Larry Berestka's amazing Bay State 10-point buck has main beams over 24 inches and an inside spread of nearly 18 inches. Photo courtesy of Larry Berestka.

Larry Berestka is an old-school archer who shoots recurves with feathered arrows, no sights and lots of confidence. He stays focused on patterning deer, hunting under the right conditions and setting up killer stands.

Archery has evolved into owning the best equipment and knowing how to tune it. But to traditional archers like Berestka, bowhunting is about confidence in your ability to make a shot when it counts. You certainly can't argue with his results: This past season, Berestka arrowed the new Massachusetts archery record non-typical buck!

This modest 61-year-old archer has been hunting for more than 35 years. When he was a young boy in the Connecticut River Valley area, his parents owned land near an American Indian village. He developed an interest in their ways and admired their hunting abilities. He began to emulate their style at a young age and started making his own bows. He hunted birds with stick bows and later, as his proficiency grew, he began hunting deer.

Berestka shot his first deer in his late 20s. Over the years, he has taken more than 50 deer, over half of them with a traditional recurve bow. He once actually tried hunting with a compound, but had a bad experience and never tried again.

He has shot a bear with his recurve and has killed some nice bucks, but never anything as impressive as the monster that crossed his path in 2005.

THE STORY UNFOLDS
Berestka has been hunting the woods of Worcester County, Massachusetts, for many years. He spends time in the woods all year hunting sheds, patterning deer, constantly observing and scouting.

For the last decade or so, he has been focusing on a specific patch of woods. It is a mix of conifers and hardwoods that produce a steady crop of acorns. It has streams going through it and several swamps -- ideal deer habitat.

Berestka has taken many deer in this little honeyhole. He rarely sees other hunters, which gives him a chance to pattern the deer. About five years ago, he came across a deer that was worth patterning, a real nice buck that was chasing some does.

That was the first of many encounters with a buck that would dominate his thoughts in every waking moment. Berestka hunted that big buck from that day forward, and had several close encounters with his quarry. He was as close as 40 yards to him on a few occasions during bow season, and jumped him once during blackpowder season. He kept tabs on the deer before the season as well, but never did get a shot at the buck.

Well, at least not until this year . . .

THE HUNT
One thing that Berestka learned over the years is patience. He is meticulous about choosing a stand site and hunts it only when conditions are right.