MISSOULA, MT – A deer taken in Tennessee this past season has been accepted by the Boone and Crockett Club with an entry score surpassing the current record taken by a hunter.
“All deer are unique in some form or another,” said Justin Spring, the Club’s director of big game records. “This particular deer is unique on so many levels.”
Hunter Stephen Tucker, using a muzzleloader, took the deer from Sumner County, Tennessee, in 2016. Its official entry score into Boone and Crockett records is 312-0/8. This score surpasses a deer taken from Monroe Country, Iowa, in 2003 that scores 307-5/8, which was the largest hunter-taken, non-typical whitetail and ranked Number 3 all-time. The World’s Record and Number 2 in the non-typical category were both picked up, or found dead and score 333-7/8 and 328-2/8, respectively.
The Boone and Crockett Club has maintained records on wild, free ranging, native, North American big game dating back as far as 1830. First to sound the alarm that many of these species were in dire straights, then to record their population recovery, and now to celebrate our successes in conservation and wildlife management.
There are 9,509 typical and 5,607 non-typical whitetail deer listed in B&C’s Records Program. There are only 39 typical and now 27 non-typical deer on record from the Volunteer State.
“If you look at the historical data, one thing that is special about this deer is that the majority of record-book deer from Tennessee have come since the mid-1980s,” Spring explained. “That’s conservation success that is trending. A tip of the cap should go to the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency and the sportsmen of Tennessee for what they have been able to accomplish with their deer herds.”
Deer that live long enough and grow large enough to qualify for the records book are a sign of quality habitat and a controlled, sustainable harvest by sportsmen.
Spring added, “What also makes this particular deer special is an entry score of 312-0/8 on only a 149-1/8 inch typical frame, which includes a modest inside spread of 14-1/8 inches. That’s 162-7/8 inches of abnormal points.”
The buck had 22 scorable points on the left side and 25 on the right. Only three other entries have had more than 47 scorable points.
Sumner County also produced the previous Tennessee state record non-typical, a deer scoring 244-3/8 taken in 2000.
About the Boone and Crockett Club
Founded by Theodore Roosevelt in 1887, the Boone and Crockett Club is the oldest conservation organization in North America and helped to establish the principles of wildlife and habitat conservation, as well as many of the institutions, experts agencies, science and funding mechanisms for conservation. Member accomplishments include enlarging and protecting Yellowstone and establishing Glacier and Denali national parks, founding the U.S. Forest Service, National Park Service and National Wildlife Refuge System, fostering the Pittman-Robertson and Lacey Acts, creating the Federal Duck Stamp program, and developing the cornerstones of modern game laws. The Boone and Crockett Club is headquartered in Missoula, Montana. For details, visit www.boone-crockett.org.
