Post by YankeeRebel on Dec 9, 2007 9:16:44 GMT -5
New World Record Whitetail Owner’s Manual
Jim Shockey
1/4/2007
Editor’s note: This article was written and published shortly before Milo Hanson of Biggar, Saskatchewan shot the world record typical whitetail.
Fact.
Someone, somewhere and within the next few years, will hunt and kill a new world record typical whitetail buck.
If you are a whitetail hunter yourself, there is the possibility it could be you. Far-fetched as that may seem, the fact remains, someone will do it, so why couldn't it be you? Let's say for argument's sake that you do end up being the lucky hunter to kill the new world's record buck, would you know what to do?
Imagine you are on stand one fall evening and suddenly there before you appears the most magnificent buck you have ever seen. It happens more quickly than it takes to tell it, thankfully so, because you don't even have time to develop a case of buck fever before the rifle bucks against your shoulder and the huge animal drops. Sure the animal is dead, you immediately make your way over to where it lies. As you approach the fallen beast, the antlers seem to grow. And grow.
By the time you actually reach down and touch the buck's antlers, just to confirm it is real, you are aware it is a very special buck indeed. You are ecstatic but still you remember to tag the animal. But tagging the animal only brings another problem to mind. The animal is far too large for you alone to drag back to your truck. Torn with indecision, you finally decide to head out of the bush and flag down a passing vehicle for help.
A few minutes later, just as you reach your truck, a vehicle approaches. Two hunters, dressed in orange stop to chat, and you ask for help. Naturally, especially since they themselves have never killed a buck, they jump at the chance to help you drag yours out of the bush.
Half an hour later, as the sun sets, the three of you close the tailgate of your truck. The buck is safe and sound now. Wanting to share your good fortune, you relive the hunt with your new friends, explaining in detail how you managed to kill the buck with one shot. Happy to vicariously hunt the buck with you, the two hunters congratulate you over and over again, but eventually you and they part company. You wish them good luck as they drive away. As their tail lights disappear, you remember that you never did ask them their names.
During the hour-long drive back to the city, you try your best to recall what it was you read about measuring a buck's antlers for that record-book deal thing. By the time you back into your garage, it's getting late, but you just have to call someone to tell him about your buck. You call a friend who says he'll be right over, but poker night, so can he bring the guys too?
Of course, you agree. The more the merrier.
By the time the guys show up it's near midnight, but you can't sleep anyway. They're just as happy for you as can be, in fact they're positively ecstatic for the excuse to crack open a few more beers. During the course of the celebration, one of the guys says he's a bit of a trophy hunter and knows how to measure your buck for the record book. With bated breath you wait for the final verdict. When it comes you are disappointed. The fellow, puffed out with importance, explains to you that while it is a big buck, it doesn't quite make the record book.
Oh well, you reason, it is still big enough to have mounted. Naw. The guys talk you out of it. Costs a fortune they tell you. Better to just save the antlers and have them mounted on a plaque. Good idea.
The next morning you skin the buck out, take the carcass to the butcher and the hide to the dump. You cut the antlers off and forget them for a week or so until you can make the time to take them to the taxidermist. When that day comes, it suddenly feels like a rampaging, out-of-control bull has run head long into your life.
The taxidermist informs you that you may have killed a new world record buck. He calls some friends to come over and confirm what he already knows. They do and within 24 hours the story of your hunt is out in a local newspaper. You were never interviewed for the article. Within another day your phone begins to ring. Writers and antler buyers. They want the story and the antlers. Will you give an exclusive? Will you sign a contract? Will you sell the antlers? The story appears nationally the next day, but still you haven't given an interview.
The telephone calls increase in frequency and insistence. How about a television show? Will you endorse this? How about that? We'll be there on Thursday. Can we use the buck for a week-long sporting goods trade show? Have you had it scored officially yet? No problem we'll take care of it for you.
You feel overwhelmed, unsure of what to do. You sign a contract or two taking what seems like a fair offer, a free taxidermy mount in exchange for an interview. Those before you start to receive the strange phone calls. The first one accuses you of being a poacher and how could you sit there and take all the publicity. You don't know what he's talking about. A day later a story appears in the local newspaper saying you are being investigated for poaching. It's the first you heard of this. The next day the poaching story is out in the national newspapers.
A lawyer calls. You are being sued for misrepresenting yourself in endorsing a product. You explain you never endorsed a product ... as far as you know. He says you better get a lawyer. When you hang up, you hear your doorbell ring. It's the game warden with several policemen and several more television and newspaper reporters.
Did you kill your buck at night? No! We have affidavits that you arrived home with your buck around midnight. Not true! Do you have witnesses? Yes! No! You explain about the two guys dressed in orange who helped you drag your buck out of the bush. Do you have any pictures to corroborate your story? No. Did you have permisson to hunt on the land? It was public land you protest. Not from what they heard, they inform you. Can you prove it? No. Was your buck killed out of season? What? We have reason to believe you killed your buck before the season. Absolutely not! May we see the cape to confirm the buck was in his fall coat? You explain that you threw the cape in the garbage. Right. They understand. But, they have to confiscate the antlers until the matter is resolved.
That night you sit in front of your television watching the sharks feeding on your formally snow-white reputation. Drug dealer? With Mafia connections? Known to police? Your father phones half way through it. How could you? Your girlfriend calls to say it's over. Even your dog won't let you touch him. You look at yourself in the mirror and wonder what you did wrong?
Everything.
Now granted, this story may seem a little far-fetched and exaggerated, but it isn't nearly so far fetched as you might believe.
Ed Koberstein, killed what was touted by some as the new world record typical whitetail buck in the fall of 1991. Ed would tell you in no uncertain terms that shooting such a buck can be far more trouble than it is worth.
In Ed's case, the question of poaching did come up as an ugly rumor and was dutifully checked out and dismissed by local conservation officers. What's more, one of the very first stories in writing about the buck, appearing nationally, was printed without Ed's consent. Another twist to Ed's story had to do with one of the hunters hunting with Ed that day. It seems he took photos of Ed and his buck, but wouldn't let Ed have any of the photos to use in the many magazine articles being written about the buck. Maybe that hunter thought he could sell them for piles of money if the buck turned out to be a new world record. Who knows?
So what should a hunter do if he thinks he might have just killed a new world record? Or perhaps better stated, what can a hunter do to prevent a great personal achievement from becoming an embarrasing circus sideshow?
For the correct procedure, let's return to your stand that beautiful fall evening when you suddenly looked down and saw the most magnificent buck you have ever seen. Shoot him like you did, but this time when you walk up to him and realize he is very special indeed, forget celebrating, forget being excited, in fact forget every natural human reaction and think of only one thing.
Documentation.
Somehow you absolutely have to document the event. Not only the fact that it happened, but that it happened at that exact time. For this you must have to have a camera handy. Whether it is in your truck or whether you carry a small point-and-shoot auto-focus model with you in your pocket, you need a camera. If you don't have one, get one. Buy it from the farmer down the road if need be, but get a camera.
Assuming, after you read this article, you will always have a camera with you, take it out and start snapping photos of the buck. Hopefully you will have a second roll of film for insurance. After you have taken several photos of the buck, including at least one close up of its face to show that its eyes are not sunken in, leave the scene but as you do, take a couple of photos from some distance away to show the location. Be sure the animal can be seen in the photo.
Now you need another human or two. Go back to your truck and this time when the vehicle with the two hunters drives up, ask them if they wouldn't mind taking a photo of you with the buck you killed. Remember, those two hunters are your best defense against accusations of hunting illegally. They will know your buck was freshly killed, they will know where it was killed, they will know when it was killed and they will know that circumstance dictates you were the one who killed the buck. As sad a commentary on our pastime as it is, at some point after you kill the new world record, you will have to address every one of these questions.
Get them to take pictures of you with the buck, lots of pictures. There is no such thing as too many. Get them to take photos from every angle, try and keep the background uncluttered, but if you can't, take the pictures anyway. Get one of the hunters to take a couple of pictures of you and the other hunter with the buck. The situation gets sticky if one of your helpers pulls out his own camera. The last thing you need are those unauthorized stories in the press. Suggest to the fellow that you need even more pictures and offer to buy his film. If he won't sell it to you, make sure you are in every picture he takes of the buck. Legally, no one can publish photos of you if you have not given that person permission. It's called a model release.
After the photo session, it's time to take the buck back to your vehicle. Once you are back at your truck, get the hunters to give you their names, addresses and phone numbers. Also, get them to sign statement of fact. Any paper, even the back of your cartridge box will do. Write down the particulars of the hunt, time, location, date and how many points you believe are on the rack. Mention that the buck was freshly killed.
When those two hunters leave this time, they may think you are paranoid and certainly they will think you are strange, but you'll have an answer for the conservation officers when they come knocking. And, rest assured, they will come knocking if your buck does turn out to be a new world's record.
By now it will be dark, but you still have to show the buck to a few more people. Drive it to the nearest farm and show the farmer. Get his name and number and get him to sign your piece of paper saying you showed up at his house at whatever time it happens to be. Remember, no pictures. Now take the buck directly to the nearest police station or even better to a conservation officer you know of. Even if you have to go right to the man's house, do it. He may complain, but that will stop when he lays eyes on your buck. Make sure that who ever you show the buck to looks closely and notes that it has been dead for several hours. The idea is to belie any accusations of night hunting. Have the officer check your licences and tags to confirm all is in order and then, like before, get them to sign your paper saying they did so.
After all that, until morning comes at least, you will have done all you can. Don't do any more that night. Don't call all your friends and invite them over for a party. There'll be time enough for partying when the measuring’s done. First thing in the morning, you have to call a photographer. You need professional help and should be prepared to pay for it. Unfortunately, this is also the week link in the chain. The person who snaps the picture actually owns the copyright to the photo. In your case, it is imperative that the photographer knows you are to get the images (digital or otherwise) and that he has to sign a paper saying he relinquishes all rights of the photos to you.
For these photos, the background has to be uncluttered and wilderness looking. Drive the buck to where the background is suitably wild and skyline the antlers or have them displayed against snow. Remember, brushy backgrounds are out. Take 200 photos at least. Have the photographer bracket the exposures, he'll know what that means. These are the shots that will appear in the magazines later and perhaps in advertisements for products you might be asked to endorse. They have to be good. Clean any blood from the animal and make sure its tongue is not hanging out.
Only after you have posed for so many pictures that you face hurts from smiling can you finally call it a done deal. Take your buck home and skin it out, taking care to keep the hide intact and attached to the head and antlers. Make room in your deep freeze for the cape and antlers and throw them in.
Now you can put your feet up. It's OK to take a break anyway because it's time to go underground. If you want to tell your close friends and family, then do so but no interviews and no pictures.
At this point you need advice from the powers that be. Place a call to B&C headquarters and ask what they suggest you do. Likely they won't believe you, who would? But they should be able to suggest an official scorer who is presently in the Club's good books, and no doubt will arrange for you to receive a "how-to" guide about scoring. If after receiving your B&C scoring directions and green scoring your buck, you find that indeed the antlers are g oing to score over the existing world record, you should ask to have an official scorer come over to confirm your suspicions.
Now they may do this and they may not. The buck cannot be officially scored until it has dried for 60 days, and they may arrange for an official scoring on that date. If this is the case, then you are in for a few weeks’ wait before you can do anything more. You'll need the time anyway to decide what it is you really want to have happen in your life for the next year.
Do you want to quit your job and do guest appearances at every outdoor show from coast to coast? Do you want your smiling face colorfully plastered beside this and that hunting product? Do you want to capitalize on your good fortune? There are those who feel the hunter who shoots the new world record typical buck will have the opportunity to parlay his good luck into a million or so dollars.
Maybe, but far more likely not. The actual who's who in the hunting world, the who's, who control the purse strings will get real touchy if you come across as a gold digger. Remember, it's a small fraternity and one that frowns upon the exploitation of any big game animal for personal gain. Hunting is not about money and never will be. You would do well to remember this. Perhaps, instead you should think about the millions of young hunters who you will be able to reach because of your accomplishment. We could use a hero in the hunting world, why not you?
Regardless of what side of the ethical fence you decide to stand on, there is one more thing you should know. E-mail me before you talk to anyone else in the hunting industry about your buck info@jimshockey.com.
Jim Shockey
1/4/2007
Editor’s note: This article was written and published shortly before Milo Hanson of Biggar, Saskatchewan shot the world record typical whitetail.
Fact.
Someone, somewhere and within the next few years, will hunt and kill a new world record typical whitetail buck.
If you are a whitetail hunter yourself, there is the possibility it could be you. Far-fetched as that may seem, the fact remains, someone will do it, so why couldn't it be you? Let's say for argument's sake that you do end up being the lucky hunter to kill the new world's record buck, would you know what to do?
Imagine you are on stand one fall evening and suddenly there before you appears the most magnificent buck you have ever seen. It happens more quickly than it takes to tell it, thankfully so, because you don't even have time to develop a case of buck fever before the rifle bucks against your shoulder and the huge animal drops. Sure the animal is dead, you immediately make your way over to where it lies. As you approach the fallen beast, the antlers seem to grow. And grow.
By the time you actually reach down and touch the buck's antlers, just to confirm it is real, you are aware it is a very special buck indeed. You are ecstatic but still you remember to tag the animal. But tagging the animal only brings another problem to mind. The animal is far too large for you alone to drag back to your truck. Torn with indecision, you finally decide to head out of the bush and flag down a passing vehicle for help.
A few minutes later, just as you reach your truck, a vehicle approaches. Two hunters, dressed in orange stop to chat, and you ask for help. Naturally, especially since they themselves have never killed a buck, they jump at the chance to help you drag yours out of the bush.
Half an hour later, as the sun sets, the three of you close the tailgate of your truck. The buck is safe and sound now. Wanting to share your good fortune, you relive the hunt with your new friends, explaining in detail how you managed to kill the buck with one shot. Happy to vicariously hunt the buck with you, the two hunters congratulate you over and over again, but eventually you and they part company. You wish them good luck as they drive away. As their tail lights disappear, you remember that you never did ask them their names.
During the hour-long drive back to the city, you try your best to recall what it was you read about measuring a buck's antlers for that record-book deal thing. By the time you back into your garage, it's getting late, but you just have to call someone to tell him about your buck. You call a friend who says he'll be right over, but poker night, so can he bring the guys too?
Of course, you agree. The more the merrier.
By the time the guys show up it's near midnight, but you can't sleep anyway. They're just as happy for you as can be, in fact they're positively ecstatic for the excuse to crack open a few more beers. During the course of the celebration, one of the guys says he's a bit of a trophy hunter and knows how to measure your buck for the record book. With bated breath you wait for the final verdict. When it comes you are disappointed. The fellow, puffed out with importance, explains to you that while it is a big buck, it doesn't quite make the record book.
Oh well, you reason, it is still big enough to have mounted. Naw. The guys talk you out of it. Costs a fortune they tell you. Better to just save the antlers and have them mounted on a plaque. Good idea.
The next morning you skin the buck out, take the carcass to the butcher and the hide to the dump. You cut the antlers off and forget them for a week or so until you can make the time to take them to the taxidermist. When that day comes, it suddenly feels like a rampaging, out-of-control bull has run head long into your life.
The taxidermist informs you that you may have killed a new world record buck. He calls some friends to come over and confirm what he already knows. They do and within 24 hours the story of your hunt is out in a local newspaper. You were never interviewed for the article. Within another day your phone begins to ring. Writers and antler buyers. They want the story and the antlers. Will you give an exclusive? Will you sign a contract? Will you sell the antlers? The story appears nationally the next day, but still you haven't given an interview.
The telephone calls increase in frequency and insistence. How about a television show? Will you endorse this? How about that? We'll be there on Thursday. Can we use the buck for a week-long sporting goods trade show? Have you had it scored officially yet? No problem we'll take care of it for you.
You feel overwhelmed, unsure of what to do. You sign a contract or two taking what seems like a fair offer, a free taxidermy mount in exchange for an interview. Those before you start to receive the strange phone calls. The first one accuses you of being a poacher and how could you sit there and take all the publicity. You don't know what he's talking about. A day later a story appears in the local newspaper saying you are being investigated for poaching. It's the first you heard of this. The next day the poaching story is out in the national newspapers.
A lawyer calls. You are being sued for misrepresenting yourself in endorsing a product. You explain you never endorsed a product ... as far as you know. He says you better get a lawyer. When you hang up, you hear your doorbell ring. It's the game warden with several policemen and several more television and newspaper reporters.
Did you kill your buck at night? No! We have affidavits that you arrived home with your buck around midnight. Not true! Do you have witnesses? Yes! No! You explain about the two guys dressed in orange who helped you drag your buck out of the bush. Do you have any pictures to corroborate your story? No. Did you have permisson to hunt on the land? It was public land you protest. Not from what they heard, they inform you. Can you prove it? No. Was your buck killed out of season? What? We have reason to believe you killed your buck before the season. Absolutely not! May we see the cape to confirm the buck was in his fall coat? You explain that you threw the cape in the garbage. Right. They understand. But, they have to confiscate the antlers until the matter is resolved.
That night you sit in front of your television watching the sharks feeding on your formally snow-white reputation. Drug dealer? With Mafia connections? Known to police? Your father phones half way through it. How could you? Your girlfriend calls to say it's over. Even your dog won't let you touch him. You look at yourself in the mirror and wonder what you did wrong?
Everything.
Now granted, this story may seem a little far-fetched and exaggerated, but it isn't nearly so far fetched as you might believe.
Ed Koberstein, killed what was touted by some as the new world record typical whitetail buck in the fall of 1991. Ed would tell you in no uncertain terms that shooting such a buck can be far more trouble than it is worth.
In Ed's case, the question of poaching did come up as an ugly rumor and was dutifully checked out and dismissed by local conservation officers. What's more, one of the very first stories in writing about the buck, appearing nationally, was printed without Ed's consent. Another twist to Ed's story had to do with one of the hunters hunting with Ed that day. It seems he took photos of Ed and his buck, but wouldn't let Ed have any of the photos to use in the many magazine articles being written about the buck. Maybe that hunter thought he could sell them for piles of money if the buck turned out to be a new world record. Who knows?
So what should a hunter do if he thinks he might have just killed a new world record? Or perhaps better stated, what can a hunter do to prevent a great personal achievement from becoming an embarrasing circus sideshow?
For the correct procedure, let's return to your stand that beautiful fall evening when you suddenly looked down and saw the most magnificent buck you have ever seen. Shoot him like you did, but this time when you walk up to him and realize he is very special indeed, forget celebrating, forget being excited, in fact forget every natural human reaction and think of only one thing.
Documentation.
Somehow you absolutely have to document the event. Not only the fact that it happened, but that it happened at that exact time. For this you must have to have a camera handy. Whether it is in your truck or whether you carry a small point-and-shoot auto-focus model with you in your pocket, you need a camera. If you don't have one, get one. Buy it from the farmer down the road if need be, but get a camera.
Assuming, after you read this article, you will always have a camera with you, take it out and start snapping photos of the buck. Hopefully you will have a second roll of film for insurance. After you have taken several photos of the buck, including at least one close up of its face to show that its eyes are not sunken in, leave the scene but as you do, take a couple of photos from some distance away to show the location. Be sure the animal can be seen in the photo.
Now you need another human or two. Go back to your truck and this time when the vehicle with the two hunters drives up, ask them if they wouldn't mind taking a photo of you with the buck you killed. Remember, those two hunters are your best defense against accusations of hunting illegally. They will know your buck was freshly killed, they will know where it was killed, they will know when it was killed and they will know that circumstance dictates you were the one who killed the buck. As sad a commentary on our pastime as it is, at some point after you kill the new world record, you will have to address every one of these questions.
Get them to take pictures of you with the buck, lots of pictures. There is no such thing as too many. Get them to take photos from every angle, try and keep the background uncluttered, but if you can't, take the pictures anyway. Get one of the hunters to take a couple of pictures of you and the other hunter with the buck. The situation gets sticky if one of your helpers pulls out his own camera. The last thing you need are those unauthorized stories in the press. Suggest to the fellow that you need even more pictures and offer to buy his film. If he won't sell it to you, make sure you are in every picture he takes of the buck. Legally, no one can publish photos of you if you have not given that person permission. It's called a model release.
After the photo session, it's time to take the buck back to your vehicle. Once you are back at your truck, get the hunters to give you their names, addresses and phone numbers. Also, get them to sign statement of fact. Any paper, even the back of your cartridge box will do. Write down the particulars of the hunt, time, location, date and how many points you believe are on the rack. Mention that the buck was freshly killed.
When those two hunters leave this time, they may think you are paranoid and certainly they will think you are strange, but you'll have an answer for the conservation officers when they come knocking. And, rest assured, they will come knocking if your buck does turn out to be a new world's record.
By now it will be dark, but you still have to show the buck to a few more people. Drive it to the nearest farm and show the farmer. Get his name and number and get him to sign your piece of paper saying you showed up at his house at whatever time it happens to be. Remember, no pictures. Now take the buck directly to the nearest police station or even better to a conservation officer you know of. Even if you have to go right to the man's house, do it. He may complain, but that will stop when he lays eyes on your buck. Make sure that who ever you show the buck to looks closely and notes that it has been dead for several hours. The idea is to belie any accusations of night hunting. Have the officer check your licences and tags to confirm all is in order and then, like before, get them to sign your paper saying they did so.
After all that, until morning comes at least, you will have done all you can. Don't do any more that night. Don't call all your friends and invite them over for a party. There'll be time enough for partying when the measuring’s done. First thing in the morning, you have to call a photographer. You need professional help and should be prepared to pay for it. Unfortunately, this is also the week link in the chain. The person who snaps the picture actually owns the copyright to the photo. In your case, it is imperative that the photographer knows you are to get the images (digital or otherwise) and that he has to sign a paper saying he relinquishes all rights of the photos to you.
For these photos, the background has to be uncluttered and wilderness looking. Drive the buck to where the background is suitably wild and skyline the antlers or have them displayed against snow. Remember, brushy backgrounds are out. Take 200 photos at least. Have the photographer bracket the exposures, he'll know what that means. These are the shots that will appear in the magazines later and perhaps in advertisements for products you might be asked to endorse. They have to be good. Clean any blood from the animal and make sure its tongue is not hanging out.
Only after you have posed for so many pictures that you face hurts from smiling can you finally call it a done deal. Take your buck home and skin it out, taking care to keep the hide intact and attached to the head and antlers. Make room in your deep freeze for the cape and antlers and throw them in.
Now you can put your feet up. It's OK to take a break anyway because it's time to go underground. If you want to tell your close friends and family, then do so but no interviews and no pictures.
At this point you need advice from the powers that be. Place a call to B&C headquarters and ask what they suggest you do. Likely they won't believe you, who would? But they should be able to suggest an official scorer who is presently in the Club's good books, and no doubt will arrange for you to receive a "how-to" guide about scoring. If after receiving your B&C scoring directions and green scoring your buck, you find that indeed the antlers are g oing to score over the existing world record, you should ask to have an official scorer come over to confirm your suspicions.
Now they may do this and they may not. The buck cannot be officially scored until it has dried for 60 days, and they may arrange for an official scoring on that date. If this is the case, then you are in for a few weeks’ wait before you can do anything more. You'll need the time anyway to decide what it is you really want to have happen in your life for the next year.
Do you want to quit your job and do guest appearances at every outdoor show from coast to coast? Do you want your smiling face colorfully plastered beside this and that hunting product? Do you want to capitalize on your good fortune? There are those who feel the hunter who shoots the new world record typical buck will have the opportunity to parlay his good luck into a million or so dollars.
Maybe, but far more likely not. The actual who's who in the hunting world, the who's, who control the purse strings will get real touchy if you come across as a gold digger. Remember, it's a small fraternity and one that frowns upon the exploitation of any big game animal for personal gain. Hunting is not about money and never will be. You would do well to remember this. Perhaps, instead you should think about the millions of young hunters who you will be able to reach because of your accomplishment. We could use a hero in the hunting world, why not you?
Regardless of what side of the ethical fence you decide to stand on, there is one more thing you should know. E-mail me before you talk to anyone else in the hunting industry about your buck info@jimshockey.com.
BARN BURNER CUSTOM STRINGS PRO STAFF
