Many hunters dream of notching our tag on a record-book buck\u2014some 200-plus-inch Midwestern behemoth that roars instead of grunts and comes into our setup stiff legged and slow.\u00a0<\/p>\n
A lot of us refer to this kind of deer as a \u201cBooner,\u201d a nod to the Boone and Crockett Club<\/a>, which is the widely-accepted national gold standard for antler scoring and big-game record keeping in North America. An entry into those hallowed pages is something most of us only ever fantasize about.\u00a0<\/p>\n But what happens when that dream becomes a reality and you kill a deer that has a legitimate shot at becoming one of the top three whitetails of all time<\/em>? And what happens when a controversial rule in the scoring system could mean the difference between record-book glory and an honorable mention?\u00a0<\/p>\n Ohio hunter CJ Alexander is in the midst of figuring all that out. He recently sat down with Outdoor Life<\/em> to talk about the potential record whitetail, his newfound fame, and the infamous scoring rule that might determine the buck\u2019s final place in the record books.<\/p>\n \u201cThis season was kind of messed up for me,\u201d Alexander tells OL, explaining that family commitments left him little time to scout for deer. He\u2019d also sold his compound bow last year to bring in some extra money. \u201cI bought a crossbow I figured the whole family could use this year, and that [literally] blew up on me a couple days before I was planning to hunt.\u201d<\/p>\n Luckily, his buddy Cory Haunert lent him his crossbow and a portable climbing stand. In the predawn hours of Nov. 9, Alexander shimmied up a tree overlooking a chunk of his sister\u2019s 30-acre property where two woodlots meet near a few small ponds. He was committed to an all-day sit, and with a cold front rolling in, he was expecting some serious action. Instead, he saw just four or five deer all day.<\/p>\n \u201cI forgot my phone and was bored as hell, honestly,\u201d Alexander says. \u201cI really thought I had wasted my time coming out there.\u201d<\/p>\n During his 11th hour in the stand, Alexander was watching a doe idly browse when he was snapped to attention by a sound he\u2019d never heard in the deer woods before. It sounded buckish but was hard to identify, and after 10 minutes passed, he heard it again.<\/p>\n \u201cNormally you kind of have to be listening to hear a buck grunt, but this was loud, like almost a roar,\u201d he says. \u201cThis time I peek around the tree and at about 125 yards, I see this buck step out. Instantly, I\u2019m floored and thinking, Holy shit. What is<\/em> that thing<\/em>?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n It took a full hour for the buck to travel the 100 yards from where it stood to an open spot on the trail alongside Alexander\u2019s stand. At just 7 yards, the buck cleared the brush and offered Alexander a perfect broadside shot. What followed was a nightmare.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI made an absolutely god awful shot,\u201d he says. \u201cI don\u2019t know if it was so close I was holding on the wrong spot, or if I just got buck fever or what. I have no clue.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n The buck ran toward the pond to where the doe had been, and for a while it just stood there with its back hunched and tail tucked. Alexander knew he needed to get another arrow in the deer, but as he reached down for the bag containing the cocking string, he realized his safety harness\u2014buried under layers of clothing\u2014was preventing him from reaching it.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI was tied in, too. It wasn\u2019t like I could unclip a carabiner real fast,\u201d Alexander recalls. \u201cIt was holding me up too high and I just couldn\u2019t reach down.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n He popped a boot in the stirrup of the crossbow and desperately tried to cock it with his bare hands, but was unable to draw the string far back enough to load a bolt. The buck began to move again, working back into the brush before reappearing on the trail. It walked past Alexander\u2019s stand at just 12 yards. All he could do was watch.<\/p>\n \u201cI figured the best thing I could do was keep an eye on him and plan out where I was going to start tracking him in the morning,\u201d Alexander says.\u00a0<\/p>\n Back at home Alexander, called Haunert, his buddy who loaned him the crossbow, and they decided to back out for the night.<\/p>\n \u201cI FaceTimed Cory and told him I shot a deer, and then I just broke down crying. Cory was like \u2018Hey man, what\u2019s wrong?\u2019 And I told him it was the biggest deer I\u2019d ever seen and I\u2019d hit him bad.\u201d<\/p>\n The pair met at the property the next morning and began their search. Alexander was worried the buck had left the 30-acre parcel, which would further complicate things. (In Ohio, a landowner has no obligation to allow a hunter to recover game from private property.) But as they approached the spot where Alexander had last seen the deer, Haunert froze.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cCory starts sniffing the air,\u201d Alexander says. \u201cLike audibly sniffing the air. And he goes, \u2018Do you smell that? That smells like a ruttin\u2019 buck. That smells like a musky deer.\u2019\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n As the two stood there, Haunert saw Alexander glance over his shoulder toward the ponds and do a double take. Haunert\u2019s eyes followed Alexander\u2019s gaze to where a white belly and mass of antlers lay beside one of the ponds. The pair ran over to the deer, high-stepping and splashing through the water.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cCory just kept saying, \u2018CJ, you have no idea what you just did. You have no idea.\u2019 He acted like I\u2019d shot Bigfoot.\u201d<\/p>\n The aftermath of shooting a big deer is pretty universal. The deer gets loaded into the back of someone\u2019s pickup, driven by the homes of friends and family, and eventually, the parade ends at the taxidermist. There\u2019s a lot of picture taking, a lot of storytelling, and a lot of celebrating.\u00a0<\/p>\n What there are not a lot of, normally, are five-figure cash offers.<\/p>\n \u201cI didn\u2019t realize how big of a deal it was,\u201d Alexander says of his buck. He knew it had some real value to him, but never considered the value it would have to a certain faction of whitetail fanatics: trophy antler buyers.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n As news of Alexander\u2019s deer began to spread, he started receiving messages from people wanting to purchase his buck. Alexander says most of these messages have included three things: a congratulations, a cash offer, and a seed of doubt about the buck\u2019s ultimate score. He shared one of these exchanges with OL: \u201cI think after it\u2019s paneled, it won\u2019t be a state record for B&C. Looks like it will net in the upper 170\u2019s unfortunately \u2026 Keep me in mind if you ever entertain the idea of selling.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cBuyers will definitely play that game,\u201d says Klaus Lebrecht, owner of world-renowned reproduction studio Antlers by Klaus<\/a>. Lebrecht knows a thing or two about record whitetails and the antler market. If you\u2019ve ever wandered into one of Bass Pro Shops\u2019s \u201cKing of Bucks\u201d displays, you\u2019ve seen Lebrecht\u2019s work. They trusted Lebrecht to remount the antlers of the Hanson buck<\/a>, which is the number-one whitetail of all time. Lebrecht routinely handles some of the most well-known and highest-scoring whitetails of all-time, and he\u2019s unsurprised by the cash offers Alexander\u2019s buck has already drawn.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThey want the kid to sell quickly before it\u2019s all sorted out what he\u2019s really got,\u201d Lebrecht says.\u00a0<\/p>\n What he\u2019s \u201creally got\u201d is the big question. Ohio\u2019s Buckeye Big Buck Club<\/a> secretary Mix Rex gave the buck a green score of 206 7 \/ 8 inches. If that score were to hold up to a B&C scoring panel, Alexander\u2019s buck would become the No. 3 all-time typical whitetail ever taken in North America, and the No. 1 typical whitetail in Ohio.<\/p>\n \u201cRight now the deer could easily bring $50,000,\u201d Lebrecht says. \u201cBut if the thing gets certified by Boone and Crockett as being number one in Ohio and top three in the world, it puts it in a different category. Then it could be worth $80,000 or more.\u201d<\/p>\n Regardless of his shot at a North American record and the thousands of dollars it would add to the value of his deer, Alexander doesn\u2019t think he\u2019ll submit the buck to B&C for scoring. He says he\u2019s too worried the Club will score the antlers unfavorably, because of the record-book politics surrounding a feature called a \u201ccommon base.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n A common base<\/a> describes any two tines that emerge from the same base. In the B&C scoring system, depending on the configuration of the common base, these tines are either scored as typical points, or they\u2019re counted as nontypical features. Since the Alexander buck would be scored as a typical deer, the measurements of any nontypical tines would then be deducted from its net typical score.\u00a0<\/p>\n Read Next:<\/strong> The Case Against Scoring Big-Game Animals<\/a><\/p>\n Alexander acknowledges that the G-2 and G-3 tines on the left antler of his buck share a common base. He also realizes that in his bid for the state record, a nontypical common base and the resulting deductions would be devastating.<\/p>\n Assuming the buck\u2019s net green score of 206 7\/8 inches held through the 60-day drying period\u2014which is unlikely because some amount of shrinkage<\/a> is natural\u2014its net typical score would fall to 191 4\/8 inches after adjusting for the common base deductions. This would drop the deer from its potential spot as the new Ohio state record to No. 8. It would also remove the buck from contention in the Top 10 list of all-time North American whitetails\u2014a far cry from its current would-be No. 3 position.<\/p>\n Alexander\u2019s primary concern is that the Boone and Crockett Club won\u2019t give his deer a fair shake on its merit alone. He points to the comparisons that have already been made between his buck and another giant Midwestern whitetail who\u2019s final score was steeped in controversy.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t think they\u2019ll rule it typical because then they have to explain why mine is [typical] and the King Buck isn\u2019t,\u201d Alexander says.\u00a0<\/p>\nA 12-Hour Sit<\/h2>\n
The Smell of Success<\/h2>\n
![\"cj](\"https:\/\/www.outdoorlife.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/cj_alexander_buck_3.jpg?w=1650\")
Out Come the Offers<\/h2>\n
![\"Cj](\"https:\/\/www.outdoorlife.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/cj_alexander_buck_6.jpg?w=650\")
The Common Base Controversy<\/h2>\n