Biggest Non-Typical Archery Buck Ever?

I know you’re not reading anything I’ve written here. That’s OK. Take your time.

It’s hypnotic, isn’t it? Every time you think you’ve arrived at a number of points, another five or six present themselves. I can’t tear my eyes away for long.

Ahem. What you’re looking at there just might be the biggest hunter-taken non-typical archery whitetail on record. According to the Boone and Crockett Club and the Pope and Young Club, that Escher painting of a deer was taken during the 2018 Illinois archery season by the luckiest SOB in Illinois, Luke H. Brewster.

Brewster arrowed a buck from Edgar County, Illinois, on November 2, 2018. Shortly after the harvest, photos circulated online stating it had a green score of 311. After the required 60-day drying period and consultation with both scoring organizations, the official entry score of 320-5/8 confirmed that it is only the 5th hunter-taken non-typical whitetail to exceed 300 inches in history. If verified at this score, the buck would be the third largest non-typical whitetail in Boone and Crockett…and the new Pope and Young World’s Record.

“To put Luke’s deer in perspective this deer could surpass our current World’s Record that has stood for 18 years by more than 20 inches,” said Eli Randall, director of Big Game Records for the Pope and Young Club.

The 38-point buck has a gross typical frame of 151-5/8 with 178-3/8 inches of abnormal points. After an accepted entry score, all potential World’s Record entries for each organization are verified by a panel of official measurers. A panel of B&C and P&Y measurers is being scheduled next to verify the buck’s measurements.

The World’s Record and number two all-time non-typical whitetail deer recognized by B&C are picked-up trophies scoring 333-7/8 and 328-2/8 B&C points respectively, and were found in St. Louis County, Missouri and Portage County, Ohio. The largest hunter taken, and current number three All-time non-typical whitetail on record with B&C scores 312 and was taken by Stephen L. Tucker from Sumner County, Tennessee in 2016.

The current P&Y World’s Record was taken by Michael Beatty from Green County, Ohio, in 2000 and scores 294 points. The second largest on record is a deer taken in 1962 in Nebraska by Del Austin with a score of 279-7/8 points.

Using the Boone and Crockett Club system of scoring, the Pope and Young Club maintains the records for all archery-taken trophies. Boone and Crockett recognizes trophies taken by all legal hunting methods, as well as picked-up or found trophies.