World Record Whitetail? 47-Pointer Passes Re-Test

The pending world record whitetail buck taken late last year in Tennessee cleared another hurdle this week toward becoming official.

The Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency said on Facebook that the 47-point non-typical buck taken by Stephen Tucker of Gallatin, Tenn., in November, was re-scored Monday in Nashville, slightly lower than the first dry score assessed last month, but still in the world-record category.

"Score of Tucker Buck that will officially go to Boone & Crockett in 2019 is 312 0/8. Congrats again to Tennessee's Stephen Tucker."  — Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency Twitter

If official, the score -- which still has to go before full Boone & Crockett panels — betters the existing non-typical world record whitetail mark of 307 5/8 set in 2003 by Tony Lovsteun (age 15 at the time) in Albia, Iowa. But for now, TWRA said paperwork can be submitted "with B & C knowing our scorers adhered to all rules."

The agency said the buck was re-scored Monday with Tucker in attendance. The buck green-scored 313 after Tucker killed the buck with a muzzleloader in November in Sumner County, then 312 3/8 last month following the 60-day drying out period.

• See TWRA video from Monday's scoring

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"There were a few questions about the rack, as can be expected on such a difficult rack to score, and B & C [Justin Spring] came down from Montana," TWRA said on Facebook, explaining why the re-score was held.

Spring, B&C's director of big game records, looked on as Monday's re-score took place.

"When we added everything up, it [the Tucker Buck score] still came up only 3/8 inches less than the score in January," Spring told North American Whitetail magazine. "There were a few changes — some additions, some substractions — but there were none that made a dramatic difference. It's a very impressive rack."

• Read more of North American Whitetail's article on the Tucker buck

The Tucker Buck is only the sixth non-typical buck ever taken that scored more than 300 inches, North American Whitetail reported. Two other non-typical bucks scored more than Tucker's total, but neither was killed by a hunter. One measuring 333 7/8 was found dead outside St. Louis, Missouri in 1981. Another, in 1940, was found dead near rail lines in Ohio and scored 328 2/8.

According to the magazine, Tucker's record is pending until the B&C's 30th Big Game Awards in 2019, when two panels of judges will examine the rack once again and formally announce its final score.