There have been some staggering numbers connected to the potential world-record whitetail deer killed last week in Tennessee. But the most amazing number of all might be the value of its antlers.
Gallatin, Tenn., resident Stephen Tucker bagged the big buck with a massive 47-point non-typical rack Nov. 7 in Sumner County. He is probably in line for a huge payday.
The rack itself could be worth more than $100,000, said Jared Steele, owner of Great Basin Antler Buyers in Utah, who is among the nation’s top antler buyers.
“It’s hard to put an exact number on it, but to the right buyer it could be worth a hundred grand,” said Steele. “Especially if it turns out to be a world record because there are people who collect stuff like that who are millionaires. To them it might be worth more than $100,000. You never know.”
Tucker, 26, hasn’t yet decided what he will do with the antlers. He stored them in a local bank and is awaiting a 60-day drying out period that must take place from the day he killed the deer with a muzzleloader for the official Boone and Crockett measurement to take place.
Racks are measured from side to side at the farthest points and inside the spread of the main stems using the official Boone and Crockett scoring method. The Boone and Crockett Club, founded in 1887 and named after Davey Crockett and Daniel Boone, created the first big-game scoring system.
Capt. Dale Grandstaff, of the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency and an official Boone and Crockett scorer, measured the rack at 313-2/8 inches gross. The net gross after deductions was 308⅜ inches.
A non-typical rack is asymmetrical and does not have the same number of points on each side like a typical rack.
The current Tennessee record buck killed by a hunter in 2000 grossed 256 points and netted 244⅜ inches. The world record killed by an Iowa hunter in 2003 had 38 points and scored 307⅝ inches net.
Tucker said he has been flooded with inquiries since the story first appeared at Tennessean.com from people wanting to know what he intends to do with the rack.
"I don’t have any plans for it right now,” Tucker said Tuesday. “I don’t know what I’m going to do. I'm just going to go with the flow. I just feel very blessed.”
If Tucker decides to allow vendors and wildlife organizations to pay him to display the rack, he probably will find that it actually increases in value.
“It’s going to hold its value for sure,” Steele said. “It would be like an investment. Once more people learn about it, more people will get interested and want to see it. People are going to want to display it on different shows, and all sorts of stuff will come from it.”
Gallatian resident Stephen Tucker talks about his potential world-record deer, which he killed on Monday Nov. 7, 2016.
