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Big buck found dead in Kansas was a whopper
by Jeff Leonard
Friday, May 22, 2009

The Show Me State has been the home of the “Missouri Monarch”, the current non-typical world record whitetail mount since the early 1980s, but if a recent story released by Outdoor Life is correct, that record may soon be “shown up” in a big way.

According to Outdoor Life, a buck was found dead (not taken by hunters) by a farmer in our Kansas. The farmer notified several local shed hunters, who along with the farmer wished to remain anonymous, and they retrieved the dead buck from an embankment on his property.

Here’s where the story, if the details are found true, becomes amazing. According to Outdoor Life’s account, this buck unofficially unofficial scored nearly 410 and has 68 countable points.

For any whitetail hunter, this number is hard to wrap your mind around. To help put this into perspective, the “Missouri Monarch,” the current Missouri world record, only scores 333 7/8, and I use the word “only” very loosely.

To further grasp these amazing measurements, one needs to understand that a whitetail with antlers measuring 195 can be considered a Boone and Crockett potential record in the non-typical category. If legitimate, this new found buck could possibly score more than double this minimum.

To say that many are skeptical that a new world record may emerge from the shadows is an understatement. Outdoor Life has an online post where readers can leave their feedback, and with the details being sketchy at this point, the majority seem unconvinced or are holding out for more information.

The current world record non-typical whitetail deer was found in St. Louis County, Mo., on Nov. 25, 1981, according to MDC. The deer was found by Dave Beckman while hunting and was turned over to MDC agent Mike Helland.

The Missouri Monarch, as it’s come to be known, was entered into the record books by MDC on behalf of the citizens of Missouri. The Missouri record deer had also apparently died of natural causes and not through hunting.

The Missouri Monarch’s antlers have an inside spread of 25 1/8inches and weighed 11 1/4 pounds with a total score of 333 7/8. This record has held the top spot since around 1981 when it shattered the previous record held by a Texas buck, which scored 286.

The Missouri world record deer was 4 1/2 years old and weighed 250 pounds when found. MDC noted that antlers are basically composed of calcium, phosphorus and protein.

When annual antler growth is completed each year, it forms solid bone. Abnormally shaped antlers occur occasionally and sometimes represent injury during growth. This may explain the unusually large rack found on the current Missouri World Record.

For those wanting to take a closer look at the possible future non-typical world record buck featured in Outdoor Life, log onto www.outdoorlife.com where you can see multiple photos along with a video of the rack and read the sketchy details.

Outdoors correspondent Jeff Leonard can be reached at npsports@npgco.com

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