By Richard P. Smith

For the first time ever during the fall of 2003, Michigan bowhunters killed close to the same number of world-class bucks as gun hunters did.

Four typical whitetails with antlers large enough to qualify for all-time listings in the Boone and Crockett record book were known to have been taken in our state last fall, according to Commemorative Bucks of Michigan (CBM). Two were killed with bows and arrows, and two with guns.

If you consider five more typicals that missed the cutoff for B&C all-time records but met the criteria for honorable mention, gun hunters end up with double the number that archers claimed. Four of those five were bagged with firearms. That gives gun hunters six of our state's best bucks for 2003, and bowhunters three.

Firearms enthusiasts still remain three up on bowhunters when top-end non-typicals from 2003 are considered. There were at least four non-typicals killed with racks that missed the minimum for all-time consideration, but they surpassed the requirement for honorable mention. Those were evenly split, with two taken with bow and arrow, and two with firearms.

Although gun hunters still end up with the clear advantage of eight to five in terms of high-ranking bucks from 2003, this is the closest bowhunters have come to equaling the tally of gun kills among the best bucks bagged for any given year in Michigan. This is a testament to an improvement in the big-buck hunting success among bowhunters. At the same time, it highlights how much more effective firearms are for killing big-antlered deer.

To qualify for a place in the all-time records for B&C, typical antlers must measure at least 170 inches, and non-typicals 195. Typicals that make at least 160 and non-typicals that score a minimum of 185 inches are put into the honorable mention category.

Any way you cut it, the fact that at least 13 whitetails bagged in our state last fall qualify for a place in the B&C record book is an indication that Michigan continues to produce its share of quality bucks. That a higher percentage than normal of the highest-scoring heads were accounted for by bowhunters is easy to explain. More than 300,000 archers now hunt deer in Michigan each year, and a growing number of them specifically try for big bucks.

The archery season is long, which increases the odds of scoring for dedicated hunters who spend as much time as possible hunting. The lengthy season also increases the odds that favorable weather conditions will occur. The window of opportunity is much smaller for firearms hunters. Poor weather conditions during the two-week firearms hunt always have a negative impact on hunter success then, especially if they occur during the first week of the season, as they did during 2003.

Photo by BillKinney.com

In fact, the most important reason bowhunters took a higher percentage of top-end bucks than normal is that conditions were lousy for gun hunters. Weather was unseasonably warm during most of the first week of firearms season, and there was a significant amount of rain, too. When it's warm, deer are less active during legal shooting hours. When it's rainy, hunters tend to spend less time hunting. On top of that, a lot of cornfields were not yet cut in farm country, which provided deer with more escape cover to avoid hunters.

All of these things tipped the odds against gun hunters, and the end result reflects that. Also, deer numbers are down over much of the state. In some places, whitetail numbers are down significantly. Many hunters who see few, if any, deer simply don't hunt as long and as hard as they would if sightings of bucks and does kept their interest up.

The fact that firearms hunters have always claimed more of the state's top-end bucks than archers - even when hunting conditions were not the best during the gun hunt - is clear proof that rifle and shotgun shooters are more effective at connecting on big-racked bucks in spite of shorter seasons. The peak breeding period from Nov. 15-30 has always worked in the gun hunter's favor. The greater effective range of firearms versus bows and arrows can't be ignored when comparing the two, either.

Overall, 2003 was a better-than-average year for the number of book bucks bagged in our state, and it was similar to 2002 in terms of the total number of deer entered into state records. CBM records coordinator Tira O'Brien said approximately 500 whitetails were entered each of those years.

Where did the biggest bucks killed during 2003 come from, and where will the trophy racks be this fall?

Jackson and Washtenaw counties have consistently produced our state's biggest whitetail antlers, and the fall of 2003 was no exception. The two highest-scoring typicals known taken in Michigan during 2003 came from this pair of counties. At least one non-typical that qualifies for B&C honorable mention was also shot in each of those counties.

Jackson County gave up the highest scoring typical for 2003, according to CBM, that ended up scoring a fraction of an inch more than the one taken in Washtenaw County. Paul Calvert from Leslie got the Jackson County deer with archery equipment on Nov. 7. The 13-pointer netted 178 4/8 inches. The story about his hunt was in the September issue of this magazine.

Alan Schultz from Northville got Washtenaw County's best typical last fall with a shotgun. It was a 12-pointer that nets 177 7/8 inches. Schultz got the deer on the evening of Nov. 29 after seeing the buck the evening before. Schultz admits that if he hadn't seen the deer on Nov. 28, there's an excellent chance he would have hunted elsewhere on Nov. 29 and may not have gotten our state's No. 2 typical for 2003.

"I had seen sign left by the big buck for two years, but I never actually saw the deer until the evening of Nov. 28," Schultz said. "When I drove home from work, he took off running through an apple orchard on our property. I thought he was a 10-pointer with 10-inch tines.

"I told my wife and son about the buck and tried to get them to hunt for him with me the following evening. My son couldn't make it, but my wife and I hunted. I was in a tree stand along a route that bucks often take when exiting the property. That's the way the buck went when I saw him the day before."

The buck showed up about the same time he had been seen on Nov. 28, and Schultz dropped him with a copper slug out of a 2 3/4-inch shell. Schultz said he passed up a forkhorn, an 8-point and a doe before scoring on the big one.

"I think the buck was moving around looking for a doe to be bred when I shot him," Schultz commented. "None of the people hunting our property had seen him before. After I got him, a bowhunter told me he shot at the same deer four miles away."

The highest scoring non-typical entered in CBM records from 2003 came from Washtenaw County. It's a 13-pointer netting 191 3/8 inches that was bagged with a shotgun by Kevin Wing from Ann Arbor on Nov. 24.

Wing said he was fixing breakfast for his son and daughter on the morning of Nov. 24 when the 8-year-old boy saw a buck and doe in the distance. Even though the buck's antlers were large enough for his son to see with naked eyes, Wing had to use binoculars to confirm what the boy saw. The two deer bedded near a marsh on the farm.

After putting his children on the school bus, Wing stalked the bedded deer with his single-shot shotgun. He managed to sneak within easy range of the buck and took three shots at it. Each time, it appeared as though he missed, based on the buck's actions. However, he hit the buck with every shot and he found it dead in the cornfield it entered after he fired his third round.

An 18-point non-typical that nets 190 7/8 inches was killed in Jackson County by Ryan Mains from Litchfield. He said he had been hunting for this deer for three years and finally got it during the muzzleloader season on Dec. 14, 2003. Mains commented that he knows of two neighbors who took shots at the buck during gun season and he was lucky that they missed. Otherwise, someone else's tag would have gone on the deer.

Mains was standing against a tree on the edge of a bean field during the evening when he got the big buck. A number of does were nearby when the buck entered the field. One of the does blew when Mains raised his .54 caliber Knight muzzleloader. Fortunately, the buck didn't spook. It was standing facing him at 20 yards as he lined up the crosshairs of his scope on the deer's chest. When he fired he thought he missed, but the buck dropped after running 50 yards. The deer was at least 5 1/2 years old.

Monroe County, which borders Washtenaw to the south, also produced a pair of top-end bucks during 2003. Although this county hasn't generally been known for big antlers, the results from last fall should go a long way toward changing that.

Mike Kiley from Monroe got a 10-point B&C qualifier with bow and arrow on Oct. 2, 2003, in Monroe County. The story on his buck starts on page 17 of this issue.

John Benedict from Auburn Hills arrowed a monster non-typical with double drop tines in Monroe County on Oct. 1. The 13-pointer netted 188 2/8 inches. The story on that buck was in the August issue of Michigan Sportsman.

Wayne County, which borders Washtenaw to the east, produced another trophy 10-pointer last fall for gun hunter Bob Watson. The antlers on that deer netted 167 4/8 inches, making it the county's No. 1 typical. A 12-point bowkill made by Stuart Johnstone in 1999 that nets 164 7/8 was Wayne County's best typical until last fall.

Two counties directly north of Wayne - Genesee and Lapeer - generated noteworthy bucks for hunters last fall, too. Brothers Richard and Paul Barton connected on our state's No. 2 non-typical for the year. The 19-point bowkill scores 191 1/8 inches. They got the buck on the morning of Oct. 26. Richard arrowed the buck first, and then it ran in front of Paul. He put an arrow in it, too. Their story of success was published in the July issue of this magazine.

Jerry Pennington from Oxford used a muzzleloader to kill a trophy buck from Lapeer County. The 10-point typical measured 169 2/8 inches.

The southwest portion of Region 3 also produced a number of top-end whitetails during 2003. Two of them came from Allegan County, and one each were taken in Van Buren and Kalamazoo counties. B&C qualifiers have come from all three of these counties in the past, and more can be expected in the future.

Gary Libkuman from New Hudson connected on a B&C 11-pointer in Allegan County during a deer drive on state land on Nov. 19. He was the only stander. His son, an uncle and a couple of friends attempted to drive deer to him, and they obviously succeeded. He also did an excellent job picking a spot to watch for any deer moved by the drivers. The buck came sneaking along at a distance of 25 yards, looking back toward the drivers. The deer's antlers netted 171 6/8.

Thirteen-year-old Kevin Leith from Martin used a bow and arrow to connect on another Allegan County trophy on the morning of Nov. 9 from a tree stand. The 10-pointer was chasing a doe when Leith got it. The antlers from that buck measured 169 3/8 typical inches.

Barb Loy from Schoolcraft got her Kalamazoo County trophy buck during the December muzzleloader season. The 13-pointer she shot during the evening was with two other big bucks. The one she killed was the biggest, and its antlers scored 164 6/8 inches. That's the highest scoring typical taken by a woman in our state with a muzzleloader, according to CBM.

Lori Mizwicki got a huge 9-pointer in Van Buren County at 5:02 p.m. on opening day of gun season that scored 164 2/8 typical inches. Her husband and father were deer hunting in the Upper Peninsula when she scored, so she e-mailed photos to the motel where they were staying.

Based on the total number of book deer entered in state records from the 2002 season - not all entries for 2003 were compiled by CBM when this went to press - the best counties for trophy bucks in Region 3 are Jackson (23), Van Buren (21), Shiawassee (19), Ingham (19), Hillsdale (17), Cass (17), Oakland (17), Washtenaw (16), Clinton (15), Calhoun (15) and Berrien (15).

The best counties in Region 2 are Clare (7), Mason (6), Oceana (6), Mecosta (5), Grand Traverse (5), Newaygo (4), Montomorency (4), Oscoda (4) and Leelanau (4).

Top Region 1 counties are Chippewa (5), Houghton (3), Iron (3), Marquette (2), Alger (2) Gogebic (2) and Keweenaw (2).