World Class

Count down (2) days before leaving Shenandoah National Park. Finally, a "World Class" buck appeared during mid-day on Skyline Drive. The best that I can possibly determine through the magnification process of the limited photos on the PC: 6 x 4 with a split G-2. He has great mass and beam circumference at the base, awesome spread, good brow tines, very long G-2s & G-3s, palmation of the main beam at the G-2s...absolutely the finest buck I've ever seen in over 40 years in the field. I've been involved with captive deer research programs at Mississippi State University and private ranches in east Texas during my undergraduate work, trophy hunted in west Texas, and I watch the Outdoor Channel shows regularly of the over exploited Canadian subspecies of whitetails. This buck is "top shelf" as a National Park icon for the Dept. of Interior. I will not attempt to field score him in fear of underestimating. Make your best Boone and Crocket score and let me know what you think! The photo sequence is in retro-order. With leaves wet and a slight breeze, I followed him to gain the closest possible position for a broadside or frontal photo. He wouldn't have it! After flanking him until I was breathing hard and the wind changed which carried my scent directly to him, he finally had enough and left the country at full speed. What an encounter indeed! I am content that I have seen a buck of a lifetime. Bucks throughout the Park are now gathering in groups, biologists call "bachelor groups." During the same hour I encountered three bucks browsing in a clearing. The largest was certainly another fine buck.