Predicting the King Buck’s Final Score

 

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Deer & Deer Hunting Editor Dan Schmidt predicts the King Buck’s final fate will go one of four ways — three of which would make it the new world record whitetail. (photo by Kris Kandler)

by Daniel E. Schmidt

The Johnny King Buck is set to be panel scored in Montana tomorrow by the Boone and Crockett Club. What will the panel decide? If you’ve followed this story as closely as we have here at Deer & Deer Hunting, the final score — and the integrity of the process — is pretty easy to predict. There are only a few scenarios.

Here are my predictions.

1. World-record final score of 215-4/8 net typical. If the panel arrives at this decision, they will have adhered to the letter of their scoring manual as stated in 2006-2007 when the deer was killed and could have been first officially scored. That is the score that was originally given to the rack by B&C scorer John Ramsey of Wisconsin. He never submitted this score, however, because he was unsure if the rack could be scored due to a break in the beam. When the beam break was deemed acceptable, he was instructed by B&C to score the deer differently.

2. World-record final score of 215-1/8 typical. This score was after calculated by longtime scorer Marlin Laidlaw. The score was one after the rack continued drying after Ramsey’s initial score.

3. World-record final score of 213-6/8 typical. This score was calculated two years after the buck was killed. The score was derived by 25-year B&C scorer Ron Boucher and Wisconsin Buck & Bear Club scorer Herman Feller.

The discrepancies in these first three scores indicates normal “shrinkage” by a rack due to the drying process. All of these scorers used the same procedures when scoring the rack.

4. Final score of 180-0/8 typical. This score would not indicate any shrinkage. This was the score that was originally assessed to the deer after one quick measurement and no panel review. This score involves calling what would be the rack’s G-3 points as nontypical.

A further prediction: If the panel chooses Option 4, the Boone and Crockett Club will further subject itself to criticism of “framing” the King Buck with a loaded panel.

Check back to this site for more breaking news on the King Buck.

 

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2 thoughts on “Predicting the King Buck’s Final Score

  1. “A further prediction: If the panel chooses Option 4, the Boone and Crockett Club will further subject itself to criticism of “framing” the King Buck with a loaded panel.”

    By who? You and Jay Fish? My conclusion would be that it was indeed a non-typical if that is what the panel determines.

  2. Dan, it sounds like the scenarios you present won’t require the panel to put the tape to it at all — only to declare whether the G3s are typical or non-typical. Once that’s done, they would simply have to choose which score to accept. Can we rule out the possibility that the panel will score it as though it had never been scored before, and come in just under the current world record? Just askin’.

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