A conversation with Chris Kiernan, the Morris man who bagged the 37-pointer in Kendall County on Nov. 1, leads my outdoor column today in the Sun-Times. Click here to read it.

Crete scorer Jeff Pals, who scored the buck at 268 1/8 inches on Jan. 3, summed it up well:

Kiernan's buck is the largest deer I have individually scored by a substantial margin; it is an incredible buck. It is one of those bucks where you have to see it in person. It has a huge typical frame with balanced abnormal points throughout the whole rack, plus a great spread.

The public should be able to see the buck at the Illinois Deer & Turkey Classic on Feb. 26-28 in Bloomington. Kiernan will be at the Elite Archery booth and also plans to exhibit his mount with others in the main display.

It's a good glimpse of Kiernan when he said why he is taking such a famous buck out in public: ``You owe it to the deer, basically, to let other people see it,''

Kiernan's buck will not be the official Illinois record non-typical for bowhunters until it is panel reviewed by Pope and Young in March of 2011.