Two of North America’s biggest antler-scoring organizations have spoken on the status of record bucks entered into their programs by embroiled Illinois bowhunter Marc Anthony.
By Keri J. Butt
One is hot on the trail, the other is taking a wait-and-see approach. Record-book entries for trophy deer allegedly killed by embroiled celebrity bowhunter Marc Anthony of Illinois are not being investigated by the Boone and Crockett Club, the country’s largest antler-scoring organization. But they are being looked at by the nation’s No. 2 group, the Pope and Young Club.
Earlier today, representatives from both organizations briefly addressed the controversy surrounding the famous Illinois bowhunter.
Pope and Young is taking a proactive approach to getting to the bottom of the claims Anthony misrepresented at least one of his bow kills. Anthony, who has claimed to have killed more than two dozen white-tailed bucks that meet P&Y’s minimum for record-book entry, has “several” deer listed in the official book, according to Kevin Hisey of P&Y Club, including a 13-pointer from 1995. Anthony is credited to having killed that buck in Schuyler County, Illinois. The score of 175-0/8 typical ranks as the 339th largest typical ever killed in North America, according to P&Y.
The record book for whitetails in P&Y is several hundred pages long, and Hisey didn’t have immediate access to the number of deer entries that were accepted from Anthony.
“We will be looking into this matter,” Hisey said. “We investigate anything that would question the authenticity of any animal that would be in our registry.”
Boone and Crockett is taking a lower-keyed approach. Anthony has three whitetails listed in the Boone and Crockett Records Program.
“We have no comments at this time,” said Justin Spring of the Boone and Crockett Club. “Besides, the ones [sic] in question are not registered with Boone and Crockett.”
When asked if there are any plans to investigate whether the deer Anthony has in the B&C registry are legitimate, Spring said, “No. We have no plans to do anything at this time.”
Anthony recently stepped down from the Illinois Whitetail Alliance and has relinquished his pro-staff status with several hunting industry manufacturers. He has three white-tailed bucks in the B&C Record Book. He has claimed to kill a total of five B&C-class bucks, including one in 2010 that scored 187-4/8 net and took top honors at the March 2011 Illinois Deer Classic.
The antlers from that deer sparked a controversy last week when an antler collecting page on Facebook posted photos of it next to a rack from a Kansas deer killed several years ago.