# ND's biggest 2006 buck?



## Curt Wells (Jan 13, 2003)

Guys,

I'm doing some research for a magazine article and now that reality has settled in, does anyone know of any monster whitetails taken last fall that held up in the score department. We always hear rumors and see photographs, which tell us very little, so I need to know if any buck taken last year approaches the top three typical or non-typical bucks in North Dakota's record book. I just need to make sure none of the top three will be knocked off when a hunter enters his/her buck. Thanks in advance for any information or contacts.


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## woodpecker (Mar 2, 2005)

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx


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## Curt Wells (Jan 13, 2003)

Typical 194 6/8
192
189 3/8
Non-Typical 254 6/8
254 3/8
238


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## bandman (Feb 13, 2006)

Nelson Buck:
http://www.nodakoutdoors.com/forums/vie ... highlight=

Watford City buck: 
http://www.nodakoutdoors.com/forums/vie ... ht=watford

The Nelson buck and the story behind it play back in my mind quite often. I loved it. (This buck is an amazing site and it was the one that scored 194 6/8.)
:beer:

I also remember the story of the new state record (non-typical), but I'm having a hard time finding it on here and I need to get going to softball. It was shot by a town out west starting w/ a "W" and my mind is running in circles because I'm in a hurry and can't think. lol. I remember it was a pretty controversial story, but a monster buck nonetheless. 
(edited w/ link above :wink: )


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## sasklab10 (Jun 21, 2006)

Was that Nelson buck officially scored? That does not look 194 6/8, maybe pushing just over 180, but it has a ton of deductions.


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

bandman,

Watford City?

Shot just south of there with a bow. Im sure someone has the link.

He shot it with a compound bow after hunting with a recurve. On a hunting ranch.

Hopefully you can sleep now bandman! lol


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## bandman (Feb 13, 2006)

Haha, Watford City kept popping in my head but I just didn't think it sounded right for some reason and didn't want to supply any false info. It took me 5 seconds to find the thread w/ your help. Thanks man.

(Copy of Watford City buck link above):
http://www.nodakoutdoors.com/forums/vie ... ht=watford


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## bandman (Feb 13, 2006)

sasklab10 said:


> Was that Nelson buck officially scored? That does not look 194 6/8, maybe pushing just over 180, but it has a ton of deductions.


I think you better go through the pictures again and make sure you're looking at just the pics of the guy in orange and disregard the pics of that other deer. Definitely the deer of a lifetime and they don't get much prettier than that IMO as far as the main frame, mass, and tine length go. Hopefully, he left a little bit of himself behind which it sure sounds like he did by reading the story.
:beer:
(Here ya go, i went and dug up the story for ya.)

Trophy Buck - Nelson Buck
Our Outdoors
Nick Simonson
Trophy Buck
This trophy buck grossed 199 5/8 and 173 7/8 net.
The traffic has been steady coming into Quality Alignment and Brake Center, but many visitors aren't stopping in for tune ups. Brian Nelson, part owner of the Valley City business is the main draw these days after taking what many are calling the largest buck shot in Barnes County in several decades.

"The first time I saw him was about 10 days before the rifle opener,", the Valley City native said, speaking of his pre-season scouting, "I saw him three more times before opening day, chasing a doe around the farm," he continued.

The trophy buck was a resident on and around the 40-acre farm Nelson lives on south of Valley City; though the avid hunter had never seen him before, or at least with the headgear the buck sported this season. This massive main frame five-by-five with a split G2 and a crown of thorny kickers dwarfed any other deer Nelson had observed this year and eclipsed the 130-class buck he had taken in 2005.

After searching for this monster on and around his farm on opening day and the following Saturday, Nelson lucked out. He saw the massive-racked buck chasing a doe the morning of the second day of the season. The pair entered a grove of trees near his farm and settled in. Nelson knew his next moves would be important ones.

Preparation and patience

On Saturday afternoon, the hunt stopped. Nelson cautiously set up his deer blind on the path he figured the buck would follow out of the trees and near his barn. Then he waited for Sunday morning, hoping the buck would remain in the trees, and then hopefully, take the path Nelson had guessed.

Sunday morning, just before daybreak, Nelson and his father, Dave, quietly loaded into the elder Nelson's truck. Dave dropped Brian off and he set up in his blind, hoping to see the monster awake and on the move.

"Right at dawn, I saw a doe, and about fifteen minutes later a doe and two fawns grazed their way across the bean field," Nelson said.

As dawn turned to day, Nelson began to think that the trophy buck was gone. In fact, he was about ready to give the spot up and select a new approach. "I thought to myself '20 minutes, or a half hour more, and I'll move'" he recounted, growing more frustrated and anxious with each passing moment.

Reappearance

Shortly after that thought, he looked out and saw a buck - THE buck - step out of the trees ever so slightly. "All I could see was the head and the neck at first," he recalled. He pulled up his binoculars to confirm what his eyes saw at a distance, at that moment, he realized that was his chance.
Trophy Buck
The deer provided Nelson with a clear shot and he raised his .30-378 Weatherby rifle. "I wasn't holding it as steady as I would have liked to," Nelson said with a smile and a laugh. He braced the rifle with a pair of steady sticks and fired off one round. The animal stopped in its tracks and fell to the ground.

"As I walked up to the animal, I was in awe," he stated, "usually deer like that have ground-shrink, but this guy was just the opposite; that'll never happen again in my life," he continued.

Nelson's father came to the scene of the kill after hearing the gunshot, and Nelson called his wife of 10 years, Jessica, requesting the camera and relating the story to her. Nelson's children, Bryce, 7, Corey, 5, and Jada, who recently turned 2, were excited beyond words.

"I don't remember what they said exactly, but I recall they were as excited as I was," Nelson remembers of the moments after the hunt with his family.

An experienced hunter, Nelson has a new trophy buck for his collection which includes a Grizzly Bear and Caribou he shot while hunting with his brother in Alaska. Couple this monster buck with his 1996 North Dakota big horn sheep, and that's two once-in-a-lifetime animals.

The Nelson buck, unofficially green scored at 199 5/8 gross, and 173 7/8 net, will be mounted by J&K Taxidermy in West Fargo and will recount the shot of a lifetime, and a deer that will most certainly live on as a local legend&#8230;in our outdoors.


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## ej4prmc (Dec 3, 2004)

canned hunts count?
:******:


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## sasklab10 (Jun 21, 2006)

Sorry bandman I must have been looking at a different picture  , definately a huge frame.


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## Trapper62 (Mar 3, 2003)

This was shot by Joe Bender not me but here is what he had posted on Fishing Buddy last fall. Should have an official score by now!

Shot this buck Friday at 4 o'clock with by bow at 17 yards in the turtle mountains, scores in the mid 190's & 43" of mass measurements and has a 29" neck and dressed around 250 lbs. Only has 2 teeth on the lower jaw, so we think he is about 7 1/2 years old. Buck of a lifetime, counting last year and this year I sat 62 times before taking a buck, thank god I waited.


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## Duck Commander (Oct 20, 2004)

None of these deer push the top three like he looking for. He only wants net score not gross.


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

Bandman,

I figured you would be able to find it with that. I would have dug myself, but I was heading out for the night. The only reason I remembered it was because my EX-girlfriend is from there and she lives like 15 miles from the place that buck was shot.


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## Curt Wells (Jan 13, 2003)

That's the difference between this site and the other one. I got ripped over there and here everyone went above and beyond to produce the information I needed. As I suspected none of the bucks taken last year approaches the top three in each category but they're all super animals nonetheless. Again, I really appreciate the help guys. Take care and good luck this fall. Call me if you kill a monster.......


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## Duck Commander (Oct 20, 2004)

Curt there is a few people over there who don't read everything, they see outfitter and such and they go off the wall. If they would have read everything they would have seen "the magazine is doing a nationwide census" like you wrote in one of the posts over there. They just don't understand the facts like you posted about outfitters being here. I will be using one next year on my first caribou hunt, can't wait. 
Thanks for great equipment reviews in the magazines.


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