On Nov. 1, Bob Decker, of Eau Claire, Wis., killed what was possibly the most famous whitetail in North America.
The buck was filmed earlier this year near Mondovi, Wis., and the video was released on Field and Stream’s Web site. Whitetail authorities across the country immediately began to debate whether the giant whitetail could be a walking world record — larger than Milo Hansen’s huge Canadian typical.
Decker knew the buck was filmed near his lease, but he never imagined he would kill the monster whitetail. But at 9:30 a.m., the huge buck appeared 40 yards from his stand.
According to Jack Dodge, the taxidermist who will mount Decker’s amazing buck, Decker didn’t even realize the buck was the same deer he had seen on the internet.
"He thought it was a big 10-pointer," Dodge said. "He was turned the wrong way and had to turn around to get a shot at him."
Decker made the shot, though, as the buck passed directly under his stand.
According to Dodge, the giant buck has a 14-point main frame and a total of 16 points. Dodge aged the deer at just 31/2 years old. The buck field dressed at 200 pounds.
"It has incredible tine length but not a lot of brow-tine length," Dodge said. "We’ll have to see what it comes out at, but it is an amazing buck, and it couldn’t have been killed by a nicer guy."
For more on Decker’s hunt and pictures of the buck, visit the story online at the Eau Claire Leader Telegram.
