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Using a bow and arrow, James E. Stovall of Lakeland bagged a state-record white-tailed deer during a special-opportunity hunt on the Green Swamp Wildlife Management Area (WMA) - West Unit last September.
The deer^s 57 4/8 inches of non-typical points garnered it a Boone and Crockett score of 206 points, a record for a white-tailed deer in velvet. In addition, the deer had 25 points with a greatest spread of 24 1/8 inches and just one circumference measurement less than five inches.
Stovall^s buck takes the top spot in the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission^s (FWC) Florida Buck Registry, surpassing a 201 3/8-point (25 points) buck bagged by Clark Durrance of Wakulla County in the 1940s.
Stovall said he spotted the trophy buck while scouting the Green Swamp WMA - West Unit in central Florida in preparation for a special-opportunity hunt in September.
"I sat in a tree stand for 13 hours waiting for the buck to appear. At 6:15 p.m., the buck showed up about 150 yards away," Stovall said. "I climbed down from the tree stand and crawled toward the monster buck until it was about 50 yards away. I struck the buck in the spine, instantly putting him down. A quick second shot locked him to the ground.
"I have traveled across the Midwest in pursuit of monster white-tails," Stovall said. "And I ended up finding one about 19 miles from my home."
The FWC^s Special-Opportunity Hunts provide a selected number of hunters a chance to hunt with little competition from other hunters. Contact a regional office of the FWC for more information.
Uploaded: 5/9/2000
Uploaded: 5/9/2000