Nov 10, 2018 4 min read

Last week, I related how trophy bucks are not equal in size in various states and counties. It would seem logical to me that a person seeking a real wall hanger would have a better chance in a place where there are more trophies than spending his time in an area where such bucks are almost nonexistent.

First, let me explain how the system works. In almost all places and organizations, the buck antlers are measured giving credit to antler growth. A credit is given to the spread of the main beams. The main beams are measured from burr to tip. Each point is measured giving credit to long points. My favorite attribute is the mass of the antlers. This credit is added by measuring the circumference of the main beams at four designated places. The whole thing is then added and the total is the gross score. The finish number then takes into account evenness when comparing one side to the other. This difference is then subtracted and the result is the final or net score.

I realize that is a simple way of describing the scoring of a buck. I point it out to you the reader to explain the significance of the fact we all use the same basic scoring procedure across the country and Canada. Some areas of the country and Canada produce larger bucks than others. Unfortunately as I said, Pennsylvania doesn’t score very high in the trophy category.

As I look at the book and the typical category, I notice very few bucks measuring more than the 200-inch mark. Despite the millions of bucks that have been taken, only 14 have been measured and scored over that 200 inch mark.

Leading the small pack is the large Canadian province of Saskatchewan. This is wheat country and hunts can be cold but there is little doubt that this is the No. 1 buck when it comes to typical antlered big bucks. Not only do the most 200-inch bucks come from this province, four, but the Milo Hanson buck, which scores 213 5/8 and is No. 1 all time is from there.

Wisconsin has one buck more than 200 in the book. This of course was the James Jordan buck that held the top spot for a long time until the Hanson buck dethroned it. While on the subject of the Jordan buck, which is in the book under the Wisconsin records, in reality it was shot by Jordan with a 25-20 in Minnesota, swam the river and died in Wisconsin. Sometimes you have to dig deeper to find the interesting details.

Looking the record book over, one finds the only other state with multiple 200-plus scores are Illinois and Minnesota. They each have two. Missouri with its single 200 buck comes close with another buck scoring 199 7/8. Can you imagine the feelings of the hunter that misses the 200 club by an eighth of an inch?

Other places with 200-inch mark bucks are Alberta, Canada 1; Ohio 1; Nebraska 1; and Iowa 1. That’s not so many when you think about it. Incidentally, Missouri not only has a 200-inch typical buck in the book but it scored as No. 3 buck of all time. On top of that, the highest scoring non-typical comes from Missouri.

If you really want to see how big a whitetail buck can get, just visit a Cabellas. There you will see a room lined with replicas of these biggest bucks of all time. I’m saying it is hard to imagine until you go see them.

While looking through the record book, there were a few things that crossed my mind. Sometimes, the numbers, while correct, do not impress me. For instance, it is not that monster Hanson buck that is my favorite. In 1914, John Breen, while hunting in Minnesota, shot what my eyes say is the greatest buck ever taken. It has over 30-inch main beams and only 8 points on each side. It’s like a 1964 Corvette or a 1953 Mercedes 300 SL with gull wings. I could look at it all day. There it sits at No. 9 in the book scoring a measly 202.

Going a bit deeper, one must look at the date when these giants were taken. Pennsylvania’s record book bucks typical and non-typical were downed before the second World War or as Archie Bunker would have called it, “the big one.” And there is always the mystery of Pennsylvania’s No. 9 buck taken by Arthur Young in 1830; that’s right 1830. Had tape measures even been invented yet?

George Block writers a Sunday column for the Observer-Reporter.