Oklahoma’s State Typical Record for Largest Whitetail Deer Broken Twice in One Season

Oklahoma’s 2007 hunting season included the harvest of two whitetail bucks that, within days of each other, broke the state’s record for largest whitetail typical. Even more remarkable, the bucks were both taken in the same county, Pushmataha.

“‘Both are just super quality bucks,'” Mike Shaw, wildlife research supervisor for the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation and one of the official scorers on a panel of judges, said in an interview with The Oklahoman. “‘The fact that both came from the same county in the same year is about as improbable as it can get.'”

The state of Oklahoma documents its trophy harvests in the Cy Curtis Awards Online Database, “which enables users to explore thousands of record-breaking animals harvested within the state.” Trophy harvests are measured by a qualified employee of the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation or by a measurer certified by the Boone and Crockett Club, which developed the scoring system, or Pope & Young (archery only).

These scorers measure, in the case of whitetail deer, the antlers, as these are what constitutes the largest or biggest animals harvested, not the physical size or weight of the animal. Whitetail awards recognize two categories: typical and non-typical.

The typical category scores antlers that follow a standard pattern, defined by symmetrical tines and evenly spaced points. Any abnormal or unusual growth are subtracted from the gross score to reach a net score. A typical score above 170 goes into Boone and Crockett’s all-time record books.

Non-typical racks deviate from the standard in quite unusual ways, often racking up very high scores because abnormal characteristics add to, rather than subtract from, the final score. Scores above 195 for non-typical whitetails earn a spot on the all-time list.

A Record Year

At the start of the 2007 hunting season in Oklahoma, the Cy Curtis Award, the Boone & Crockett record for the state, and Pope & Young’s Oklahoma record for typical whitetail belonged to bowhunter Larry Lumen who harvested his 185-6/8-inch typical buck in Bryan County on November 21, 1997.

The Boyett Hunt

On November 18, 2007, the second day of gun season, hunter Jason L. Boyett got an early start after an uneventful season opener. He decided to hunt elsewhere on the family’s 430 acres and insisted that a friend of his hunt his personal stand. He returned to camp for breakfast around 8 a.m., where he met up with Walter Mack. They then drove the property’s perimeter on an ATV and made plans to check on Boyett’s friend.

As they approached a brushy clearing, the first of three deer—a doe—appeared near some cattle. A buck then stepped out into the opening, but it quickly ran off and both hunters lost sight of it. As luck would have it, a third buck, much larger than the first, ran to meet the doe, some 200 yards away from Boyett and Mack’s position.

Mack’s view of the buck was obstructed, but Boyett’s wasn’t. He shouldered his rifle, scoped the buck, and fired. The buck dropped in place.

Boyett described the buck to North American Whitetail as “unbelievable.” “The antlers were sticking up, and he was bigger than any buck I had ever seen,” he recalled. “‘I knew I was going to get this deer mounted. he had a very wide rack and we counted 21 points.'”

In February 2008, Boyett brought the buck’s rack to an outdoor show in Claremore. A Boone and Crockett scorer gave him two options: score it as a non-typical, where it would likely tie for eighth largest in the state, or score it as a typical, where it very well may become an Oklahoma state record. He chose the latter.

But then rumors of another state record began to make the rounds.

The Ehmer Buck

Ten days after Boyett bagged his buck, on November 28, John Ehmer harvested his. Ehmer had been hunting the Honobia Creek WMA with no luck when he returned to a friend’s river-bottom property that he’d hunted the previous two seasons.

On the first day hunting the property, Ehmer noticed some fresh rubs that had formed a rub line, so he spent the day hunting to no avail. At last light, he began his trek out when he startled two deer, one of which was a big buck.

The next day, he returned to the area around 3 p.m. Just as he saw the day before, he found some fresh rubs. He followed the rub line to a clearing. He heeded the advice of his mother: stop and look before you walk into a clearing. Ehmer was rewarded for his patience. A dozen seconds later, a buck ran in front of him into the clearing. “As the buck quartered away, [Ehmer] got the big whitetail in his sights and fired his .300 Magnum,” wrote Mike Lambeth in North American Whitetail.

The buck ran off. Ehmer doubted whether his shot connected with the enormous whitetail; nevertheless, he followed the general direction of the deer’s path to a small creek. Fifty yards away was the buck.

Ehmer told Lambeth, “‘You could have heard me hollering all the way back in town!'” In fact, two hunters did hear Ehmer’s joyful ruckus and came to help.

So proud of his buck, he showed it off to anyone who would look at it. Word traveled quickly that a new state record had been harvested.

Which One Is Larger?

Jason Boyett’s buck initially scored 191-4/8 inches, while John Ehmer’s 192-3/8. Both bested the previous Oklahoma record by several inches.

Their scores, however, were done by one measurer. In order to be certified as an Oklahoma state record, a panel of three must score an animal. Less than an inch separated these two bucks, so the process was a real nail-biter.

Boyett’s buck gross scored 218-5/8 but received a 26-inch deduction for a final score of 192-5/8. Ehmer’s initial score, 192-3/8, needed to gain 3/8 inches to take the state record. After careful measuring, the results were in. Ehmer received a deduction of 8-1/8 inches from his gross score of 202-1/8 for a net score of 194.

Elmer holds the Cy Curtis Award for largest whitetail ever harvested in the Sooner State, and the Boone and Crockett Club recognizes Boyett as the Oklahoma state record.