Big "Buck" Contest

[sparrow803]

I don't hunt personally, but here is a story from a town close to me.

Big buck dropped in Buchanan County

By JORDAN DRACKLEY, Courier Staff Writer

INDEPENDENCE - The buck stops here. Brian Andrews may have set an Iowa record for a nontypical white-tailed deer shot by an archer. His aim hit the mark Nov. 13.

"I was pretty pumped about it," said the 16-year-old, who just started bowhunting this year.

It's a buck that the Independence boy has had his eye on. His father, Randy, said he and Brian hunted in that area east of town because they knew the beast was around. Several other people had spotted the buck, too.


"We've seen him hunting three times," said Randy, who's bowhunted for more than 30 years. "He was so distinctive. He was pretty hard to miss. A one-of-a-kind, really, for this area anyway."

This time, Brian was hunting solo. He was sitting in his tree stand when he shot the whitetail behind the vital organs.

"I turned around and I saw it coming at me 30 yards away," Brian said.

Brian then used a cell phone to call his dad, who was refereeing a basketball game. Randy had to call Brian back during halftime.

"He was pretty excited at the time," Randy said.

The deer ran after he was hit. Brian and family members returned to search that night and the next morning before finding the animal.

Those who came out to see the harvested buck were impressed.

"They were thrilled that it was done by a youngster like that and done legally," said Scott Kinseth, a conservation officer for the Iowa Department of Natural Resources. "It's good to see good things happen the right way."

Though the nontypical rack will not be officially scored until it has dried for 60 days, the green score indicates Brian has a good shot at the record. The buck's rack had 26 scorable points.

The state nontypical record for a deer shot by an archer is 240 4/8 inches. That deer was shot in 2000 by Dave Gordon of Waukon.

The antlers are scored using the circumferences, spreads and the number and length of points. Nontypical antlers are asymmetrical. Trophy antlers of that type generally score higher than typical racks.

The rack will be measured by official scorers for the Pope and Young Club, which tracks bowhunting records, and by the Boone and Crockett Club, which records all big game.

For now, the rack is locked up for safekeeping, Randy said. He expects they'll have the beast mounted for the wall of their home, next to other trophy deer and horns.

Before the season started, the teenager was optimistic.

Brian, who's also hunted with a shotgun for several years, talked with his dad about getting this particular brute. Randy wasn't sure anyone could get him --- if he was even still alive --- because the buck was too smart.

[Jynkxxie]

Holy Crap! Maybe I am just naive but that is the biggest buck I have ever seen!

[mcsap]

If I hit one with my cruiser does it count ? I hit one last year.

[Zendik]

Post the Pic!