The Biggest Buck You’ve Never Seen Before

Alex Robinson Avatar

By Alex Robinson

Posted on Jan 11, 2011

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I met Jeff McCulley and his freakish non-typical buck at the Archery Trade Association show in Indianapolis this weekend. McCulley is a Horton prostaff member and I was looking for information about Horton's new crossbow when I saw him standing next to what looked like a deer with three different pairs of antlers stuck to its head.
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Our conversation went something like this …
McCulley: "So you're a writer?"
Me: "Yea, that's right."
McCulley: "Well how would you like to write something about this deer?" I looked at the buck before me, which had drop tines, brow tines and every other type of tine twisting around and shooting off in different directions. It was the only time I had ever caught buck fever from a deer that was already dead. Me: "Yea, I think I could do that."
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McCulley shot this buck in Northeastern Ohio on Jan. 6 2010. It's an incredible 24-point nontypical that net scored 257 4/8. It's the fourth largest nontypical buck to ever be killed in Ohio and it's the second biggest buck to ever be killed with a crossbow in the state.
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The bruiser has what trophy hunters call "junk" coming from all directions and it amassed 88 inches of abnormal growth.
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But McCulley almost never killed this deer because he nearly pulled the trigger on a doe.
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He was hunting in a semi-urban area near his home in Ohio. Earlier in the year he went on a mission to find a place to hunt. He spent a weekend knocking on doors and talking to landowners.
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By the end of his quest, he had talked with about 40 different people, but only one property owner gave him the OK.
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However, one spot to hunt was all he needed. By early November McCulley had scouted his new hunting area and set up his treestand. Soon he spotted a nice 8 pointer and decided to try to take the buck.
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But the old eight pointer proved to be tough quarry. The buck outmaneuvered McCulley on three different occasions. Then, on the fourth time the buck walked straight at McCulley, directly under his stand and then straightaway, offering no shot.
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Frustrated, McCulley climbed down from his stand and set up on the ground a short distance away. To disguise the noise he made walking to his new location, McCulley used a doe bleat.
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About 20 minutes later a doe popped out of the the thicket McCulley was watching. Hoping to put some venison on the table, McCulley steadied his crossbow on the doe. But just before he squeezed the trigger he spotted a buck following behind her.
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He couldn't tell exactly how big the buck was, but he caught a glimpse of the deer's main beam and knew he was a shooter.
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When he had an open shot, McCulley squeezed the trigger of his crossbow. "I swung the crossbow over and hit him at 25 yards. He hunkered and bolted off out of sight and I fell to pieces," McCulley says.
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Even though he knew he had made a good shot, McCulley was a nervous wreck. He knew the smart move would be to sit tight and give the buck time, and so began the longest 45 minutes of McCulley's life. "I'm a cigarett smoker and I smoked a half a pack of cigarettes in those 45 minutes," McCulley says.
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After enough time passed, McCulley got up to go find his buck. He didn't have to track the deer for long, and he found the buck dead after about 40 yards.
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"I pulled his head out of the snow and I couldn't believe what I was looking at," McCulley said.
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Biggest Bucks of 2010
This buck, killed by Kevin Petrzilka (not pictured here), green scored 203 4/8, and is poised to be a Nebraska state record. It could also be the biggest typical buck taken by a gun hunter since 2003.
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Petrzilka shot the buck in November on a hunt with his sons in Saunders County.
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This massive buck was killed by Brian Inda in Wisconsin. It green scored 188 2/8 inches.
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As of now the buck is the new archery state record holder. "I couldn't have ever done it without the help of my good friends and family," Inda says. "That's really what it's all about … it's not just about big antlers."
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Joe Dellaquila killed this beautiful buck during Pennsylvania's archery season. He banged the antlers together and soon the big rut-crazed buck came running.
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It scored 205 3/8 inches non-typical and will go down as one of the top archery bucks ever taken in Pennsylvania. The state record is 209 1/8 inches.
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David Collins dropped this Keystone State bruiser on Dec. 2. He took the deer on public land during a deer drive.
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Its heavy beams and tall tines have earned it a green score 207 4/8 inches.
"It's the buck of my life," Collins says.
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Fifteen-year-old Lucas Clark of Northport, Maine killed his first buck this season–a freak triple-beam, 20-pointer.
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The rack, third beam and all, was green scored at an impressive 194 inches.
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Reader Buck
After a three days of hunting during opening week he stepped out. After what seemed like forever (probably only 15 minutes) he turned and I let it fly. Unfortunately, by the time I got him out it was pouring and rained for two days and I never got any good out side photos. But he's still a great trophy either way at 207 pounds 12 points and officially scored at 182 6/8 net. New record in Marathon county, Wisconsin. -mwoller
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Reader Buck
My daughter shot this buck in northwest Oklahoma. He weighed in at 150 pounds, was 11 points and scored 169 2/8. The biggest buck yet for our family and her older brother is very jealous! -mompope****
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Reader Buck
My cousin shot this 191 4/8 giant on October 30, 2010 with his Remington 7mm mag. at 100 yards. -erict8
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Reader Buck
This buck was shot in Thomas Holler, Exeter, Missouri. It scored 257 and is likely a new Missouri State Record. I'm not sure, but it's worth putting out there for people to see.
-atK417
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Reader Buck
This buck was shot in Thomas Holler, Exeter, Missouri. It scored 257 and is likely a new Missouri State Record. I'm not sure, but it's worth putting out there for people to see.
-atK417
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Reader Buck
After four years of watching this buck on camera on my land in Kansas, I got him! Seventeen points and a green gross score of 212, using a Mathews DXT Compression Bow and Rage 3 Broad Head. -Dave Dreiling
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Reader Buck
I was hunting in Perry County, Illinois in their 2nd shotgun season and harvested this great deer at one in the afternoon. He grossed 222 5/8 and had a net B&C score of 210 5/8. He chased a doe into the field. Awesome experience! -jfitzjr
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Pennsylvania hunters are whitetail crazy and when word gets out on a potential new state record buck, it spreads like wildfire. Barry Kern of Clarksville, PA reportedly shot this 14-pointer in Washington County. Kern's trophy whitetail reportedly grossed 189 (green score) and netted 174.
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This buck certainly qualifies as one of the coolest looking whitetails of the season thus far. Kim Acker hammered this southeastern Wisconsin bruiser in late September. It green-grossed 202 3/8. It could go on to be the top buck to ever be taken by a woman archer in the state. Got to love the extra beam.
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Steve Esker arrowed the 24-pointer on October 14 near Columbus, Ohio. It green scored 217 1/8.
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In Genessee County, New York, Matt Gober grunted in a 160-class buck that could rank in the top 10 ever taken by a bowhunter in the state.
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This Texas non-typical is said to have scored 313 and at least one report puts it as a contender for the biggest non-typical ever taken in the state.
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Blaine Marion dropped this huge non-typical buck with a green gross score of 215 3/8 inches in Wisconsin. Marion's largest previous buck was a 158-inch typical 10 point, that he shot four years ago.
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Dave Tatum, TNT Outfitters, shot this buck, nicknamed The Wide One, in November. The final measurement on the rack was 23 ½ inches for an inside spread and a gross score less than an inch shy of 170 points.
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Earl Anderson smoked this 185-inch buck during North Dakota'a archery season. He also killed a 164-inch buck during the gun season.
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Although Ryan Howe had tagged some big bucks this season and in past, none compared to this giant. The big buck sported five scoreable points per side and the start of a sixth point. After standing in awe and grabbing some quick field pictures, Howe and friends found a tape and started scoring. Their unofficial green score put the buck at more than 186 points. He took the tall-tined buck in South Dakota.
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This inbox mystery buck was one of the biggest muleys we saw all season. It was reportedly taken in Canada and is said to gross 259 1/8 as a non-typical and 211 7/8 as a typical.

Jeff McCulley took this incredible non-typical in Ohio last year with a crossbow. Read how he killed one of the biggest bucks of the year.

Alex Robinson Avatar

Alex Robinson

Editor-in-Chief

Alex Robinson is Outdoor Life’s editor-in-chief. He oversees an ace team of writers, photographers, and editors who are scattered across the continent and cover everything from backcountry sheep hunting to trail running.

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