# "Field and Stream" WI Buck Likely Killed



## taddy1340 (Dec 10, 2004)

Looks to be an average guy who shot the monster. Great quotes by him and about him!

http://fieldandstream.blogs.com/whiteta ... ecord.html

http://www.jsonline.com/sports/outdoors/33757004.html

Once-in-a-lifetime shot
16-point buck may break world record
By Paul A. Smith of the Journal Sentinel

Posted: Nov. 3, 2008

In what is unfolding as something of a storybook script, Bob Decker of Eau Claire - a paper mill worker described by friends as just an average guy who likes to hunt - ventured to the woods near Mondovi for his first hunt of the 2008 archery season.

Hunting on land he leases with friends, Decker had taken antlerless deer and small bucks in recent seasons but no trophies. So you can imagine his pleasant surprise when the first deer to come along on his first morning of hunting was a large buck.

Immediately deciding it was a "shooter," Decker watched the deer walk beneath his tree stand and took a well-placed shot from within 10 yards.

"I knew I shot a nice deer," Decker told the Eau Claire Leader-Telegram. "I figured I'd shot a good-sized 10-pointer."

Upon recovering the buck, he learned he had misjudged not only the number of points but the size of the rack.

The 16-point buck is a "phenomenal animal," said Jack Dodge, an Eau Claire taxidermist who viewed the buck over the weekend.

"It's too early to say if it's a record, but it's a deer of a lifetime," said Dodge, 58, and owner of Dodge's Taxidermy for 30 years. "And if it's not a record, it's certainly the most popular buck of the year."

Video shot in late summer of a very large buck in a Buffalo County field was posted on several Web sites in recent weeks, including that of Field and Stream. The buck grew to be known as the "Field and Stream" buck.

Conversation in the rumor-rich deer hunting community speculated that the buck is of world-record size. Dodge said he was certain the buck Decker killed is the same as the one in the video.

"That buck from the video is no longer walking around the woods of Buffalo County," Dodge said.

For trophy purposes, deer antlers are measured in inches. A total score is calculated with measurements including spread, beam length and tine length. Antlers are classified as typical or non-typical, depending on the shape and formation.

While declining to reveal the score of Decker's buck, Dodge said it would likely be "around 200 inches." The rack has several tines longer than 13 inches, he said.

According to the Pope and Young Club, the Chatfield, Minn.-based conservation organization that serves as official record keeper of trophy game animals taken with archery equipment, the world-record white-tail deer scored 204 4/8 . The deer was shot by Mel Johnson in Peoria County, Ill., in 1965.

The world-record archery non-typical scored 294; it was shot by Michael Beatty in Greene County, Ohio, in 2000.

Antlers must undergo a 60-day drying period before they can be officially scored.

Dodge estimated that Decker's buck was 3½ years old - young for a deer with such massive antlers - based on an examination of the animal's teeth.

"What makes one animal grow so huge and another barely get antlers is one of the things that makes this so fascinating," Dodge said.

Buffalo County has become well-known among deer hunters for its relatively high density of very large bucks. It draws hunters, many of whom pay large fees for guides or access to certain land, from across the nation and beyond.

That's why Dodge said it was so notable that a normal, local hunter harvested the biggest deer in recent memory.

"It couldn't happen to a nicer guy, let me tell you," Dodge said.

Dodge said he was uncertain whether Decker's buck would be ruled as typical or non-typical due to two "stickers," or unusually-shaped points.

He is clear about what Decker should do next.

"I told him to put the deer under lock and key," Dodge said. "It will be attracting a lot of interest."

As for Decker, he appears to be maintaining his modesty.

"I'm not a better hunter after shooting this buck than I was before," he said. "I'm just a very lucky person."

The scoring will play out in the next 60 days.

Record or not, another thing is likely to happen in coming days: The buck will become known as the Decker buck.


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## USSapper (Sep 26, 2005)

Awesome, conrats to this guy

I wonder how far away the buck was shot from where the video was taken from


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## Ref (Jul 21, 2003)

Did I miss something? Is there a picture of the buck that the bowhunter shot? I only saw the "Field and Stream" buck and the article about the hunter's buck.


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## taddy1340 (Dec 10, 2004)

Looks to be info in this thread...

http://www.nodakoutdoors.com/forums/vie ... hp?t=58927


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## Chaws (Oct 12, 2007)

The guys story starts with him saying he took the buck at 10yds and thought it was a nice buck, maybe 10 points... no way he shot the actual record deer. How could you confuse 10 points with 16+?


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## Ref (Jul 21, 2003)

Thanks Taddy.

Great buck!


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## Duckslayer100 (Apr 7, 2004)

Sooooo....anybody want to get a pool going as to how fast that taxidermy shop gets broken into and the head gets stolen?


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## bornlucky (Jul 24, 2007)

It just doen't seem that a deer that is 3.5 years old could sport a rack like the one in Field & Stream. And didn't the guy who filmed it say he saw it last year and it was already huge?

Until this buck is verified as "the buck," I think it leaves room for speculation that Mr. Big is still out there.

If it is "the buck," Mr. Decker will become famous not to mention wealthy.


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## kvernum3 (Aug 8, 2005)

I honestly dont think it is the same deer. i think mr. field and stream is still out there. haha


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## hunt4P&amp;Y (Sep 23, 2004)

Chaws said:


> The guys story starts with him saying he took the buck at 10yds and thought it was a nice buck, maybe 10 points... no way he shot the actual record deer. How could you confuse 10 points with 16+?


Prolly really low light! Maybe his watch was off! :-?


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## taddy1340 (Dec 10, 2004)

Chaws said:


> The guys story starts with him saying he took the buck at 10yds and thought it was a nice buck, maybe 10 points... no way he shot the actual record deer. How could you confuse 10 points with 16+?


Chaws here's the pics post harvest. http://www.nodakoutdoors.com/forums/vie ... hp?t=58927

I don't want to speak for him, but even with buck I shot, I thought ok....shooter...don't look at the rack and count points...just draw back and shoot. It wasn't until I got to him did I realize his total points.

Mike


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## fishhook (Aug 29, 2002)

the whole things wierd to me. They were estimating in field and stream that this dear was 7 1/2 years old? Now it's being said that thing was a 3 1/2 year old? Supposodly someone filmed this deer 2 summers ago and felt it was 200 inches then. that would be a heck of a first set of antlers. All the info just keeps contradicting the previous. But whatever, it's a nice deer no matter the case.

Congrats to the shooter. I'd probably have just been so amazed i'd have stared at it and forgot to shoot. I don't think it's a world record though.

I'm glad it was an ordinary joe and not an outfitting unit that harvested it. Gives the rest of us a little, and i emphasize little, hope.


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