Before any deer is officially scored by the Boone & Crockett Club and Ohio Big Bucks Club, it must dry 60 days from harvest. Sometimes the antlers will shrink a little between green scoring and dry scoring. In this case, they gained an eighth of an inch.
“It didn’t actually grow,” said Mike Wendel of Botkins, who officially scored the deer, along with Dave Haynes of Jackson. “It’s just that when we green score a deer we are a bit more conservative. But on the official score, we were in agreement on everything.”
The official score confirmed that not only is the Stephens Buck the largest ever taken by a muzzleloader in Ohio, but it tops all Boone & Crockett main beams ever taken in the world. The main beams measured 35 1/8 on the left and 34 1/8 on the right. No other whitetail deer in the B&C record books has a main beam longer than 33 1/8 inches.
“I was more nervous about how it would dry score right after it was green scored,” Stephens said. “But with the whirlwind of activity, everything’s been incredible. I decided it wouldn’t matter if the final measurement wound up at 200. I’ve just enjoyed it all. The fun we have had with this, the people we have met ... if it all ended tomorrow it would be OK. It’s been a great time.”
Stephens, a software developer, was hunting on his family’s farm in Highland County. He saw the deer several times during the morning, but couldn’t get a clear shot. He went back out in the afternoon and after passing up shots at smaller bucks — including a 10-pointer — the big buck came into his sights. He didn’t miss.
Since then it has been one event after another, including the governor’s reception for outdoorsmen, the Archery Trade Association show in Columbus and the Cincinnati Travel, Sports & Boat Show. He plans to take the deer to a show in Hillsboro on Feb. 17, to the Whitetails Unlimited Banquet in Botkins and to the Ohio Deer & Turkey Expo in Columbus on March 19-21. He will also have the deer at T.J. Chump’s in Englewood on Feb. 21 to help raise funds for kids’ baseball and softball programs in the area.
Once the scoring was completed Saturday and the new records announced by Wendel and Gary Trent, president of Buckeye Big Bucks, Ohio Division of Wildlife district manager Todd Haines set up the replicas of the Beatty Buck (largest non-typical taken by a hunter) and Jerman Buck (largest typical ever in Ohio), flanking the Stephens Buck. All three were taken in southwest Ohio.
“It’s a tribute to the deer management practiced in Ohio,” Trent said, “and I think you will be seeing even more big bucks harvested in western Ohio in the years to come.”
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