181 1/8 Velvet Scored Whitetail -Huckleberry

[buckcanyonlodge]

Quite a story behind this 181 1/8 gross velvet scored buck---net 164 3/8. A hunter brought it in to Byron Mitchell Taxidermy in Selah  in the 90's. Byron questioned the hunter about the hole in the back of the rack--asking him if he spotlighted it. He said no and it was shot along Lake Roosevelt legally. The hunter never came back to pick up the rack. Mitchell closed shop and gave the mounted rack to his friend.  Fast forward to 2007 and the friend that ended up with the rack comes back to our Lodge whitetail hunting. He brings it and gives it to me saying" Thought I'd bring it back to where it came from". Nice guy. He ended up getting a 4x5 buck that hunt.

[oldleclercrd]

Nice buck!

[turkey slayer]

Great Buck

[BOWHUNTER45]

Awesome buck ... must of poached it ....thats why he never went back and got it ... ya think ?

[MLBowhunting]

Very nice deer and i wouldnt let that monster outta my sight 

[NWBREW]

Very nice. I see your bear has a hole in it too.   Woodpeckers?

[101521]

Awesome buck ... must of poached it ....thats why he never went back and got it ... ya think ?

We think the same...that's exactly why...got called out on it and that was enough!

[DBHAWTHORNE]

What a buck!! Those main beams and brows are really nice!

[blacktailer]

Great buck along with a great story.  Glad to see you ende up with him..   I'm sure I am missing something, but how would the hole in the back of the rack be an indicator to Mitchell that the buck may have been spotlighted?

[Elkslayer]

Great buck along with a great story.  Glad to see you ende up with him..   I'm sure I am missing something, but how would the hole in the back of the rack be an indicator to Mitchell that the buck may have been spotlighted?

There are no seasons that would allow him to shoot it with a rifle while the deer are still in velvet. I would say poached as well!

[buckcanyonlodge]

Very nice. I see your bear has a hole in it too.   Woodpeckers?

Yea, woodpecker.
Have I posted the pic of the mounted flicker? Ha.

I think the timing of the hunter bringing it in to byron's shop and the .22 cal hole in the back side of the antler made him suspisous. Another thing that might have happened is he got it from a Colville Tribe member across the Lake---MAYBE. I know they spotlight all the time.I went out at 4 AM one Nov. morning taking a bow hunter out and looked across the Lake and thought I was seeing a UFO. Turned out to be spotlighters on the RES.

[blacktailer]

Thanks for the clarification elkslayer.  That is the explanation I thought was coming but wondered if there was something else I was missing. 

[RidgeRunner_07]

It's a wonder the amount of bucks of this caliber along that river road that meet there maker in the arifical sunlight.

[KopperBuck]

Great buck along with a great story.  Glad to see you ende up with him..   I'm sure I am missing something, but how would the hole in the back of the rack be an indicator to Mitchell that the buck may have been spotlighted?

There are no seasons that would allow him to shoot it with a rifle while the deer are still in velvet. I would say poached as well!

While this one sounds fishy I've seen and heard of several WA deer taking during general and late rifle. If their nuts don't drop it'll cause them to keep velvet. But the ones I've seen have very non-typical arrangements, unlike this one.

Great deer for sure.

[Utah]

pics dont do it justice cuz that sure dont look like a 180 class buck..