Missouri Monarch: The World Record Non-Typical Whitetail Buck
BuckManager.com | October 17 | Photo Gallery & Stories
The Missouri Monarch is a buck that hunters can only dream about. That is because it was not hunter-harvested, but the big white-tailed buck is the current world record non-typical white-tailed buck. Yes, that’s big! The deer was smart enough — or lucky enough — to avoid hunters despite spending it’s life in the shadows of a major metropolitan area. The story all started on November 25, 1981, when Missouri Department of Conservation Agent Mike Helland was sent on what appeared to be a routine patrol call in St. Louis County. The white-tailed deer was discovered by a hunter, but it was not shot with bullet or arrow.
The toothless buck was found dead, apparently of natural causes. The deer had a non-typical antler rack that measured 333 7/8 under the complicated Boone and Crockett trophy scoring system. The massive antlers shattered the record from Texas of 286 points, which had stood since 1892. The buck’s antlers had an inside spread of 25 1/8 inches and weighed 11 1/4 pounds. However, there is no definite explanation for the tremendous antler growth exhibited by the deer, but the deer grew a monstrous rack between spring and winter.
The Missouri Monach was 4 1/2 years old and had a full-body weight of 250 pounds. The buck had a deformity in the lower jaw, causing it to be set back a few inches. According to Department biologists, the deformity may have been caused by a canine bite early in the buck’s life. The injury consisted of a small puncture hole in the lower jaw bone that apparently resulted in an infection that caused a total loss of his lower incisor teeth.
A buck’s antlers are composed of calcium, phosphorus, and protein. When growth is completed, the once soft antlers forms into solid bone. Abnormally shaped antlers occur occasionally, for several reasons, and sometimes represent injury during growth. The big Missouri buck represents the trophy that most deer hunters dream of, but it goes into the books as a deer “not taken by a hunter”. What a story.
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That is one cool looking buck!
Trevor West | Nov 17, 2009 | Reply
This is one sweet looking deer, and has a great looking rack!
Cody | Nov 23, 2009 | Reply
This buck is freaking huge! Why can’t I get a buck like this?!?
Julianna | Dec 5, 2009 | Reply
Oh dang, that’s one huge buck! Man, I wish I could kill something that big!! I mean just look at that rack on that thing.
country girl. | Dec 8, 2009 | Reply
This buck looks fake, but that’s just me. A sweet deer, though.
Dillon | Mar 15, 2010 | Reply
WOW! I have been hunting a buck in similiar size for two years running, so if you have got any tips for these monster bucks, please reply.
Dakota | Mar 25, 2010 | Reply
I have had great success using tree stands to hunt for big bucks.
Guy Purcell | Sep 1, 2010 | Reply
Locate his bedding area, know the buck’s core area, and with a good strategy and a early arrival you just might harvest him. Seasonal timing is very crucial . Shaun from Michigan.
Shaun | Mar 9, 2011 | Reply
I have a question. There are so many weird facts with this story. This buck was “toothless,” yet weighed 250 pounds and had THAT rack?? And he was 4.5 years old and had NO TEETH? I just don’t see how this buck was THAT young, with THAT rack, weighing THAT much and had no teeth in the very early winter. It doesn’t all add up to me. If you can make any sense out of this Buckmanager I’d appreciate it.
Hunter D | Mar 10, 2011 | Reply
Good question for sure Hunter D. This story is basically written as it was originally told in the press, but there are some things that do not quite add up, especially the part about being toothless. I have always suspected that the bottom jaws were missing and that the buck was not actually toothless, but I do not know this for fact.
When you get down to it, I can buy the rest of the story since Missouri can produce some big-bodied bucks—and considering this deer is a genetic anomaly to begin with—but either the age or the toothless part can not be right.
Buck Manager | Mar 10, 2011 | Reply
I agree with you Buckmanager. Some of the facts are incorrect. The “toothless” part is difficult to swallow since most of the deer with run-down teeth can’t eat as well, thereby having inferior antlers… which this deer does not.
Hunter D | Mar 14, 2011 | Reply
Hi, I personally know this is real. Many, many years ago Mike Helland was my boyfriend and he brought it home and it lived in our freezer in the basement for a while before it went off to the taxidermist. I opened the freezer and jumped out of my skin. It was monstrous, seemed bigger than a moose rack.
Dale | Aug 5, 2011 | Reply
Hey, why didn’t the guy that found it get to keep it? Just seems fair that if a man finds a buck and has the will and the want he should be able to keep it!
Bobo | Dec 20, 2011 | Reply