Selner Collection 2003-2004

Yet another buck from the great collection of deer and elk at the Meeker
Hotel.  It hung on the wall for over 70 years.  Luckily the
hunter’s tag was still attached to the back of the mount.  Roger and
others chased down the details on this buck.

Arthur Gossage shot this great buck on a meat hunting trip in 1934.
Arthur then gave this buck to the Meeker hotel.  Arthur was uncle to
the famous professional baseball relief pitcher, Rick “Goose” Gossage.

The first week of archery season was pretty slow, so Joe decided to hunt
mule deer after seeing several small whitetails.  That plan changed
pretty quick though.  After glassing for several hours, Joe spotted
movement at the edge of a clearing.  The big buck was feeding toward
the timber.  Joe dropped his pack and started on his hands and knees
towards the buck.  The closest he could get was 50 yards– too far for
a shot.  So Joe waited and luckily the buck fed his way, giving him a
perfect 35 yard shot.  This is the Orgeon State Record whitetail.

This is the new #5 in the world archery mule deer.  Bill was working
on the Navajo Reservation when an opportunity to hunt came up.  A
fellow bow hunter told him about an area where he had for several years and
where he had seen a huge buck.  They scouted the area a month before
the season and found a bachelor group of 20 bucks, three of which were
really big ones.  Bill got this buck with a good shot.  It is one
of the widest bucks in the record book, with an inside spread of 32 2/8
inches.

This buck has a 222 3/8 inch typical frame and without the four
non-typical points it would have been the world record typical.  The
antlers were in full velvet at the time and have been completely stripped
and recolored.

This is the world record stag mule deer.  This buck had a cracked
skull, but has been restored to it’s original condition.  However,
bucks with velvet and with cracked skulls cannot be entered into the Boone
and Crockett record book.  This great deer grosses 346 2/8, even with
5-8 inches broken off the right drop tine.  Only the world record
non-typical has a higher score (355 2/8).

This buck never shed his antlers
or velvet.  Most likely he injured his testicles and therefore didn’t
have the right balance of hormones to complete the antler cycle.  These
antlers probably represent about 8-10 years of growth.  This rack was
purchased by Dann Degen in an antique store in the Denver, CO area.
Roger is still searching for more information on this great buck.

It was a cold, late-November day.  Fred and hunting partner Don
LaVoie headed up the mountain.  After 3 or 4 hours, Fred spotted the
buck bedded down by a large boulder.  One shot from his Winchest .30-06
and he had taken the best trophy of his life.  Now the work started.
They cut the buck in half and each man dragged half through a foot of new
snow.

This buck has a huge typical frame, 198 0/8. Without the 6 non-typical
points it would be the state record typical.  Measured as a non-typical
it ranks as #9 in Idaho.

While living in Colorado, Ray hoped one day to take a mule deer over 30
inches.  Driving throughout prime mule deer country on the way to work
everyday, he kept looking for a big buck.  One evening, when it was
just about dark, he spotted a good one on a ridge.  The next morning
Ray was climbing to the top of the ridge looking for the buck.  In his
haste to the top he spooked a group of mule deer.  Disappointed that he
might have ruined his chance, he continued down the ridge.  Looking
down the other side of the ridge he spotted this buck.  It looked even
bigger than the one he saw the previous evening.  With a long shot and
a long climb down to the deer, he found he had taken not a 30 incher, but a
40 inch deer with two drop tines!  This deer has a huge typical frame,
200 2/8 without brow tines.

This deer would currently rank as #2 in the world if it were not for a
mishap. The owner’s dog knocked the antlers off a table and cracked the
skull.  With a cracked skull the inside spread measurement is not
accurate enough for the recordbook. Thus, this is an unofficial score.
This buck is unofficially the Washington state record mule deer.

Eddie Boe, an avid shed collector and photographer from southwestern
Wyoming, has been following the winter range activities of a giant
non-typical buck. In addition to recovering several sets of sheds from this
buck, Eddie has been able to film and photograph this deer at close range.
Mule deer observers in this part of WY have dubbed this buck “Popeye”
because your eyes pop out when you see him.  This set of sheds was
Popeye’s largest and last set found.  He died that winter and was never
found.  Eddie estimates that Popeye was 7 to 8 years old.  Popeye
lived out his live on public land in a general hunting area.  He eluded
hunters for almost a decade.  He was truly a Wyoming living legend.