Kip Fowler's 2007 mule deer trophy measured 220 inches net. Possibly more impressive is that Kip took this 7x8 34-inch-wide buck on a do-it-yourself public-land hunt with a general-season tag. Photo courtesy of Kip Fowler.

Nothing symbolizes the West quite like a heavy-horned, wide-racked mule deer buck.

Whether it's an early-season bachelor group of velvety-racked brutes feeding across an isolated alpine bowl, or a rut-crazed toad hot on the trail of an estrus-rich doe, just the sight of one is enough to make many mulie-addicts weak in the knees.

These deer inhabit some of the most beautiful country in the Lower 48, and the aged monarchs are considered to be one of the smartest big-game critters across the Rocky Mountain West.

Season after season, countless hunters scour the rugged hills and vertical canyons in hopes of finding just one of these 30-plus-inch kings. Though many go home with a hard-earned quality buck to adorn the wall of their trophy room, only a handful of hunters are able to pack out one of true epic proportions.

Last year, Utah hunter Kip Fowler was one of the few to stop the presses. His 220 0/8-inch net, 225 4/8 gross buck from 2007 is expected to rank as Utah's No. 5 all-time non-typical velvet class buck.

Even more impressive is that his 7x8, 34-inch-wide buck was killed on a do-it-yourself bow hunt, with a general season tag, on public land. Very few hunters can boast that!

And this was not some ordinary, run-of-the-mill bow hunt, either. Kip took his buck the old fashioned way: with patience, persistence, hard work and a little self-made luck.

It all started at about 2:30 in the morning of July 12, 2007 when Kip and a couple of his bowhunting buddies, Trent Thornton and Duane Keetch, headed up the trail for a day of pre-season scouting.

This wasn't an ordinary scouting trip, either: Kip was trying to find a huge typical 4x4 buck he had hunted the previous season.

"I got within 20 yards of that buck last season, and I was really hoping to find him again," Kip told Rocky Mountain Game & Fish. Little did he know that he would run into another world-class buck that would grab his undivided attention.

After a three-hour hike in the pre-dawn darkness, at first light Kip, Trent and Duane finally made it to a good vantage point where they were able to glass lots of country.

It wasn't long until Trent spotted a buck above their location.

"He was the very first buck we saw that day, and we could immediately tell he was going to be a huge non-typical," Kip said.

"But I didn't think he would be as big as he ended up being."

Studying him through the spotting scope, they could tell he was well over 30 inches wide, with numerous extra non-typical points. He was definitely a world-class buck, and the only nickname that seemed to put him into perspective was Superman.

For the next six weeks, Kip and his buddies worked hard to keep track of Superman. They made some 15 trips into the extremely rugged hole that the deer called home.

By mid-August, these long three-hour pre-dawn hikes across extremely rugged terrain were having a physical toll on them, but Kip said that just knowing Superman's antlers would continue to grow was a big motivator.