In search of a booner
 

I've been hunting this state for for 25 years and cant say for sure that I have ever seen a NET boone and crocket qualifying typical or nontypical on the hoof....Ever... I feel like I am a pretty decentfield judge of what a buck scores.

This state holds a few...I believe with enough effort andsearching I will find one to hunt within the next three years, and hopefully sooner. I blame myself, because a few show up dead each year, yet I am not finding these caliber of bucks, I know they are out there, I havent looked hard enough imo, I get complacent with a 150 or 160 class buck and stop looking, not this summer. I am going to spend more timecovering new areas this summer in the late evenings when the biggest of bucks show themselves on food sources.I am on a mission to find a booner and I am going to find one, Lord willing! ;)

How about you guys? do you ever see booners.. 170 net typical type bucks or 195 net nontypicals.. in your hunting area???

RE: In search of a booner
 

I've seen a few - but like you, i tend to find a shooter and back out and cool down on scouting. I'm leaving to go back in WV in 29 days, so I'll be hunting the good land again, and spending more time there this year than ever before.

RE: In search of a booner
 

Yes I have

I am a pretty good judge myself and without a doubt this old boy was a booner.

In 2001 i saw him on a rainy windy day. You can tell how old a deer is by the way they run IMO.

An old mature bucks does not "trot" or look very fluild when runs. He kind of "lumbers" along. There is a hitch in his step.
The deer I saw was an 200'' + deer:)

RE: In search of a booner
 

Shed:

Do you mean Boone and Crockett...or since this is the "Bowhunting" forum...do you mean Pope and Young?

There is a right large difference.

Since you are talking about 170 class deer (which for whitetails is well above the minimums for typicals in either catagory.....the answer is no...the record typical in South Carolina, last I checked was in the 176 range (net). Where I live now in VA, they score deer based on gross (BTR) score and the top deer in the state each year in the 8pt and up catagories are almost always at or over 200 regardless of weapon class registered.

I have seen one deer in SC that would have likely netted 140. And I have seen a deer or two in VA that would have netted 165....but I have never knowningly seen anything better.

RE: In search of a booner
 

Nope Troy, can't say that I've ever seen a booner on the hoof. The closest I ever come to seeing an actual booner is reading Joey Rott'ssucess post every year.

RE: In search of a booner
 

I saw a deer once that was well in excess of 160" typical and may have broken 170". Whether he would have been a net Booner I don't know. I don't see many deer that big so it is hard to say.

RE: In search of a booner
 

If anyone can put down a Booner it is you Troy, I am pulling for ya!

I would say I have saw a half dozen legitimate B&C whitetails (All time B&C not the 4 year program) on the hoof. Never while in a hunting situation however. Four being Typical and two Non-Typicals.

RE: In search of a booner
 

I've never seen a deer over 150 on the hoof.... A net 140 is a HUGE deer for my area and I've only laid eyes on a few of those.....

2.5 months of gun season during the best part of the season anda 3 buck limitis not conducive to regularly seeing 140+ bucks

RE: In search of a booner
 

You have done pretty well down there with all those variables working against you. Congrats again on some nice whitetails.

RE: In search of a booner
 

Maybe one or two, not sure if they would have netted it though. In my neck of the woods here in Illinois the best chance is to hunt the riverbottoms. If I can regain permission on a particular tract this fall the odds will go up for me, that is if the timber co. who now owns it will lighten up!

RE: In search of a booner
 

YES BOONE AND CROCKETT STANDARDS..what else is a booner? LOL

There is no difference in thescoring format ...JUST difference in what it takes to make theBOOKS! .....

PY of course it must be bowkilled...thus they lower minimum standard, but archery killed bucks can be entered into B/C as long as they make the standards...

Boone and Crockett acceptsrifle, bow, muzzleloaderand other weapons...

RE: In search of a booner
 

in CA a blacktail P&Y to book only needs to be like 120" b&C around 135" or so.....to be entered....i have seen a few...biggest was probably maybe pushing 145-150 (fairly big blacktail)....seen one drop balcktail that would have been the 150 rainy day hunting turks during fall season (one week after closing of deer season)....

i am out for antlers this year(still have meat in the freezer)...saw many good deer last year and just couldn't close the deal...brother and i are putting in more scouting...same general area just focusing on specific locations better.....

good luck on your quest Shed!!

RE: In search of a booner
 

Never seen one alive for sure.140's class would be a monster where I hunt.My buddy got one in Kenora though it was a typical 12. I think it went 173.

RE: In search of a booner
 

:D Scott, I appreciate the vote of confidence...but I would have to debate the fact that my odds are low unless I get out an find one..not getting hung up on the few big boys that get my attention..and keep at it through the summer..when you can really geta true look at antler characteristics..

There are several folks here that have a much better chance of killing a booner due to properties that hold bucks of this caliber.. Excellent whitetail hunters.. devoted and live in great big buck producing states.....Kelly, KS, Yourself, guys from ILL and Canada.. Ohio.. the big buck states..that consistently produce..booners..

I'm not saying they grow on trees ANYWHERE.., but the record books dont lie either.. I understand the hand that I am dealt and in order to ever find one.. I need to put forth more effort.. Like I said.. 25 years.. never seen one forsure.. BUT1 or 2are killed in my neck of the woods every year.. A couple at most. I need to do more homework... which will be the fun part! :D

Finding a booner, I believe wholeheartedly can be done hereand its something that really gets me excited about hunting. Ten years ago I could have cared less...today Its something I want to do..killing one after finding him is an entire seperate process.. man that gets meamp'djust thinking about how much fun that undertaking would be.... ;)

RE: In search of a booner
 

man Shed I want to go scounting right now:)

That was poetry

RE: In search of a booner
 

ive seen one on the hoof maybe 2 the onei know for sure was beeded up with a smaller 6 point behind a barn that i walked into the stand behind. I was in the stand for about 15 mins and see the six moving down the ridge then i see the big poppa. I am trying everything but i dont have a grunt call so i mouth grunt a little bit and he looks at me and his horns dissapear behind two trees and all i could see were huge basesthen he turned back and walked down the ridge. ill never forget that buck he was a good 190 NET and wouldve dwarfed the 140 i shot at[:o][:@]

RE: In search of a booner
 

I've seen one but not sure exact inches but it was HUGE. It was the night before opening 2002 Wisconsin gun season. My dad, uncle, grandpa, and I where coming back from getting some dinner and it crossed infront of us and ran onto our property. This deer had double droptines and everytime I go back to Wisconsin hunting we talk about that night we saw him.I never saw him again though.

RE: In search of a booner
 

I don't see "True" booners, being over 170 Typ, or 195 Non-Typ, every year. In the past 5 years I've seen probably0-2 per year(often times 0)... it was just hit or miss in seeing them. One of the biggest bucks I ever saw was after a 2 hour spot and stalk in public open country, only to have my arrow deflect off a branch and literally bounce off the top of the back of the big non-typical buck. Now when I was younger, could hunt nearly every day, and the hunting pressure wasn't nearly as bad, myoddsof seeing a booner was much better.

Of course, sometimes i'm not that great at guessing the score. I watched the buck I shotlastfallfor about 25 minutes, and even then, was about 20 points lower that what he really was. The body size can be deceiving in regards to the rack size.


BTW.. I have to agree about Troy. I have a feeling it's going to be his year;)

RE: In search of a booner
 

Thanks for saving me the typing, Troy... ;)

RE: In search of a booner
 

Well Troy, I know the effort you put in, I'd have to say if you haven't found one, they are REAL, REAL few far and in between. I wish you the best in your quest to do so, no one will deserve it more.

As far as me seeing a true booner....um, not even close. Maybea handfultopping the 150 mark, but nothing even remotely close to netting 170.

RE: In search of a booner
 

Theres no doubt in my mind that theres 190+ in. deer in my area. There was a 184 killed on our property in 03, and a 191 killed in 06 in velvet. My average year, I end up shooting a mature 120 class buck before gun season starts (1st wk. of Nov.). I have a hard time passing 3.5 and 4.5 year olds that go P&Y, in hopes of a 180in. deer I may never even see. Im sure If I dedicated the next 5 years to killing a 180+ buck I could get the opportunity.

RE: In search of a booner
 

I'm not even sure I've seen a deer much over 100 while hunting. I've seen some nice 26"+ mule deer in Colorado, but that was always before the season.;)

RE: In search of a booner
 

Thanks Shed...never knew that BnC took both, hence my confusion. Makes sense I suppose.

The VA contest however, is not scored the same way. I was led to understand its the same as BTR but I may be mistaking. I do know 100% however, that our big game contest does not use net score, only gross (no deductions). So the score you get here, is the total inches of bone, not what someone's idea of a perfect deer looks like.

RE: In search of a booner
 

The Short: On the hoof, no i havnt seen a booner. The biggest buck ive ever scene with my own eyes prolly scored 120. But thats only becouse ive only been hunting alot for a year (6 years of only hunting gun season before that).

The Long: About 1/2 mile away from my house is a large 2,000+ acre farm that nobody has permission to hunt. They simply just dont allow it. One of myhunting buddy lives on the edge of the farm and has some tree stands set up on the edge of his property. Over the years he has told me stories of bucks thatwould push180 B&C typicle points. Some of my other buddies ended buying a smaller farm that is also next to this large farm. The first year they had it, they ended shooting one of the top 10 typicles in the state of Ohio for the year 2003 (Don't know exact score, but around 170, and was a perfect 8 point). And just this last season my cousin shot a 150+ class buck thier. All these hunters have seen deer that they swear would tower over thier bucks, so we'll have to see what next season brings up. But the true hotspot for big bucks is Morgan County. The stories my hunting group has from down thier are so imposible sounding that you would think they were out of a hunting magazine. Abasalute hogs of bucks live down thier. Huge non-typicles and typicle bucks. Most usually scene at distances of over 300 yards. The next world record has a good chance of coming from that area, i have no doubt in my mind.

RE: In search of a booner
 

Nope, never.

RE: In search of a booner
 

The closest I came for sure is the one in the pics below. I saw this deer at 60 yards cruising thru the lastSat. in Oct., 2 years ago.I tried calling and rattling to him, but he had somewhere he wanted to be. Sunday my taxi friend near where I hunt calls and tells me a neighbor got the deer I described to himearlier that morning.He grosses 185 but only nets 155 NTbecause his typical frame is very uneven and only nets 127. I have seen others that may have been close but no way of Knowing what they scored for sure.

RE: In search of a booner
 

This is as close to a booner as I have on video, I think he would net out just shy as a main frame 9 point. Sorry for the low resolution when I uploaded it I lowered the quality for those without cable internet.

I know a few of you have saw this before but for those that haven't here you go.... There are a couple whitetail on the video I think the slammer is the second clip into it.

I really slacked summer of 06 only going out once or twice with the cam. I will hit it hard this summer with the camera.

http://www.huntingfootage.com/showphoto.php/photo/1609/what/allfields/name/buckeyebuckhntr

RE: In search of a booner
 

Scott, you better get out there and video some more of them Ohio brutes, I still have that video saved on my computer and I watch it all the time before season opens just to get pumped up!

As far as seeing a true booner, I believe that I have saw two that would definetly be true booners, one while sitting in stand (I already tagged out for the year so I just sat in my stand while my buddy was hunting just to get out) and the other was a typical that I would guarentee went boone and I saw him two years ago while spotting one night. He was running from old mine property that is off limits to all hunters into a patch of woods owned by a doctor who has a giant food plot put right in the middle of it. This buck had atleast 10 visible points and his G-2's were probablly 14", the spread wasn't amazing but he had a really high rack and some crazy mass. This is the same property where it is believed that one of the local archery shop owners is rumored to have shot his giant 180" class buck with his bow a few years ago.

RE: In search of a booner
 

I've only seen 3 that would gross 170 + in 28 years. One might have made it by net score but I wouldn't bet on it. 170 net is a tall order here... heck 165 grossisa tall order herebut atleast that is a possibility.

Goodluck on yourquest Troy. We got faith in you!!

Tim

RE: In search of a booner
 

Swamp, our local big buck contest do the same.. straight gross scoring, no deductions..I personally would choose this format over any...I didnt mean to incline that I was into buck with perfect symmetry.. for example..

instead, I just wanted to make the point that I know my state produces a couple buck of the caliber that make the B/C net standards..typical or non I could care less..either..and I'd like to find one and hunt him.. I will say this... A buck that NETS B/C in either Typical or NON... is a PIG! he has to be to get past all the DEDUCTIONS! LOL

have a good one..obtw..I didnt see my darnedgobbler this evening..sat for 2.5 hours after work...glassing for him.. I'll get back after him tomorrow..

RE: In search of a booner
 

well I need a challenge..I'll either do it or die of old age trying! :Dyou probably are sand-bagging me here and have one tied up..for this fall! :D

RE: In search of a booner
 

I've only seen 4 in my life, 1 was non-typ.

RE: In search of a booner
 

The largest RACKED deer I've ever seen on the hoof will be on my wall in a couple of months......and he "might"stretch 100".

I've got a larger BODIED deer on the radar for this season......but I think he's gonna be a 5-1/2 to 6-1/2 yr old......with a rack that "might" go 100" this year (good mass).

If they're in my woods.......I've never seen them. I scout....I put out trail cams....and I've yet to get a glimpse of one.

I won't say they're not there. I hardly KNOW that. I just find it "unlikely".

In our state (NC)....there ARE a few P&Y bucks taken every year. I think there was ONE taken in the adjacent county, last year. A 100" deer, around here, is a trophy.

RE: In search of a booner
 

I've seen and hunted a few that would put my ugly mug in many a magazines if Icould ever put it all together. I had a Typical about 50 yds in front of me tending a doe. I swear his rack looked like it was three feet off his head to the top. He was thick and wide. The doe was headed right for me and stoped at about 50 yds. She just stood there with her nose pointing right at me. The buck was about 3 yds behind her following her every move. Like an idiot I let out a couple of light grunts. She changed her line of travel and they skirted by out of ethical shooting range. If I would have just been paitent and keep quietI think she would have stayed her course. I have hadseveral other failures with huge bucks over the years. I never new any of the "Huge" bucks were there. They just showed up behind does.

RE: In search of a booner
 

I have seen only one before the season that would make boon very late in the eve. entering a field. I have found sheds off a 160's buck and have game cam pics of another 160'net buck and killed a 159" gross, but have never seen a booner while hunting.

RE: In search of a booner
 

Shed to put things in perspective for MI we have 10 booner entered in CBM here in MI shot with bow.

Here is our biggest 181 7/8 typical, anybody know this guy;)

RE: In search of a booner
 

Thats an easy one Germ. Mitch Rompola is the biggest cheater in MI since Kenny Rogers and the whole "mud/pine tar" incident last fall.[8D]

RE: In search of a booner
 

Can you prove that he is a cheater? Do you have solid concrete evidence showing his wrong doing........ Not speculation but honest proof he was unhonest?

If not than "live and let live" guys.......

RE: In search of a booner
 

Easy buckeye, it was a joke. What is he your uncle?;)

RE: In search of a booner
 

I have saw bucks from nubbins to 150-160 class. I do not think I have everysaw a real bonner. There has been one come out of our camp that was in the 180's. A few 160's an some here an there that were 125-140's.