In late December of 1993 Paul was hunting private property on the LJS Hunting Club, close by Crowley's Ridge. It is an area he hunts with his brother Clinton, an Arkansas Trophy Hunters scorer from Wynne. Since the area was part of Zone 4, closed to gun hunting except for a short shotgun-only season, he was hunting with his Horton crossbow.
On several occasions Paul had seen a massive 10-point in the area, and had been seriously hunting that particular buck for some ten days. The morning of December 30 dawned clear and cold. Paul was hunting from a treestand set up overlooking a small oak flat.
"About 7:00 a.m. I heard leaves rustling off to my left," Paul remembered. "Sure enough, it was the big buck I had hunted all that week. There were some dogs barking in the distance, and he stopped to look in that direction. I managed to get my crossbow up without making any noise or quick movement that would have tipped him off. When he started walking again he came to an open spot about twenty yards in front of me. I held just behind his shoulder and pulled the trigger."
At the shot the buck jumped to one side, and then crashed out of sight over a nearby ridge. Paul felt that he had made a good shot, and immediately climbed down to look for the arrow. He found it near where the buck had been standing when he shot, it's length covered with blood and hair!
"My son John Paul was hunting nearby, so I walked over and got him while I waited. We both celebrated after I told him about shooting the buck, each of us just about overcome with joy!"
"There was a good blood trail, but the buck sure went a long ways. It was about twenty degrees...real cold. At times we would lose the trail, but John Paul would always seem to find it again. We finally walked up on him, lying in a shallow depression, a good mile-and-a-half from where I shot!"
The big typical weighed out at just over 240 pounds. The heavy 5x5 rack scores 166 6/8 net points, making Paul Latham's big Cross County buck the #1 typical crossbow kill listed in Arkansas Trophy Hunters records!