Tall 176-Inch Archery Buck Shatters the Record Book

Summertime game camera photos of a tall-tined buck that showed up every three or four days gave Tim Watkins hope for a great hunting season, and then everything fell into place.

Tim Watkins' giant buck scored 170-plus inches on a high-racked frame with 12 points. It is the new North Carolina bow record and first known in the state to top the Boone and Crockett minimum of 170 points. (Photo: NorthCarolinaSportsman.com) — Tim Watkins’ giant buck scored 170-plus inches on a high-racked frame with 12 points. It is the new North Carolina bow record and first known in the state to top the Boone and Crockett minimum of 170 points. (Photo: NorthCarolinaSportsman.com)

Watkins, 45, arrowed a monstrous North Carolina buck Sept. 18 while hunting on private land in Stokes County. It was larger than what the game camera indicated, with eight thick, tall tines coming off stout bases. Brow tines and a couple of little stickers pushed it to 12 scorable points.

Watkins’ buck grossed 176-plus and netted 170 1/8 after the 60-day drying period and official panel scoring by officials with Pope and Young and Boone and Crockett.

Watkins’ buck is now the North Carolina archery record, eclipsing by more than four inches the previous record. It’s the first North Carolina buck to make the Boone and Crockett minimum of 170.

Check out the full story in North Carolina Sportsman, along with other big buck stories from the Tar Heel State!