JNRBRONC
Well-Known Member
From today's Iowa City Press Citizen which can be viewed at: Wilkinson Article.
The Deaton and Bartlett bucks from the article were in the Iowa Whitetail booth!
Every deer rack is important to somebody
Face to face with the big buck, I could see its massive antlers inches away; main beams as big around as my wrists ...
Sorry, no moment of truth or deep woods showdown here. I was at the Iowa Deer Classic over the weekend, watching as another big rack was measured.
And another.
And another.
More than 330 were scored, with most entered in the various categories -- shotgun, muzzleloader, bow season kills -- in either typical or non-typical rack categories.
"This one is a nontypical. It has some good circumference -- mass -- on the main beam," official scorer Larry Briney said.
The "Mingo Buck," as it is known, was shot by Paul Deaton in December during second shotgun season.
"I measure the circumference on four spots (on each antler's main beam)," Briney said. "Most deer will run 3½ to 4½ inches. This one is running high six to seven inches on circumference. That's what really made it."
So did the sticker and drop points (smaller tines that do not grow straight off the main beam). It resembled a tangle of driftwood on the head of the big buck. Still, it was an impressive tangle, measuring 2277/8 inches.
Nearby, Randy McPherren looks over a nice 10-pointer.
"These are all typical points, rising upward ... five of them (on each side), with the fifth being the main beam," McPherren said.
In this category you're looking for symmetry. The best score would come from a rack in which one side was the mirror image of the other. A six-inch brow tine on the left side looks impressive, but if the right one grows just three inches, that difference will be subtracted for the final score.
Add the inside antler spread and a couple other measurements and you'll have your rack scored in anywhere from 10 to 30 minutes. The longer jobs, obviously, are those with more tines; especially the thorny non-typicals.
As each rack was scored, it went up on the competition wall. There were prizes for the biggest and the most unusual.
"I've been coming here nearly every year since junior high. It's been a dream of mine to have my name on the wall," said Seth Bartlett of Solon.
He got his chance, with his 1847/8 inch bow season trophy on display.
"I thought I had an outside chance for Top 5," Bartlett said. "He was for about ten minutes."
That short stay at the top reflects all the entries and all the attention to the big racks that grow in Iowa's cornfields and woods. There are bragging rights to an extent, however, it is more than just a bigger is better philosophy.
For Bartlett, his deer represented years learning more about whitetail patterns, and how it all came together on a late October afternoon.
"He was across in some timber, headed down to the field," Bartlett said. "I had a grunt tube, but before I could use it, he was walking on a line toward me from 25 yards. At ten yards, he gave me a broadside (shot). I bleated. He stopped and I shot. He ran into a nearby drainage and didn't come out."
"A trophy is in the eyes of the person who shot it. It doesn't matter how big it is," said Briney, who has measured whitetail racks since 1974.
McPherren, who's been at it for more than 20 years, isn't shy about speaking out if someone demeans a smaller set of antlers. He emphasizes the original intent of people like Theodore Roosevelt, one of the founders of the Boone and Crockett measuring club a century ago.
"It's to recognize -- to honor -- the size of the animal," McPherren said. "These measuring clubs give a lot back to conservation through their programs."
And those antlers, head mounts, photos or other tangible momentos keep taking you back to that time in the outdoors -- and how important it is.
Joe Wilkinson, information specialist for the Department of Natural Resources, is the Press-Citizen's outdoors columnist.
The Deaton and Bartlett bucks from the article were in the Iowa Whitetail booth!
Every deer rack is important to somebody
Face to face with the big buck, I could see its massive antlers inches away; main beams as big around as my wrists ...
Sorry, no moment of truth or deep woods showdown here. I was at the Iowa Deer Classic over the weekend, watching as another big rack was measured.
And another.
And another.
More than 330 were scored, with most entered in the various categories -- shotgun, muzzleloader, bow season kills -- in either typical or non-typical rack categories.
"This one is a nontypical. It has some good circumference -- mass -- on the main beam," official scorer Larry Briney said.
The "Mingo Buck," as it is known, was shot by Paul Deaton in December during second shotgun season.
"I measure the circumference on four spots (on each antler's main beam)," Briney said. "Most deer will run 3½ to 4½ inches. This one is running high six to seven inches on circumference. That's what really made it."
So did the sticker and drop points (smaller tines that do not grow straight off the main beam). It resembled a tangle of driftwood on the head of the big buck. Still, it was an impressive tangle, measuring 2277/8 inches.
Nearby, Randy McPherren looks over a nice 10-pointer.
"These are all typical points, rising upward ... five of them (on each side), with the fifth being the main beam," McPherren said.
In this category you're looking for symmetry. The best score would come from a rack in which one side was the mirror image of the other. A six-inch brow tine on the left side looks impressive, but if the right one grows just three inches, that difference will be subtracted for the final score.
Add the inside antler spread and a couple other measurements and you'll have your rack scored in anywhere from 10 to 30 minutes. The longer jobs, obviously, are those with more tines; especially the thorny non-typicals.
As each rack was scored, it went up on the competition wall. There were prizes for the biggest and the most unusual.
"I've been coming here nearly every year since junior high. It's been a dream of mine to have my name on the wall," said Seth Bartlett of Solon.
He got his chance, with his 1847/8 inch bow season trophy on display.
"I thought I had an outside chance for Top 5," Bartlett said. "He was for about ten minutes."
That short stay at the top reflects all the entries and all the attention to the big racks that grow in Iowa's cornfields and woods. There are bragging rights to an extent, however, it is more than just a bigger is better philosophy.
For Bartlett, his deer represented years learning more about whitetail patterns, and how it all came together on a late October afternoon.
"He was across in some timber, headed down to the field," Bartlett said. "I had a grunt tube, but before I could use it, he was walking on a line toward me from 25 yards. At ten yards, he gave me a broadside (shot). I bleated. He stopped and I shot. He ran into a nearby drainage and didn't come out."
"A trophy is in the eyes of the person who shot it. It doesn't matter how big it is," said Briney, who has measured whitetail racks since 1974.
McPherren, who's been at it for more than 20 years, isn't shy about speaking out if someone demeans a smaller set of antlers. He emphasizes the original intent of people like Theodore Roosevelt, one of the founders of the Boone and Crockett measuring club a century ago.
"It's to recognize -- to honor -- the size of the animal," McPherren said. "These measuring clubs give a lot back to conservation through their programs."
And those antlers, head mounts, photos or other tangible momentos keep taking you back to that time in the outdoors -- and how important it is.
Joe Wilkinson, information specialist for the Department of Natural Resources, is the Press-Citizen's outdoors columnist.
