Since 2016 -- when it actually happened -- deer hunters always wonder if a new state-record white-tail buck will be crowned at the Arkansas Big Buck Classic.
We'll find out at the 29th edition of the Big Buck Classic on Jan. 25-27 at the Arkansas State Fairgrounds in Little Rock.
One of the South's premier hunting extravaganzas, the Big Buck Classic will celebrate our latest deer season by exhibiting the biggest racks taken this year together under one roof. By show's end, the vaunted Wall of Antlers will bristle with the biggest white-tailed deer racks taken in Arkansas. It demonstrates how good the quality of our bucks really is. It always draws a huge crowd, and it's a great place to swap deer hunting stories.
The Big Buck Classic also is a great place to buy hunting gear and other outdoor-themed items from 194 vendors selling selling custom turkey calls, duck and goose calls, handcrafted knives, campers, ATVs and guided hunts of all descriptions. You can re-equip yourself for the 2019-20 deer season in one spot.
As always, Joe Martin's Snakes of Texas exhibit will be in Barton Coliseum, featuring dozens of live rattlesnakes loose within an enclosure.
For the fourth consecutive year, the Big Buck Classic and Remington Arms will give away 25 guns during the show until there are 25 confirmed winners. There will also be a $10,000 cash door prize.
The show will climax on Jan. 28, when the winner is crowned. That fortunate hunter will win a Can-Am Defender HD5 all-terrain vehicle from Bradford Marine & ATV.
Adults tickets purchased online cost $12, but adult admission will be $15 on the day of the show. Admission is $5 for children ages 5-12, and free for children under age 5. The admission price includes parking and access to all exhibits.
For more information, go online to bigbuckclassic.com.
World record whitetail?
I thought the picture was a Photoshop fake when I first saw it, but it is legitimate, and it might be our first glimpse of the largest non-typical whitetail buck ever taken by a hunter.
Luke Brewster, a disabled veteran from Virginia, arrowed the buck in Edgar County, Ill., on Nov. 2. After Boone and Crockett's requisite 60-day drying period, the rack scored 320 5/8 net. It is only the fifth hunter-taken non-typical whitetail to exceed 300 inches in history. Pending certification by the Boone and Crockett and Pope & Young clubs, the buck will be the third largest Boone and Crockett non-typical, and the new Pope and Young world record.
The 38-point buck has a gross typical frame of 151 5/8, with 178 3/8 inches of abnormal points. After an accepted entry score, all potential world record entries for each organization are verified by a panel of official measurers. A panel of B&C and P&Y measurers is being scheduled next to verify the buck's measurements.
The current Pope & Young World's Record scored 294 and was taken in 2000 by Michael Beatty from Green County, Ohio, in 2000. The second largest on record is a 279 7/8 point deer taken in 1962 in Nebraska by Del Austin.
The top two all-time non-typical whitetail deer recognized by the Boone and Crockett Club are picked-up antlers that scored 333 7/8 and 328 2/8, respectively, and were found in St. Louis County, Mo., and Portage County, Ohio.
The largest non-typical taken by a hunter ranks third all time. It scores 312 and was taken by Stephen L. Tucker from Sumner County, Tenn., in 2016.
The Pope and Young Club uses the Boone and Crockett scoring system and maintains the records for all archery-taken trophies. The Boone and Crockett club recognizes trophies taken by all legal hunting methods, as well as picked-up or found trophies.
Sports on 01/17/2019