Johnny King Buck will be panel scored by Boone and Crockett to see if it is the biggest buck ever killed

by Daniel E. Schmidt

In a statement released today on its website, the Boone and Crockett Club confirmed that the potential world record Johnny King Buck will be panel-scored in Montana later this month. This deer, which might be the biggest buck ever killed, was shot six years ago in Grant County, Wisconsin.

In the release, B&C states, “The Club’s Records Chairman, Eldon Buckner, will select four experienced judges, with no more than two judges being members of the Club’s Records Committee. All panel members selected will be senior official measurers with no prior personal experience with this particular trophy.”

A source close to the situation told Deer & Deer Hunting the panel-scoring session will occur on Saturday, Sept. 22, in Missoula, Mont.

The club further stated, “The Boone and Crockett Club’s Board of Directors has not instructed the judge’s panel to score the King Buck as a typical or a non-typical. It is the responsibility of the panel to independently determine the correct way to score a particular trophy using the Club’s scoring system.

“The panel’s findings will be the deer’s final score.”

These recent developments apparently stray from the club’s previous panel-scoring practices of having two teams of three measurers. Furthermore, in the past, B&C panels have relied on an “unwritten rule” of reverting to a trophy’s original score if the head was panel scored years after it was taken by a hunter. In the case of the Johnny King Buck, scoring experts have estimated that the rack might have shrunk by several inches since 2006. It is believed the rack will score anywhere from 213 to 215 net B&C. According to antler experts, the first score it was given was 215-5/8 by a Wisconsin B&C member in 2007.

Deer & Deer Hunting broke the story about the forthcoming panel score last week.

This stunning development comes nearly six years after Johnny King killed the big deer with a borrowed .30-30 while deer hunting on family property in western Wisconsin. The massive 12-pointer — a 6-by-6 with no abnormal points — is believed to gross more than 220 inches and quite possibly net more than the current world record Milo Hanson Buck which scored 213-5/8 B&C. Hanson shot his buck in Saskatchewan in 1993. Ironically, both men were hunting whitetail properties that were very similar: strips of woods surrounded by agricultural land. They also shot their big bucks while conducting deer drives.

The panel scorers are being asked to score via the recommendation by the 32-man records committee to the B&C board.

B&C officials have declined to talk to Deer & Deer Hunting about the forthcoming panel-scoring session.

For more on this story:

READ THE EXCLUSIVE JOHNNY KING BUCK ARTICLE

DEER & DEER HUNTING EXAMINES THE KING BUCK