Another - Yet the Same - Deer Story

- Clear and cool on The Cumberland Plateau this morning...brilliant sushine and turkeys gobbling!

- A few months ago an entry was made into this journal about a very large Whitetail Deer that had been found in the wild, long dead, by a friend of mine in a nearby area. A photo of that deer, specifically the skull and the gnawed antlers, was included in the journal entry.

- Attached is a photo taken this morning of that same deer, after having been restored by a local taxidermist. This magnificent specimen now hangs in the office of Wayne Shadden, owner of Shadden Tire in Crossville, Tennessee. Wayne, an avid outdoorsman as well as community leader, was glad to share the story of this 'one of a kind' deer.

- When I first saw the antlers, I had the feeling it was one of the largest Tennessee whitetails I had ever witnessed, and now I know for sure. Wayne told me the rack, which was classified as non-typical, scored 213 points by the Boone and Crockett scoring method. Had the deer been classified typical (only a few of the small tines were abnormal), it would have been among the largest ever scored in the state of Tennessee. A minimum score of 170 (taken by gun) is required for a typical whitetail rack to qualify for the Boone and Crockett Record Book.