King Buck Controversy Revisited

Will the king of whitetails finally be crowned?

That's the question Johnny King keeps asking himself. It was King's monster six-by-six buck harvested in Wisconsin in 2006 that nearly missed a world record in controversial fashion, as Boone & Crockett ruled it out because of a few non-typical points.

B&C originally ruled that the almost perfectly matching G3's on the rack were to be classified as non-typical points, and due to that decision the rack would lose something in the neighborhood of eighteen inches, which is a lot of bone to lose for any rack. Those few precious inches have until now dropped the rack below the coveted 200 inch mark.

Why then are we still wondering what spot this buck will hold six years later?

According to Deer & Deer Hunter Magazine, B&C will convene this month to rule and reassess this special, and somewhat controversial rack. King's buck, which originally grossed over 220 inches and netted over 215 typical inches back in 2006, would have easily crushed the Hanson world record score of 213 5/8. The last time the King buck was re-measured though, the rack had shrunk to 213 6/8, still eclipsing the Hanson buck by an 1/8 of inch, and with enough bone to become the world record.  But after six years of additional drying what will the buck score now? Will B&C demand a re-measurement of the trophy rack, or will they accept the earlier score upon examining the questionable G3's?

King's buck certainly lives up to its name — there is no doubt about that — but does it deserve to be the top buck after all of these years? Other than the G3's it also has a repaired left main beam that until recently was not allowed into the book either. Is B&C caving to popular pressure on this buck, or are they finally doing what is right for the "If" Wisconsin Legend? Only time, and another B&C ruling, will tell.

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