"The Kevin Thomas Buck" 

By "MWT Staff"

The jury is still out. First reported as having 34 points, it now seems to have 37  points. Either way Kevin Thomas of Sweet Springs, MO has a trophy deer on his hands.

It was opening day of the 2001 Missouri gun season. Kevin was walking to his tree stand when at approximately 6:40 am the deer walked out in front of him. One shot later, he walked the short 50 yards to where the deer had fallen in a bean field. It was not until he saw the animal up close that he started to get excited. He knew then that he had been given the opportunity of a lifetime.

The following article was released by Ann Lewis, who handles press relations for Buckmasters.  

"The deer was officially measured on November 18 by Buckmasters Whitetail Trophy Records Regional Director and Master Scorer Jack McConnell of Willard, Missouri, and BTR Official Scorer Parker Stapp of South Greenfield. The Official BTR score was 293 4/8 inches with a composite of 303 0/8 inches. The impressive rack carries 53.2 percent of irregular (non-typical) antler. Currently, the buck is the number one whitetail deer ever harvested in the State of Missouri, beating out the Randy Simonitch buck from last year. Nationally, the Thomas buck ranks number two in the BTR in the modern rifle category behind Tony Fulton's 1995 buck which was harvested in Mississippi. The buck is the third-biggest buck ever taken by a hunter, behind Fulton's buck (321 7/8, rifle) and the Joseph Shields buck (294 1/8, shotgun). Complete news of this amazing trophy will be featured in the July editions of both Buckmasters and Rack."

One must keep in mind, however, that Buckmasters scoring system is different than Boone & Crockett. Ron Perrine of Xenia, Ohio, the man who coordinated the scoring of Mike Beatty’s world record Greene County, Ohio, trophy, said Wednesday there are two basic difference between Buckmasters and Boone & Crockett.

"Buckmasters scoring does not deduct (inches for) descenders (antler points), and it counts the inside spread," Perrine said.

It will be interesting to see just where this monster buck will fall in the record books. One thing is probably for certain, Kevin Thomas is just happy that his name will be in the books with it.