Post by Woody Williams on Nov 29, 2005 9:04:07 GMT -5
I peruse numerous hunting websites and I have seen that a number of new state records have been posted here and there.
So far (that I have seen) Tennessee, Georgia and Alabama will have new state records.
Pat Reeves (not with North American Whitetail anymore) bow killed a whopper 203 in Illinois. Not a state record but breathing fire on it.
The much ballyhooed “state and possible world record” for Indiana was given credit for even existing by some of the One Buck Rule proponents..
Then how do we rectify that with Tennessee, Georgia and Alabama have multiple buck limits with Alabama having a “buck a day” limit and they are also producing new state records?
It is my firm belief that hunters (all over tehe US of A)are growing older, becoming more experienced and thus becoming more selective. Once upon a time it was a thrill just to get a deer and for it to have antlers, any antlers, was a bonus. Most of us progress to a point that getting a buck, any buck, is not that important any more. We are beginning to pass up the smaller bucks and waiting for Mr. Big.
Also the QDM theory of “Let him go, so he can grow” is paying off. Couple that with folks becoming more “trophy” conscious I can see where we are getting more and bigger bucks. It has been a natural transgression.
Here is a story and picture on the new Alabama state record.
NEW ALABAMA RECORD
Dax Anderson bags record buck
By Ken Rogers, The Messenger
Dax Anderson knew he was taking his shot of a lifetime - but he wasn't nervous.
That came after his bow dropped the buck with the biggest, most perfect antler spread he'd ever seen.
"When I shot the deer, then I melted right in the stand," said Anderson, an avid hunter from Troy who knew he something special. "I literally couldn't breathe. When I got down and really looked at him, I knew I had a dogfight just to get him to the truck."
As he approached the buck with each step, the antlers seemed to get bigger. Even in the fading light at just after 4:30 p.m. on Nov. 17, Anderson felt this buck was different. Just how different he didn't know - and still doesn't know.
Anderson's prized buck is already a state record for a typical deer category killed with a bow. He's waiting on confirmation that it's also the state record for a deer taken by a gun, too.
"It's already the Buckmasters and Pope & Young Club state record bow deer," Anderson said. "It was scored at 194 and 6/8. The top bow deer was 170 even, so it's 2 feet, 2 inches more antler than the previous record. The all-time state record is 186, set by George Mann, with a gun. They call it the Lion Creek buck. It measured 186 and 3/8."
So unless the buck's antlers shrink, the state record will soon belong to Anderson - a Pike County bowhunter who works at Liberty National Life Insurance Company in Troy. The 27-year-old Troy University graduate also manages Buck Trails Hunting Lodge in Bullock County.
Anderson shot the buck on a 40-acre tract of land he leases that adjoins Buck Trails' 700 acres.
"We don't do pay hunts on that land," Anderson said. "That's just for me. That's my spot."
Anderson said he had seen his buck grow over the past three years.
"I saw him again on Halloween," he said. "I was coming back from Birmingham that day and had time to get in the stand. I couldn't have caught a better wind. The temperature was cold. I think it froze later that night. The sky was red at that time of day. It was perfect conditions."
Not to mention perfect timing on the calendar. It was the last Thursday before gun season opened.
"There's a lot of hunting pressure over there," he said. "Who knows? A week later and there could've been gun hunters on either side of me."
Instead, it was Anderson and buddy John Goff, the head of forestry in Pike County.
"I bet I saw 17 rack bucks that afternoon," Anderson said. "He finally came up and there were four other mature bucks with him. He was by far the biggest. But I'm thinkin', "How am I going to draw the bow?' They all started looking at an armadillo who was digging at something. That gave me a chance to draw. It was a 32-yard shot. We stepped it off later. He weighed 220 pounds even. The horns weighed about 40 pounds."
Statistics, of course, are vital in a quest for a state record. Goff's father is the head of Game & Fish in the district near Talladega. Anderson and Goff called him immediately. They then contacted the local game warden. The state officials were contacted the next morning.
Not much is left of the buck after the officials examined the record whitetail. But taxidermists will recreate him.
"He's going to be at Thomas Calhoun's Troy Sports Shop - where everybody can see him," Anderson said. "I wanted to keep him in this area."
So far (that I have seen) Tennessee, Georgia and Alabama will have new state records.
Pat Reeves (not with North American Whitetail anymore) bow killed a whopper 203 in Illinois. Not a state record but breathing fire on it.
The much ballyhooed “state and possible world record” for Indiana was given credit for even existing by some of the One Buck Rule proponents..
Then how do we rectify that with Tennessee, Georgia and Alabama have multiple buck limits with Alabama having a “buck a day” limit and they are also producing new state records?
It is my firm belief that hunters (all over tehe US of A)are growing older, becoming more experienced and thus becoming more selective. Once upon a time it was a thrill just to get a deer and for it to have antlers, any antlers, was a bonus. Most of us progress to a point that getting a buck, any buck, is not that important any more. We are beginning to pass up the smaller bucks and waiting for Mr. Big.
Also the QDM theory of “Let him go, so he can grow” is paying off. Couple that with folks becoming more “trophy” conscious I can see where we are getting more and bigger bucks. It has been a natural transgression.
Here is a story and picture on the new Alabama state record.
NEW ALABAMA RECORD
Dax Anderson bags record buck
By Ken Rogers, The Messenger
Dax Anderson knew he was taking his shot of a lifetime - but he wasn't nervous.
That came after his bow dropped the buck with the biggest, most perfect antler spread he'd ever seen.
"When I shot the deer, then I melted right in the stand," said Anderson, an avid hunter from Troy who knew he something special. "I literally couldn't breathe. When I got down and really looked at him, I knew I had a dogfight just to get him to the truck."
As he approached the buck with each step, the antlers seemed to get bigger. Even in the fading light at just after 4:30 p.m. on Nov. 17, Anderson felt this buck was different. Just how different he didn't know - and still doesn't know.
Anderson's prized buck is already a state record for a typical deer category killed with a bow. He's waiting on confirmation that it's also the state record for a deer taken by a gun, too.
"It's already the Buckmasters and Pope & Young Club state record bow deer," Anderson said. "It was scored at 194 and 6/8. The top bow deer was 170 even, so it's 2 feet, 2 inches more antler than the previous record. The all-time state record is 186, set by George Mann, with a gun. They call it the Lion Creek buck. It measured 186 and 3/8."
So unless the buck's antlers shrink, the state record will soon belong to Anderson - a Pike County bowhunter who works at Liberty National Life Insurance Company in Troy. The 27-year-old Troy University graduate also manages Buck Trails Hunting Lodge in Bullock County.
Anderson shot the buck on a 40-acre tract of land he leases that adjoins Buck Trails' 700 acres.
"We don't do pay hunts on that land," Anderson said. "That's just for me. That's my spot."
Anderson said he had seen his buck grow over the past three years.
"I saw him again on Halloween," he said. "I was coming back from Birmingham that day and had time to get in the stand. I couldn't have caught a better wind. The temperature was cold. I think it froze later that night. The sky was red at that time of day. It was perfect conditions."
Not to mention perfect timing on the calendar. It was the last Thursday before gun season opened.
"There's a lot of hunting pressure over there," he said. "Who knows? A week later and there could've been gun hunters on either side of me."
Instead, it was Anderson and buddy John Goff, the head of forestry in Pike County.
"I bet I saw 17 rack bucks that afternoon," Anderson said. "He finally came up and there were four other mature bucks with him. He was by far the biggest. But I'm thinkin', "How am I going to draw the bow?' They all started looking at an armadillo who was digging at something. That gave me a chance to draw. It was a 32-yard shot. We stepped it off later. He weighed 220 pounds even. The horns weighed about 40 pounds."
Statistics, of course, are vital in a quest for a state record. Goff's father is the head of Game & Fish in the district near Talladega. Anderson and Goff called him immediately. They then contacted the local game warden. The state officials were contacted the next morning.
Not much is left of the buck after the officials examined the record whitetail. But taxidermists will recreate him.
"He's going to be at Thomas Calhoun's Troy Sports Shop - where everybody can see him," Anderson said. "I wanted to keep him in this area."
