Andover man arrows giant non-typical that turns out to be largest ever taken in Kansas
(Editor’s note: Stories about some of the biggest whitetail bucks killed in Kansas are being published now as the annual mating season hits full gear and hunters take vacation (or sick days) and weekends and evenings to take part in the action.)
Brian Butcher is the only person to have a whitetail scored in Kansas that surpassed 300 inches.
He killed it with a bow.
At 321 ⅜ inches, his 2019 deer is more than 40 inches bigger than the No. 2 scored non-typical buck in Kansas. It’s also the second-largest non-typical buck killed and found by a hunter in the U.S., according to the 2023 Boone and Crockett Club edition.
The largest is 327 7/8 inches shot on Nov. 2, 2018, in Edgar County, Illinois, by Luke Brewster, who also used a compound bow.
Buck racks, or antlers, can be considered either typical or non-typical. There are records for each category. Typical antlers are mostly symmetric on both sides with tines growing upward off the main beam. Non-typical racks, which are less common, often have points that come off the main vertical beams in all directions and have more antler points. Genetics and injuries factor into antler growth and types.
Butcher, of Andover, Kansas, didn’t have high expectations when he sat in the stand on Oct. 11, 2019, after trimming trees for shooting lanes at a private property he has long hunted on in Chase County.
He wouldn’t have sat if it wasn’t for a cold front that moved in.
He and friend hadn’t finished trimming an hour before when a nine-point buck came up and starting eating leaves off the limbs they trimmed while Butcher looked on from above. The deer stuck around for 30-plus minutes.
“Anytime you got a deer hanging around you, you gotta feel confident that more are going to come near,” he said. “You’re not spooking them away, your scent not keeping them away.”
The deer eventually walked off.
Within 15-20 minutes, two bucks, a small spike and one he “couldn’t even describe at that time,” showed up in the conservation reserve program (CRP) field to his east. The deer started moving west, straight toward him in the woods.
“As it came closer, I realized that there was a lot of antler there, but really couldn’t make out what it was,” he said.
Instead of continuing straight at him, the bigger buck, which was ahead of the other, turned north and went down the tree line while in the CRP grass.
Butcher stayed silent.
“He wasn’t moving, but a step at a time, and I just don’t want to make my presence known if I can avoid it.”
He waited for a stop between his steps and let the arrow fly. The buck was 25 yards and broadside. He usually waits longer than he did but he felt confident about the shot.
He jumped down after 10 minutes and made a shocked face to the trail cam, which snapped a timely photo.
The arrow hit vitals and passed through the deer, which made it 30 yards before collapsing.
Because of the thicket in between them, Butcher never got a clear look at the antlers until about 20-30 seconds before shooting. Even then, he thought it was debris caught in the rack.
“As I walked up, looking at that thing, [I was] thinking, what kind of a mutant did I shoot?” he said.
The only history he had with the deer was an April 25 trail cam photo, which was before the deer’s rack had grown, that showed a huge pedicle on the left side.
The buck had 64 points on the left side and three on the right.
Butcher turned the rack into a pedestal mount so that people can walk around it and see it from every angle.
Score: 321 3/8
Weapon: Compound bow
Date: Oct. 11, 2019
Approx. time: Close to 6 p.m.
Location: Chase County, Kansas
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This story was originally published November 22, 2024 at 1:31 PM.