The opening of firearms deer season in Michigan always brings high expectations from hunters across our state. But no matter how hard you try, you'll never top this buck. 

Stephen Tucker of Gallatin, Tenn. probably had high expectations too, but never in his wild imagination did he think he stumble across a buck like the one he bagged on Monday, November 7 in his home state. It took a boatload of patience to bring in the buck that may have set a world record for the number of points in its antlers: 47.

The previous record was 38 points.

Tucker, firing with a muzzle loader, missed the buck with the giant rack early in the day on Saturday, November 5 but he hung in there, and damned if the deer didn't cross his path one more time. This time, the buck was too far away to get a clean shot off.

"I was just hoping I would see him again after I passed up the shot the second time I saw him," Tucker told the Tennesseean. "My thinking was the second time I saw him was as far away as he was and as big as he was, I wanted to make sure that I killed him. I didn't want to cripple him. I said to myself, 'If I cripple him, nobody will get to kill him.' The last thing I wanted to do was be the guy who crippled a deer like that."

Two days later, Tucker saw the buck one more time at first light and shot from approximately 40 yards away. It was then he noticed the magnitude of the rack.

Steven Tucker/Facebook
Steven Tucker/Facebook
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"There's no doubt it's going to be the new state record; I mean, that's an absolute," Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency District 21 captain Dale Grandstaff told the Tennessean. "As far as the world record, (the rack) is about an inch over the world record."

Some on the internet have claimed Steven's photo of the deer has been photoshopped, but that doesn't matter now, because the antlers will be judged by an independent panel.

After a 60-day drying out period, an official score will be given the rack by a panel, and if it gets more than 38 points, it will be a new world record.

Despite its unusual point total, the deer itself was not abnormally large, weighing in at 150 pounds. The buck was estimated to be about three years old.

"I realize there's only a possibility that it's going to be a world record; all we're worried about right now is that it's the state record," Tucker added to the Tenneseean. "If it is the world record, that would be great. But I'm not getting my hopes up on that."

Here's Steven telling his story.

 

 

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