A buck destined for the books
Mufasa would be king. Luke Brewster’s freak non-typical buck, “Mufasa,’’ arrowed on Nov. 2 in Edgar County, was officially measured Saturday at 320⅝ inches on 38 measurable points. Pending panel scoring, it will be Pope and Young Club’s world-record non-typical whitetail taken with a bow, and Boone and Crockett Club’s world-record nontypical taken by a hunter.
Michael Beatty holds the P&Y world-record non-typical taken by a bow (294 inches), a 39-pointer taken Nov. 8, 2000, in Greene County, Ohio. B&C’s highest scoring non-typical taken by a hunter (312 inches) is the 47-pointer shot by Stephen Tucker on Nov. 7, 2016, with a muzzleloader in Sumner County, Tennessee.
For record-keeping, antlers are measured in inches (fractions of oneeighth) by adding and subtracting such measurements as tine length, spread of antlers and main beam circumference. Antlers must dry for 60 days before official scoring. Brewster could have had his buck officially measured a few days earlier. But Brewster, a former Marine, and his dad, Jim, had to come in from Virginia. Brewster’s three hunting partners also were there.
Tim Walmsley, measuring for B&C, assembled a crew in Macon County that included his wife, Bea; P&Y measurer Kevin Chapman; and state measurer Jim Barry. Walmsley said measuring took about three hours.
“Kevin was adding it up on a computer program, and Bea was adding on a score sheet,” Walmsley said. “Both left the room. When they got to net score, they called me in.”
There were tears all around when he announced the net score.
The gross was 330, which included 178 of abnormals. Walmsley also measured a big drop tine, which broke off on a tree trunk when the buck crashed to the ground.
It was quite the honor for Walmsley, who measured one other 300-inch deer. That was the previous Illinois record non-typical (304 ), a 37-pointer that Jerry Bryant shot with a crossbow on Nov. 15, 2001, in Fulton County.
Walmsley was intensely involved with the B&C and P&Y records chairmen with photos and discussions.
“I feel good about how I measured, but this deer is so big — that is why you have the panel to back it up,” he said. “But I do feel very good about it after talking in detail with both clubs.”
Normally, P&Y panels meet every two years and B&C every three. Because this is a likely world record, Walmsley is hopeful that panel scoring will happen before P&Y’s biennial convention in April in Omaha, Nebraska.
More details came on the hunt, part of quite a year for Brewster, who rushed back home to Virginia for the birth of his daughter after shooting the buck.
Afterward, it was found that Mufasa walked by a trail camera the morning before being taken
“They knew the deer. They’re pretty sure it was 7 ½ years old from pictures the last two years,” Walmsley said.
He said one of Brewster’s buddies had missed Mufasa last year, and he grew much larger.
“A lot of people knew about him, including an outfitter,” Walmsley said.
Brewster, who made a perfect shot at 25 yards, said Mufasa was going to scrape.
Walmsley was impressed with the quiet style of Brewster, who let his hunting partners pick their stands first and chose his last — a stand not hunted from in years.