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In Todd County Kentucky in 1964, a buck with the nickname of "Big Red" was killed in that county's first deer season in modern times. Big Red had an inside spread of 30 and 2/8 inches, an outside spread of over 36, and field dressed at 260 pounds. Years later I was fortunate to hunt on the farm where the deer was taken, and was told the story by the landowner. In addition, while on a hunt at Kentucky's Land Between the Lakes, I met and talked with a hunter who was a friend of the man who killed Big Red. Big Red was killed with a Ruger 44 carbine, and the hunter fired 14 shots, with a good number of those being hits. He saved his last shell, and finished the deer off with his knife. The first story appeared in Outdoor Life magazine, and there was no mention of how many shots were fired, or how many times the deer was hit, only that the rifle used was a Ruger 44 carbine. More than one person has told me that Ruger asked the hunter not to publish how many times he shot, and I even heard that they paid him not to.....a claim to which I have absolutely no proof. In addition to the Outdoor Life story, there is also a story in an old North American Whitetail publication, titled "Legendary Whitetails". I have no dog in this hunt, but I can tell you that because of this story, you practically never see a 44 Magnum cartridge or the Ruger carbine that used it in use in this part of the country. I have heard more than one local say that they would never use that combination because of the Big Red story.