Oldest whitetail deer ever killed?
The story of the top whitetail ever shot is as great as the
deer.
When 15-year-old Tony Lovstuen pulled the trigger of his
muzzleloader on the afternoon of Sept. 29, 2003, he ended the reign
of a buck that already was world famous. The Iowa non-typical had
become known to the hunting world through Ron Willmore and Brian
Lindberg's article in the Feb. 2002 issue of North American
Whitetail magazine, in which trail camera photos and shed antlers
of the then-living buck were shown. The magazine dubbed the deer
"Iowa's Walking World Record," and the name was fitting. With a
potential score of nearly 300 inches on the Boone and Crockett
system, the Monroe County giant would indeed have been a world
record if taken with either a bow or muzzleloader.
Tony's dad, Doug Lovstuen, grazed the buck's neck during the
2001 gun season, and the next summer, trail camera shots showed
that the right antler was stunted. Before long, that side of the
rack actually fell off. But by the summer of 2003 the deer's rack
was bigger than ever, as confirmed by more trail camera photos.
Doug and his cousins, Steve Angran and Mark Murphy, decided it was
time to pool their efforts to hunt the animal, which spent most of
his time on their family's land.
By then, plenty of other hunters in the area were also looking
to make whitetail history. Fearful that the deer would be shot by a
neighboring hunter or poacher, get hit by a vehicle or break an
antler while rubbing, the family recruited Doug's son, Tony, to
pursue him during September's special youth season. This early
season allows a youth accompanied by an adult to hunt deer with a
bow, shotgun or muzzleloader prior to the regular archery
season.
On Sept. 29, Tony accompanied Doug and Mark to a ground blind in
one of the buck's favorite areas. That evening a small buck stepped
out, followed by the one they wanted. Tony's 70-yard shot hit the
buck in the midsection, and he was recovered the next day.
The 38-point rack received a "green" B&C score of 322 4/8 -
far above the existing hunter-taken world record of 295 6/8 - and
soon the hunting world was abuzz with the news. The Jan. and Feb.
2004 issues of North American Whitetail had the first photos and
details of the hunt, bringing the remarkable story full circle.
Although a panel of measurers later reduced the Lovstuen buck's
final score to 307 5/8, that was still enough to make him the
"world's biggest hunter-taken whitetail." That designation and the
events surrounding the deer's life make him a trophy for the
ages.