The West Virginia Big Buck Contest was established in 1964 to recognize sportsmen who bag extraordinarily big antlered bucks.  The contest is co-sponsored by the Division of Natural Resources, the Izaak Walton League of West Virginia, and the West Virginia Bowhunter’s Association.

 

The Boone and Crockett or Pope and Young Club scoring systems are used to score bucks depending upon method of kill.  Guidelines for the annual contest are as follows:

1. The deer must have been checked at an Official Game Checking Station, and the official West Virginia Game Check Tag must be attached to the antlers.


2. A Fair Chase Affidavit must be signed and attached to the Official Score Sheet.


3. Field photos of the freshly killed deer with antlers attached must be submitted at the time of scoring for state record entries.


4. Any bow-killed buck that scores at least 125 typical or 155 non-typical, gun-killed bucks that score at least 140 typical or 165 non-typical must be scored by an Official Scorer approved by the Pope and Young or Boone and Crockett Club.

A Review Committee was established by the Director of the Division of Natural Resources to consider all deer entries.  The committee has the power to make judgements as to the legitimacy of each entry and to accept or reject any entry in question.  The West Virginia Big Buck Contest Review Committee consists of a representative from the Izaak Walton League of West Virginia, the West Virginia Bowhunter’s Association, the DNR’s Wildlife Resources Section and the Law Enforcement Section, and a citizen member with an interest in deer hunting.

 

In 2002, 343 hunters had their deer antlers scored at one of the six DNR District Offices, Elkins Operations Center, Field Offices, or the West Virginia Hunting and Fishing Show in Charleston (sponsored by the West Virginia Trophy Hunter’s Association).  There are 11 DNR employees distributed throughout the State certified by both the Pope and Young and Boone and Crockett Clubs and eight private individuals certified by the Pope and Young Club as Official Scorers.  In the 2002 Big Buck Contest, hunters took  82 big bucks with gun or bow, that met the score minimums and the requirements concerning Game Check Tags and Fair Chase Statements.  An additional 22 bucks from former years were scored that met the requirements for a Big Buck Citation.

 

It is noteworthy that an additional 12 score sheets that met the minimum score requirements did not have the Game Check Tag verified or Fair Chase Statement attached.  These are the common reasons why hunter’s bucks are excluded from the contest list and do not receive a Big Buck Citation.  A good practice is to staple the Game Check Tag to the back of a mounted head so that it is not misplaced.  A hunter may only take their rack to be scored by one Official Scorer.  Score shopping is not tolerated by the West Virginia Big Buck Contest and will be dealt with according to Boone and Crockett and Pope and Young guidelines.  It is the hunter’s responsibility to work with their Official Scorer to make sure that all documentation is completed (by the contest deadline of January 31) and sent to the Big Buck Contest Review Committee Chairman.

 

Seventeen bucks killed by gun hunters scored above 140 points typical or 165 points non-typical.  In the typical gun category, the winner was Stephen Honaker from Marmet, West Virginia with an eight-point buck killed in Kanawha County that scored 157 6/8 (Table 1).  There was a 15-point non-typical buck harvested in Fayette County by Jess Kelly of Fayetteville, West Virginia that scored 220 0/8 and won the non-typical gun category.  Jess’s buck is now ranked second in the all time list for this category (Table 2).

           

Bowhunters killed 65 deer that scored above 125 points typical or 155 points non-typical.  The winner of the typical-bow category was Kevin Carte of Clay, West Virginia with a 10-point buck from Clay County that scored 168 2/8.  The non-typical bow category winner was Scotty Workman of Lake, West Virginia with a huge 15-point buck killed in Logan County that scored 186 2/8.  Scotty’s buck is now ranked fifth for this category in the all time list.

 

The 2002 West Virginia Big Buck Contest had a record number of bucks scored since the program started.  The number of bucks that qualified for Big Buck citations were lower than last year, but two bucks from this year’s contest did break into the list that ranks the top five bucks in each category for all time in West Virginia.  The all time ranking had not changed since 1999.  The updated all time list is shown in Table 2.

Written by Eugene R. Thorn

Click On Links Below For PDF Versions of Tables 1-2.

Table 1. West Virginia Big Buck Contest, 2002.
(PDF format, 21.2KB)

Table 2. West Virginia Big Buck Rankings As of January 31, 2003.
(PDF format, 8.75KB)

(You will need Acrobat Reader to view these files)

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