Last week, a giant whitetail was allegedly poached near the town of Cannon Falls, Minnesota. The buck’s antlers sported a highly symmetrical frame and is said to have green-scored 192 B&C, and netted 188”. The inside spread of 28-3/8” is mule-deer wide.

Lou Cornicelli, the Minnesota DNR big-game coordinator, had this comment about the monster buck ... “Millions of deer are harvested nationally each year. The probability of harvesting one this big is just infinitesimal. It doesn’t exist.”

Cornicelli said more than a mouthful. Mainly because the measurements being tossed about belong to a whitetail with a rack sporting only eight points. Ask any veteran B&C scorer, and he’ll tell you to kill a “Booner” (a buck that qualifies for the B&C all-time awards minimum of 170” ), the buck better have at least ten tines, long main beams, and plenty of mass. Only a handful of 8-point whitetails have the right stuff to crack the B&C book.

Out of curiosity, I searched the B&C records program to see just how small that handful was. The answer? Even tinier than I thought. The B&C book includes animals killed as far back as 1830 and includes whitetails tagged up through 2008. In that 170-year-plus span, only 34 8-point whitetails have scored 170” or better. That’s thirty four out of literally millions of 8-pointers killed in that span.

And to make this even tougher to swallow, this Minnesota  8-point would not have only made this list with room to spare, it would have been the best 8-point whitetail ever. A world record deer. Second place? 180-3/8”, the score awarded to a South Dakota buck killed by Vernon Winter in 1965.

This magnificent buck could still find its way into the B&C books, since the organization allows “found” or “picked up” heads to be entered. Since the Minnesota DNR is now in possession of the rack, they could pursue putting the buck into B&C and, if allowed, the buck would at least be honored. But here’s a safer bet; the rack will almost certainly be included in the DNR’s “Wall of Shame”, a traveling display of poached trophy heads that state conservation officers take to sports shows each year.

In my opinion, not a fitting end to what is likely the largest 8-point buck in history.

A 12-point buck shot Nov. 5 in Sheboygan Falls, Wisc., will almost certainly become the new Pope & Young world record typical whitetail and has a strong shot at toppling the Milo Hansen buck from the top spot in the Boone & Crockett record book as well. The buck was taken by Michael Gregoire on his brother’s farm. It was 4 1/2 years old and grossed 217 5/8 inches typical when green-scored by an official Boone & Crockett scorer.

Stay tuned -- we've got a bigger story and lots more photos in the pipeline! Here's the full story, with 23 photos of the buck. --The Editors

First off, I appreciate everyone who took the time last week to send in reports of the rut activity (or lack thereof) in your area. It is always fascinating to me to see how sometimes-small regional variations can make a huge difference in the level of rutting behavior that hunters witness.

Here in the upper Midwest, we are brink of an explosion. For the most part, the full-bore chase phase has not begun. But the bucks—including some of the mature deer—are getting very active. They are on their feet, roaming their core areas, hitting rubs and scrapes and looking for that first estrous doe. My good friend Mitch Hagen was hunting in southern Iowa over the weekend and reported several large bucks “shadowing” does. This is a fascinating behavior to me; the doe is clearly not “in” yet, but the buck senses she is getting close. The buck does not dog her or chase her, but simply follows and keeps track of her movements.

Mature bucks are highly adept at noting the signs of a soon-to-be estrous doe. He’s been down the breeding path before and can recognize whatever signals she’s sending (Scent? Body posture? Vocalization?) that indicate the doe will soon be receptive. These experienced breeder bucks are like that lady’s man we’ve all known; they do not waste time on females that they know are a low-odds endeavor!

So the chase phase is soon to begin, and when it kicks in, things will get very, very exciting! Not always the best time to kill a big buck, but for sheer viewing pleasure, it is a phase of the season that’s tough to top! So what’s happening with you guys?

By the way, the buck in the photo above was taken recently in Kentucky, one of the true B&C hotspots of recent years. Shot by the young lady in the picture (rumored to be 14 years old), the ginormous whitetail is supposed to sport 26 scorable points and gross around  230” B&C.

Minnesota bowhunter Eric Hendrickson knew he was looking at a special deer last summer. Hendrickson is a hard-working, self-employed plumber who trades farm labor for hunting privileges on a property near his home near Park Rapids. “I saw this buck feeding in the fields several times two summers ago on the farm, and again during this past summer. I even shot video footage of him a couple of times,” Eric says. “And then he disappeared for awhile.”

Hendrickson finally spotted the buck again once hunting season opened. “He came out to the same big field, where I have stands on the southwest and northwest corners,” he says. “He entered the field halfway between those stands, where there is no good tree for a setup. I wasn’t sure what to do. But one afternoon it just seemed like a great night to hunt, so I went to the southwest stand just to see if I could spot him.”

There were two does in the field when Eric arrived, but he was able to get in his stand without spooking them. And then at prime time the buck he was after appeared, walking on a trail that would put him at 25 steps. Eric made a perfect shot on a buck he’d been pursuing for two seasons. “I guess the best thing was I didn’t have too long to look at him or think about it,” he laughs. “He was just there. I had to shoot, or he’d have walked right into my wind.”

The monster 8 point sported a gross green score of 188” and should net in the high 160’s as a typical. I haven’t met a whitetail rack I don’t like…But massive antlers really trip my trigger and this buck is as beefy as they come. Congrats on a monster deer, Eric!