CARTHAGE, Mo. – Monday, November 14, 2016 started off like many other November days for Pat Snyder.

“I’m a bow hunter. I have bow hunted since 1970, I believe,” explained deer hunter Pat Snyder.
  
But unlike years past, he knew that somewhere out there on the land he hunted Northwest of Carthage, was a buck unlike any other he had seen.

“This particular buck, I had had him on a trail camera. The earliest picture I had of him was October 10th,” Snyder added.
 
So, he set out that Monday morning for his deer stand. Snyder says what happened next was a bow hunter’s dream.

“It’s one of those hunts that if I could have scripted it ahead of time, this is exactly how it would have played out,” said Snyder.
 
Snyder says he knew the buck was big, but it took Kirk Kelso to tell him just how big it really was.

“I’m an official measurer for Boone and Crockett, which is the elite measuring organization for mostly rifle hunting trophies,” explained Kirk Kelso of North 43 Guns and Gear.
 
Snyder contacted him about doing a measurement, which Kelso was more than happy to do at the right time.

“I told him at that time, because of their rules and regulations for Boone and Crockett, it has to dry for 60 days after the date of the harvest,” said Kelso.
 
So Snyder waited, and his patience was rewarded.

“He had a net score of 196 and 2/8’s, and 195 is the minimum to make the record book,” Kelso added.
 
Kelso says they get to that score by measuring the total amount of antler in length, and then factoring in the symmetry of the two sides.
 
In total, Snyder’s deer had about 210 inches of antler.

To put this into perspective, this is a Coos Whitetail, it’s a subspecies of the Eastern Whitetail that we have here in Southwest Missouri. Now this particular deer is one of the largest Coos Whitetail ever harvested, and it’s antlers, according to Boone and Crockett, measure 132 inches.

“For an animal, not just a deer, but for any animal that’s in the Boone and Crockett record book, they basically have to be a freak of nature to make their record book,” explained Kelso.
 
Snyder says he knows last fall’s hunt was likely a once in a lifetime opportunity, but that’s not going to stop him from going for another record again this year.

“But if I don’t, I’m certainly satisfied,” said Snyder.
 
Snyder says the deer has been estimated to be about seven years old.

(KODE)