Is McClendons Buck Going To Be #1?
Mule Deer
Did the score hold up after the drying period? Exceptional buck.
Wow! What a great buck! Which state?
Awesome buck, regardless of score!!!
Wouldn't he have to strip the velvet to qualify for world record as velvet entries are not the same as hard horn?
The buck was killed in Mohave County, AZ. After the drying period, McClendon's buck has been initially accepted by P&Y at 207 7/8", almost 3" higher than the current record. As with all potential records, P&Y will verify the score via panel judging before determining a final 'official' score. It's gonna be right in there!
Yes the velvet will have to be stripped for it to be officially a world record
From the story it sounds like he really hunted the buck instead of being led to it by an organized posse. I hope so. Hell of a deer, looking forward to seeing it.
There's a lot of variables with the velvet and all, but there's no ambiguity with this deer like there could be with a WR WT. It's all going to come down to what it dries out at.
I'm really happy to see the WR come home to the USA, no disrespect to Mr Harms on his incredible deer that you could use as a bed frame.
With all the hunting that goes on in this country, it's amazing to see WRs still up for grabs in categories like Mule Deer.
They're out there folks :)
Wow what a buck! Would like to see some different views as well.
He doesn't have to strip it. He could submit it as a velvet. Yeah, it wouldn't be the WR if so, but it's still a choice.
You don't know what you're gonna get till you open your present. Unless he puts it through a CT scanner and can have it measured that way, it's still a box of chocolates.
So you leave it 59 days and then have it stripped. Then have it measured. Then it gets officially measured. Then it gets panel measured. All the while in different stages of drying that could make the difference between it being the WR or not.
Variables. I was referring to the hand wringing that happens before it's official, not the final score.
No... will have shrunk too much!
Need Ed to weigh in, but as I understand it, it has been officially scored as the new wr, and just awaiting panel verification in Phoenix. So unless the scorer goofed up, it should surpass Harms' buck.
I have never hunted for Mule Deer. But- doesn't P&Y have a separate category for VELVET mule deer????
There will be a multitude of potential World Records this year. The Phoenix Convention is going to be incredible this year. If the Woody score holds you have a potential 48 year old record being beaten by 30 inches!!!! Very exciting indeed. See you all in Phoenix! C
That's nothing. I've killed many deer bigger than that - in my dreams! :)
Yes,Mule Deer Velvet is a category
Genesis...Yes, it is a category, but velvet entries appear in one record book unranked I believe. AND to be recognized as a World Record, the velvet would have to be stripped.
I would not want to strip the velvet. Should be just as it was taken.
Great buck ! You could have artificial velvet reapplied after scoring is official, it only takes $.
I believe it did hold up after the 60 days. Will be scored in Phoenix I'm sure. There could be another as well. Who knows until its all said and done. I would like to hear Marvin Zeiser's and Roy Grace's opinions.
I love velvet muleys! World record? Hell yeah, it's getting stripped!
They can do amazing artificial velvet these days.
I will always strip the velvet! Love the hard horned. Most east coast guys like hard horned because we can't hunt deer when their antlers are still growing! Just a personal preference!
** posted live from a Midwest tree stand:)
Certainly raises an interesting debate. I would love to shoot a big buck of any species in velvet- and the mount should reflect it as it were. I would think p&y would not even allow for such things. I learned something new today.
The buck is already scored. The drying period is up. He obviously stripped the velvet to be eligible for a world record. Barring any mistakes made by the official scorer, to be determined during panel scoring, this will be the new pope and young world record.
Jack u can enter a velvet buck but its not in the permanent book ! Maybe the New PY will change this :> Awesome buck !!
Maybe some day with the technology available they could put a velvet rack in a 360 degree scanner and give any rack a 100% accurate score, velvet or no velvet. It does seem a shame to destroy the beauty of a velvet buck .
I'd rather have the natural velvet than a certificate any day.
Not knocking P&Y, just with all the rigid principals and reward for symmetry over total bone, I found it astounding that they would allow for a velvet stripped rack "to be book" and just keep a separate meaningless category for velvet.
Check out the artificial velvet done by Dennis Razza at my link!
Once upon a time, I had an older gentleman tell me "dentures are not a substitute for teeth, they are a substitute for no teeth." So too is the case with artificial velvet. It simply looks fake, no matter how well it is applied (as in the case of the link supplied, despite the fact that Dennis Razza did a great job with it considering). Rarely is the color close, the texture isn't right, and it is usually too "perfect" despite a taxidermist's best efforts at distressing it to make it look more realistic.
That's a truly fantastic buck. Can't blame the guy for stripping it due to the record book considerations. But for me personally, it'd kill me to strip that velvet. Too bad the club doesn't have a separate category for permanently recording velvet entries for a few species.
For my own taste, I wouldn't trade anything for my velvet mule deer mount. I packed that head out of the wilderness ASAP and got it in a freezer within about 24 hours of the kill. Thanks to the skill of my taxidermist....even today (9 years later) the original velvet still looks exactly like the day it was killed, including every blemish, scrape, and blackened tip.
It's pretty near impossible to replicate the look of original velvet because of the color variegation and shadowing, the veining in live velvet, differences in how the velvet hair lays down in different directions and thicknesses along the length of the rack, the dark rubbery tips, and the way real velvet complies with each nub and bump on the antlers. I'll give Mr Razza credit for doing it about as well as humanly possible. But still there's definitely no substitute for the real thing.
Beautiful buck, sticksender! Is that freeze dried or injected velvet?
This dble mb club dropper buck I shot I would never imagine stripping the velvet off of... This one was freeze dried as turned out great. Some of the fake velvet looks good but for the cost they better add on a big $ bonus for stripping it for scoring... That stuffs very pricey.
Lou thanks, he injected it with embalming fluid.
I'd love to see that McClendon buck in person. I'll bet it's even more impressive than the field pic.
Drove 24 hrs straight in 90+ temperatures shoving dry ice in the cardboard box to save a bucks velvet. Horns were probably a week from shedding so I used a brush on product from a taxidermist supply and crossed my fingers
This might answer some of your questions... Click on the link and then the press release. I hope it shows up at panel.
To each his own about the question of stripping the velvet. I think that it is great that the Pope and Young Club Records Program has so many options... hard horn, velvet, strip it, don't strip it... Ed F
nice velvet bucks look great
Be diligent in treating that velvet with insect repellant. Bugs love it and it doesn't matter how it's initially treated. They will eat it up. Artificial velvet doesn't look as nice as the real thing but its permanent. I have a set of velvet antlers that are at least 15 years old. The hair slowly comes off over time. I neglected to check it for a few years and bugs got on the tips and ate the velvet off.
Is it possible to have an animal scored in velvet (after the 60 day waiting period)...THEN remove the velvet, and have it scored hard horned? Heck, while it may not look exactly the same....I suppose you could even put synthetic velvet back on, after having it scored hard horned....? Not saying tht I would, just wondering if you could?
Jake what would be the point of having it scored twice like that? Of course it would be possible though, not sure I see the reasoning for it though.
Nick,
Ed would be better for answering this, as he runs the records program, but official measurers, like myself, score the majority of the entries submitted into Pope & Young. For the biggest animals from each category during a recording period, the trophies need to be panel scored by selected measurers from around the country. The guys selected are often some of the most experienced official measurers and have often served on those committees many times.
That ensures that all trophies at the top of each category have been subjected to the same amount of scrutiny, by measurers of similar experience. It allows for the most fair and accurate score to be attached to each animal. No offense to certain measurers, but if you have a guy score a caribou, who has never seen one before, there is a chance he may not get all 27 measurements exactly right. Hence the need for some continuity within the scoring process for the largest of trophies.
Zack,
I understand the process but was confused by Jakes question. Hope to meet you Friday in Reno.
I guess I can see the point of his question if the hunter wanted to see where it scored prior to removing the velvet because it would be a new WR. Maybe that's what he meant.
Gotcha. I will be around for a couple days. I'm sure we will run into each other
Matt? Your alive and on bowsite!
We'll see where it ends up at panel......I can't wait to measure it next month. Mr. R. Tone was the original measurer and he is very experienced, so it should be exciting.
As for the "velvet" issue...time to get over it. It's a choice if you want to strip it or not. I have both in the records program.....and BOTH are entered forever in archives.
Wherever this buck ends up, congratulations to John McClendon on such an extraordinary mule deer. A truer gentlemen would be hard to find.
one cool thing about that buck, he is not sitting 15 feet behind the antlers or has arms fully extended, and its still freakin' huge!
