The Heaviest Whitetail Bucks On Record

Do you dream about hunting huge whitetail bucks? And we’re not just talking antler quality but body size.

When doing a bit of research we found there are some absolute monsters out there.

For years researched showed the  heaviest whitetail deer on record was killed in Minnesota by Carl Lenader in 1926 and weighed 511 pounds. The animal dressed out at 402 pounds.

There are also reports according to Deer & Deer Hunting a buck reported in 1977 taken by John Arnett in Ontario, Canada that allegedly field dressed 431 pounds on government scales and had an estimated live weight of 540 pounds. There is rumor this buck was butchered before officials could examine it.

Contrast those to the key deer-the smallest subspecies of whitetail, averaging 45 to 75 pounds with most mature deer somewhere around 55 pounds on the hoof. These deer only live on a few of the Florida Keys and are an endangered species under supervision of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

 

The Hinkley Buck of Maine is without question one of the largest bucks ever taken and maybe the most well-documented whitetail giant. The following is from Northwoods Sporting Journal.

It was three days before a scale large enough to handle a buck of this proportion could be found. Once this great buck was hoisted up in front of several witnesses, including state sealer of weights, Forrest Brown, the giant deer pulled the scales to a whopping 355 pounds. It was calculated that Hinckley’s buck had an approximate live weight of 488 pounds. Several measurements were then taken which included: neck girth – 28 inches, body girth behind forelegs – 47 inches, greatest girth – 56 inches, and a total length from antler tip to rear hoof of 9 1/2 feet.

In recent years there have been reports of 400 pound bucks in Michigan but research shows these bucks were high end genetic whitetail bred on a high fenced game ranch and feed protein. A 400 pounder would have been huge without the “captive” help but probably not 400 pounds.

What is the biggest buck you have taken? Have you ever shot one you think tipped the scales at over 200 pounds? A 300-pounder?

If so, email cmoore@fishgame.com.

TF&G Staff