18 Pointer With A 21.75″ Inside Spread
The number one rule for hunting trophy bucks is to hunt where you know they exist. There is an old saying that says, “You can’t shoot what is not there.”
Thirty-nine year old David Jackson adheres to this principle by hunting trophy-rich areas. David hunts the ever popular state of Iowa on an every other year basis because this state is well documented for producing extra-large bucks. When hunting his home state of Michigan he continues to hunt a known trophy producing area, southern Michigan’s Calhoun County. This county is the home of two current state record nontypicals. In 2005 Dan Farmer shot the archery youth NT record which scored 193 3/8 and in 2007 Tim Tackett shot the muzzleloader state record NT which scored 215 1/8.
For the 2009 season David joined in with two friends and leased a three-hundred acre farm. A scouting trip in September produced a visual sighting of a true megabuck that carried 2 drop tines on a non-typical frame.
On opening day of bowseason David shot an 8-pointer. With one more buck tag in his pocket he decided that he was now hunting a single whitetail, the big non-typical. During the third week of October, Jackson laid eyes on the monster for the second time and this viewing ideally came while he was in his treestand. David noticed that the buck was now missing one of the drop-tines that he carried earlier. Daylight was fading so Jackson grunted and this got the deer’s attention. Unfortunately, the big buck took his time in closing distance to the anxious hunter and darkness arrived before a shot could be taken. Imagine the heartache of having this huge buck within shooting distance but it is too dark to shoot.
On October 25, David was 25 feet high in a Cherry Tree that was located approximately forty yards from a hayfield. From his lofty perch he saw deer legs in the field and grunted to entice the deer into a shooting lane. The legs advanced forward and carried along with them a 10-point rack. Jackson chose to pass on this deer and was soon rewarded for doing so. His grunts had drawn the attention of another deer. Standing broadside at 25 yards was the desired nontypical. David drew back his Matthews SQ2 and successfully released a G-5 Stryker tipped arrow that quickly went to work. The much anticipated trophy went down and expired a mere 25 yards from the stand.
Lying on the ground before him was one of those “Bucks of a Lifetime.” This magnificent whitetail has it all, high number of points, tall tines, wide-spread and plenty of the intangible character that makes a NT such a desired trophy.
This mega-buck carries 18 points, ten on the left and eight on the right. Inside spread is an incredible 21.75 inches and the longest tine measures an amazing 14 inches. The gross green score is 185 ΒΌ P&Y pts!
Unfortunately both drop-tines are now broken off. David estimated each tine to be 6-7 inches long. If this buck had not broken off these two points
he would have flirted with a high score pushing 200 P&Y points.
As it stands, David’s huge Michigan buck easily outscores his best Iowa kill, which is a 150 class 15-pointer. Southern Michigan’s top-end bucks are measuring up quite well with their more famous cousins from the agricultural states of Illinois and Iowa. This article started with an old saying and there is another one to end it, “There’s no place like home.”
