B&C World's Record - Typical Coues' Whitetail Deer

The antler mass on Ed Stockwell's Coues' whitetail deer sets it apart from any other Coues' buck ever taken.

At the 1955 Boone and Crockett Awards Competition, held at the Museum of Natural History in New York City, judges were shocked when they measured a Coues' whitetail deer that was unlike any they'd ever seen. The buck, taken by Ed Stockwell of Pima County, Arizona, carried very heavy antlers that are not typically found on Coues' deer (Odocoileus virginianus couesi). Here's how he got the buck.

“In 1958, after hunting all morning in the Santa Rita Mountains of southern Arizona, my partner and I were heading back to camp," Stockwell said. "There was a low, but very rugged mountain to one side, and we decided to hunt around it. I began a slanting climb along the slope. My buddy took a lower route. There were lots of big rocks and impassable bluffs. Angling around them, I kept working upward until suddenly I was on top, and then, while going through the rocky terrain toward the smoother eastern slope, I jumped a big buck that had a small spike with him.

“As only the big antlers showed up behind a rocky ridge, I ran to get a better view," Stockwell said. "The big buck disappeared. Just as I was giving him up, he moved from behind a large oak tree and started down the slope, giving me a clear shot. I dropped him at about 60 yards. Evidently, I had come up the side of the mountain that he used as his sneak exit, and it was probably due to this that I got such a good chance at him. My rifle was a .300 Savage, without a scope.”

By getting most of its water from cactus, the Coues' deer has adapted to dry country where most whitetails are incapable of surviving. In fact, the Coues’ range is not known to touch that of larger whitetails. But Stockwell's buck scored 143 points and was was so massive it raised doubts. To make sure that the rack had, in fact, come from a Coues' whitetail and not a larger whitetail subspecies it was carefully reexamined. Thankfully, it was quickly verified as coming from a Coues' whitetail. After another scoring session the buck was recorded at 144-1/8 points and determined to be the the new world's record Coues' deer.