What a rack!
A Tennessee hunter is going viral for his possible record-breaking kill in Sumner County on Monday.
Stephen Tucker, 26, of Gallatin bagged a 47-point buck while muzzle loader hunting. The unique set of antlers totaled more than 300 inches in length.
A Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency Captain was called to measure the rack using Boone & Crockett stipulations for non-typical racks. The deer had a gross (green) score of 313 2/8th inches. There were deductions for reasons defined by Boone & Crockett. After those deductions, the final net (green) score was set at 308 3/8ths inches.
The current world record of 307 5/8th inches was taken in Iowa. The antlers have to dry for 60 days and they could shrink the length below the world record already set. The chance is small, but the antlers already have a possibility of shattering the Tennessee state record of 244 3/8ths inches.
The final records will be determined after the 60 day drying period.
TENNESSEE TUCKER BUCK WILL LIKELY BE STATE RECORD NON-TYPICAL WHITETAIL, BUT HAS POTENTIAL OF BECOMING WORLD RECORD
Stephen Tucker, 26, of Gallatin had a hunt of a lifetime or perhaps hundreds of thousands of lifetimes. On Monday he bagged a buck while muzzleloader hunting in Sumner County in Middle Tennessee and as it turned out its unique set of antlers had 47 points that totaled more than 300 inches in length.
Because the buck's rack was so unique, TWRA Captain Dale Grandstaff measured it using Boone & Crockett stipulations for non-typical racks. The impressive deer, taken with a muzzleloader on Monday, November 7, had a gross (green) score of 313 2/8ths inches. However, after deductions for reasons defined by Boone & Crockett, Captian Grandstaff had to make deductions and determined that the buck had a net (green) score of 308 3/8ths inches.
The current world record taken in Iowa is 307 5/8ths inches. There is a chance, even if Captain Grandstaff's measurements are accurate, that the required 60-day drying period could shrink the length below world record status.
Tennessee's current state non-typical record is 244 3/8ths inches, also taken from Sumner County in 2000, giving the Tucker Buck an excellent possibility of at least shattering the current state record.
The antlers will be measured again in 60-days and TWRA official Boone and Crockett scorers will determine if the buck is indeed the world record.
If other certified scorers agree with Captain Grandstaff--and he noted that he is the only person who has yet measured the rack--then the next phase of scoring will occur when Boone & Crockett members meet at their awards banquet and other certified scorers determine if Tennessee's official score should stand.
That B & C banquet is will not take place until the spring of 2019.
Regardless, until Monday only one free-ranging white-tailed buck harvested by a hunter with a muzzleloader had ever been certified as having more than 300 inches of antlers on its head, according to Captain Grandstaff. That deer is the current non-typical world record killed in September of 2003 in Monroe County, Iowa.
In 2012, hunter Tim Beck's bagged a 37 pointer in Indiana with a shotgun and is number two on that special top tier list of harvested whitetail. His net scores stands at 305 7/8ths. Jerry Bryant killed a 36-point whitetail with a crossbow in 2001 and it had a net score of 304 3/8ths. He was hunting in Illinois.
Coincidentally, Captain Grandstaff noted that only a day or two earlier than when Tucker killed the Sumner County buck, another potential world record "typical" deer was killed by a hunter in Iowa. This typical 7 x 7 rack could net between 210 to 220 inches, according to the captain. The current typical world record is 213 5/8ths inches and was killed by Milo Hanson in November 1993 in Biggar, Saskatchewan Canada.
In the photos: Stephen Tucker of Gallatin with the potential new world record non-typical deer. And, The Tennessee Tucker Buck rack up close.
(NOTE: Captain Grandstaff will be the guest on next week's Tennessee WildCast, TWRA's weekly podcast program).
