Million dollar whitetail

[billrquimby]

Does Texas have a million-dollar whitetail?

 

With a 46-point rack and a Boone and Crockett score of 334, it's hard to argue that a whitetail named Stickers isn't the biggest buck to ever consume protein in Texas. Sammy Nooner of Hondo brought Stickers home in February.

 

Since then, deer breeders have been speculating on the price tag. Some estimates involve seven figures for the 6-year-old monarch buck, whose semen fetches $4,000 to $5,000 per straw.

 

Nooner, however, said the price is going to stay between him and the seller -- Tommy Dugger, one of the state's top deer breeders.

 

'It's probably as high as anybody's ever paid,'' he said, 'but we're not letting it out; Tommy and I have a gentleman's agreement.''

 

Damon Thorpe, director of operations for the Texas Deer Association, aid there are probably only two deer in the United States bigger than Stickers.

 

'I think you can say with confidence he's the most expensive deer ever in Texas,'' Thorpe said. 'It's not inconceivable at all to think a deer like that is worth $1 million.''

 

Dugger told the Lone Star Outdoor News it would not be accurate to say the deer sold for one million dollars. Wildlife consultant Chase Clark, who works with both Nooner and Dugger, said the biggest buck title was previously held by Jake the Dream Buck, which was owned by Dugger.

 

Jake died of a respiratory illness in the winter of 2005, Clark said.

 

In the meantime, Dugger acquired the up-and-comer Stickers, who was born in 2001 on the Glen Morgan ranch.

 

But Stickers had something else going for him, Clark said. This deer is the offspring of a doe impregnated by artificial insemination with semen from an Ohio legend named Redoy Ben.

 

The elder whitetail, who was only about 2 years old at the time, showed a lot of potential, Clark said.

 

Redoy Ben died that same year, also to a respiratory illness.

 

Nevertheless, Clark said the big deer's potential was realized through his son, Stickers. 'It wasn't until October of 2006 that a tape was put on those antlers,'' Clark said of Sticker's headgear. 'Now Stickers represents the ultimate in the Texas deer breeding industry.''

 

Nooner, a South Texas gasoline distributor, is also known for the quality dove hunts he offers from his base in Medina County.

 

'We just wanted to help the genetics,'' he said. 'It was fun just trying to see how big a deer could grow.'' But Nooner may be on the verge of seeing his profits grow as well.

 

'Let's assume he did pay $1 million for the deer,'' Thorpe said. 'All he has to do is sell 200 straws to get his money out of him. You can easily get that in a year, and do it safely.'' But despite his pedigree, Nooner and Clark agree there's nothing uppity about Stickers.

 

'Some deer are more nervous than others,'' Clark said. 'They don't do well in breeding operations. But Stickers is pretty laid back. He's great at posing for the camera.''

 

:angry:

[TATAat27]

Thats stupid! It should be outlawed.

[cjw2222]

unfortunately i dont see it happening. its sad seeing these deer with headgear so big they can barely support themselves

[Coues Sniper]

Many of these deer are unhealthy as well. Most die of "respiratory illness" at or before their prime. That buck that went 410" at his biggest a few years ago died at 6 years of age of "respiratory" problems. They're so pumped full of garbage to grow big horns they die prematurely. But, it's our obsession with big horns that is creating the whole problem.

[elpepe25]

wheres the pics of this "genetically superior" deer At?

[youngbuck]

THere are some oictures of stickers here http://scrubbuckhunters.com/services.html in his pen. This disgusts me. reminds me of the couesdeer sanctuary http://www.couesdeersanctuary.com/

[elpepe25]

the Coues Sanctuary makes me mad, all thier pics of deer have chain link fence in the background

[willhunt4coues]

That to me isn't even considered hunting . I belive hunting is just what it sounds like hard work of trying to find a deer or other game. That is why I love the coues in Arizona free spirited animals and a he@# of a deer to hunt.

Clay

[curmudgen]

That's just part of what passes for hunting in this day. That's not hunting. Hunting is going out into the wilds, working your butt off, bringing all your scouting, spotting, stalking, and shooting skills to bear and, hopefully, harvesting a mature buck, unless you're a kid or a beginner, then caring for it and enjoying the prime venison and the memories as long as they last. It's not raising deer in an enclosure, even a large one, shooting deer over food plots, baiting them with "come here y'all" and all these other modern innovations and corruptions of the noble sport of big game hunting. In my opinion, many of the racks, although fortunately not yet the Coues racks, in the books should be disallowed as many of the present practices we see on the Outdoor Channel and other sites should not be considered "fair chase". It's not much different than shooting someone's cow in a pasture. Jack

[cjw2222]

oh man that coues sanctuary makes me sick to my stomach every time i see it. Until this website i thought our beloved coues had escaped the farm raising epidemic that has swept eastern WT. Then i learned otherwise...

[billrquimby]

That's just part of what passes for hunting in this day.

 

This cancer has spread to every continent except Asia (that I know of).

 

Bill Quimby

[Kilimanjaro]

sorry Bill... there are high fenced hunts in Turkmenistan for TransCaspian Urial.. I L/S mounted 1 a couple of years back for a gent who took one on the place I'm talking about..

 

not even wild Asia could escape the pressure to deliver..

[billrquimby]

sorry Bill... there are high fenced hunts in Turkmenistan for TransCaspian Urial.. I L/S mounted 1 a couple of years back for a gent who took one on the place I'm talking about.. not even wild Asia could escape the pressure to deliver..

 

Scottyboy:

 

Ouch! That's why I added the disclaimer (that I know of) to my statement. It had to happen, I guess. There simply are too many people with more money than sense in this world. If I were king, even though I edited a record book for many years and once set off to collect as many deer species as I could, record books would be banned, "collectors" would be shot at sunup, and "exotics,""introduced" and "estate taken" would be declared four-letter words not fit for use in mixed company.

 

Bill Quimby

[hunter4life]

I wonder if SCI didn't accept animals taken on "estate hunts" into the record book, if this would cut down on the numbers of hunts that are conducted this way. I think that it might, but there are always going to be people who only care about the size of the antlers or horns and not about the hunt.

 

Personally I like the free-range exotics that are here in NM. The oryx, ibex, and aoudad are awesome animals that I am glad we can hunt so close to home. What I also find interesting is how some people really hate the aforementioned exotics, but they aren't about to say anything negative against pheasant or merriam's turkeys which have been introduced to a lot of places where they were not historically found and could thus be considered exotics in those locations.

[billrquimby]

I wonder if SCI didn't accept animals taken on "estate hunts" into the record book, if this would cut down on the numbers of hunts that are conducted this way. I think that it might, but there are always going to be people who only care about the size of the antlers or horns and not about the hunt.

 

Personally I like the free-range exotics that are here in NM. The oryx, ibex, and aoudad are awesome animals that I am glad we can hunt so close to home. What I also find interesting is how some people really hate the aforementioned exotics, but they aren't about to say anything negative against pheasant or merriam's turkeys which have been introduced to a lot of places where they were not historically found and could thus be considered exotics in those locations.

 

I guess we could say the same about elk in Arizona. Whether or not we ever had Merriam's elk here can be debated, but it's a fact we have a bunch of the introduced Rocky Mountain variety today. Given that, I'll modify my earlier statement. Some exotics are OK as long as they're free-ranging and don't compete with idigenous game. As for record books, I agree. Animals taken behind high wire do not belong in the same books with free-ranging game.

 

Bill