Mike Handley posted on January 09, 2012 14:33
By Mike Handley
James Yelton of Glen Rock, Pa., thought he'd won the deer hunting lottery in 2010, when he harvested a 160-class non-typical while hunting Maryland's Eastern Shore.
But he was wrong.
Yelton's winning numbers came up THIS season while he and his wife, Helen, were hunting a friend's ground in Greenwood County, Kan. The payoff was a new state-record typical in the BTR's crossbow category.
Many hunters don't realize that Buckmasters offers the only national record book with a category specifically for deer bagged with crossbows. The Pope and Young Club doesn't accept these whitetails, and B&C doesn't differentiate a bowkill from one felled by gun or even found dead (theirs is based purely on score).
Yelton's mainframe 12-pointer, the only irregular point being a fork off its left P-2, has an official score of 172 4/8 inches; its composite (true gross) score is an incredible 194 4/8 inches.
“I've hunted 38 years to get one like this,” said the 51-year-old workaholic, who puts in 16-hour days – seven a week -- at his specialty flooring company. When winter arrives, he spends as much time as possible in the deer woods, including a week or two in Kansas.
The rest of the story will appear in RACK magazine next fall.
More BIG News for Kansas
Speaking of big bucks and Kansas, definitely one of my favorite hunting destinations, we'll be measuring antlers in Topeka's ExpoCentre during the first-ever Monster Buck Classic Jan. 27-29. This long-needed show should attract some of the largest whitetails on the planet. So if you're really into big deer, this is a must-see.
All the other monster buck states have deer shows, and their walls of fame are enough to reduce grown men and women to drooling toddlers. Wise attendees will carry handkerchiefs. I'm just saying...
More Dates to Remember
Jan. 28-29: If you live in northern Indiana, Illinois or Michigan and would like to have your buck measured for the BTR, you can avoid the $25 entry fee by bringing your deer to the 28th annual Hammond, Ind., Outdoor Sports Show inside the Jean Shepherd Community Center.
March 16-18: If you're interested in becoming a Buckmasters scorer, the next measuring class will be held during Circle M Auctions' 11th Annual Whitetail Classic Sport Show and Antler Auction in Dubuque, Iowa's Grand River Center. You'll have to pre-register for the class. This rare opportunity aside, the show attracts serious antlers and collectors. E-mail me for details about becoming a BTR measurer.
