Wagoner Buck

by Cullen Wagoner

In 1998, I was looking at a buck that I had shot previously. I couldn’t help but wonder why a 219-inch main frame buck couldn’t make the record book. My buck had been rough scored at 236 B&C. A friend of mine told me that Boone and Crockett had lowered the minimum score to 230 B&C points, down from the all-time minimum of 240. Now all I had to do was find an official measurer. I soon found my solution. There was going to be a hunting show in Bakersfield, California with an official measurer scoring trophies. On April 20th, I went to the hunting show with my two friends Danny Langston and Larry Knight to show my buck. It was a good show, but what made it special for me was when they scored my buck at 240 4/8 B&C. The score put him in the all-time record book!

It all started back in 1976, when two friends and I drew for the Southern Ute Indian Reservation. I had drawn this hunt three times previously. The year before, I had found some very large tracks in a deep canyon, but couldn’t find the maker of them. So, upon arrival, that canyon was where I wanted to start.

We arrived at the reservation on the 11th of December, 1976, which was the second week of a two-week season. We were to meet up with two of our friends that were hunting the entire season. When we arrived at camp, our friends were packing up to leave. They had shot their bucks, both of which were 29-inch, 170 to 180-class bucks. They told us that they had seen a lot of good bucks. We quickly dropped the trailer and went hunting.

Our group drove to the top of Sandoval canyon, and then went up and over the ridge to a large, downed, cedar tree I had used the year before as cover. We started to glass with our spotting scopes. We glassed the closest draws first, and then worked our way out from there. I spotted about fifteen to twenty does about 1300 yards below us and, at that time of year, knew that there should be bucks in the area. After glassing a little longer, I spotted two bucks about 200 yards above the does. I could see good antlers on both of them.

My friend Harold and I slipped back over the ridge and ran to a draw that would put us to the right of the buck. We looked over the ridge and saw that we needed to get closer. We dropped back down and ran approximately 200 yards and came to a saddle without as much as a blade of grass on it. I leaned against a juniper bush and fired. The buck went down, but got back up and ran into a stand of scrub oak and did not come out. I ran towards the oak, stopped to catch my breath, and then started running to the oak again. At about 60 yards, the buck jumped up and ran down the hill. That’s when I saw how big he really was and the only thing I thought was, “Don’t let him get away!” The buck tried to run uphill, but couldn’t. At about 100 yards, he turned broadside to go downhill. That’s when I said to myself, “That’s far enough my friend!” I fired my second shot and it was over. As I walked up to him I couldn’t believe the size of his antlers, 34-inches wide (33 after drying), 9×8 with an amazing 219 -inch typical mainframe. After six months of planning, my hunt was over in five hours with a “buck of a lifetime.”

Cullen’s trophy mule deer was featured in the 2008 King’s Bull Elk Calendar

Behind the Re-creations

Hunter: Cullen Wagoner
Date: December 1976
Location: Ute Indian Reservation, Colorado
Points: 9×8 non-typical
Typical Frame: 219 7/8
Net Score: 240 4/8 B&C
Featured: 2008 King’s Mule Deer Calendar

Tags: 1976, behind the recreations, colorado, HI34, mule deer

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