didn't want her to see it so I had a sheet over her head as we walked through all the people. It was pretty neat."

FOR YOUR INFORMATION
Video footage of Larry Ball's No. 2 typical bull can be seen in "MossBack Bulls Gone Wild: Volume 1" and can be purchased at http://mossbackfever.com.