NBBC Crowns the Johnny King Buck as World Record Typical
OutdoorHub Reporters 04.15.13
The Northeast Big Buck Club (NBBC) has moved to recognize the “Johnny King buck” as the record typical-antlered whitetail after a panel scored it on April 13. The controversial buck was turned down for a record from the Boone and Crockett Club last year, when officials determined that the rack scored 180 typical points or 217-5/8 non-typical points. At those scores the King buck fell short of the Milo Hanson world record buck, which measured at 213-5/8 typical points. The reigning non-typical also easily trumped the contender at 333-7/8 points.
The King buck’s current owner, Jay Fish, reportedly purchased the rack for $35,000 and managed to get it in front of reviewers from the Boone and Crocket Club (B&C), which is recognized as one of the leading authorities on record keeping and scoring. Unfortunately, the club’s measuring system worked against the King buck, which proved to be difficult to measure and categorize.
“There’s a lot of process and due diligence, and through it all, it’s important to remember the chief reason why we keep records in the first place. It’s not to aggrandize hunters, rank individual animals, or monetize trophies, but to document conservation success,” said B&C chairman Eldon Buckner in a press release. “I’m confident that our panel has upheld the historic integrity of our records. It’s not a World’s Record, but the King buck is certainly a world-class specimen and another reason to celebrate the conservation work of the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources.”
The NBBC agreed to score the buck independently at the request of Fish, and using their measuring methods have found the King buck a hair larger than the Hansen record. The NBBC deals only with gross score whereas the B&C recognizes net score.
“The King buck has a gross score of 221 6/8,”NBBC President Jeff Brown told Outdoor Hub. “Milo Hanson’s world record has a gross score of 220 6/8. Our net score was 213 3/8″, 2/8″ of smaller than Milo’s 213 5/8″. But again, while we compute the net score we rank our bucks only by gross score, giving full credit for everything it grew.”
According to Deeranddeerhunting.com, the panel consisted of Jeff Brown, Everett Brown and official scorer Ron Boucher. The NBBC panel spent over three hours with the buck to make sure the measurements were precise and comprehensive. Although the NBBC typically deals with Northeast whitetails, Brown says that the club is about “celebrating the animal, regardless of where it came from.”
“The NBBC is an all-volunteer, non-profit record keeping organization established in 1996,” Brown said. “We have scored more than 14,000 whitetails. Like B&C we focus on the magnificence of the whitetail, not recognition for the hunter. Our purpose is to Preserve, Promote and Protect deer hunting for generations to come.”
B&C still recognizes the Hanson buck as the world record, but Brown does not believe that his recent announcement will put the two organizations at odds.
“Our goal is not to dispute Boone and Crockett. Our goal is to be consistent with the rules of a gross-scoring club, in in which there is no over-emphasis on symmetry in the determination of whether or not a point is typical or non-typical. Symmetry is an important aspect of determining an appropriate Net score.”
Johnny King shot the well-endowed buck near his Wisconsin farm back in 2006. Wisconsin is also known for holding more B&C record entries than any other state.
