Nearly 41 Years Ago, A Missourian Found a World Record Buck

Ever have one of those moments when you wonder about deer? I did and this is the result. It's the story of a Missourian who nearly 41 years ago literally walked up on the largest whitetail deer on record. To my knowledge, it's a record that has never been broken.

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I grew up in a family where my dad, uncles and cousins all went deer hunting. To say that we had plenty of venison in the freezer would be an understatement. I thought I had heard back in those days that the world record buck had been found in Missouri. That's one of my few memories from childhood that turned out to be right.

Game and Fish Mag shared the story of a deer that became known as The Missouri Monarch. They say it was "the No. 1 all-time best non-typical whitetail buck that netted 333 7/8 inches". The buck was found in November of 1981 already dead by a firearms hunter according to their story. Boone and Crockett Club backs that up and mentions that the hunter that found it was David Beckman.

There has been some controversy over the years about whether The Missouri Monarch would remain #1. North American Whitetail told the story of The Hole in the Horn Buck from Ohio which temporarily was given the top spot back in 1983. Eventually, it would be decided the original score was off and it became #2.

Unlike my dad and cousins, I am not a hunter myself. But, I've done a lot of digging and have not found a bigger whitetail than the Missouri Monarch. 41 years and standing as the buck that all the rest must look up to (in a deer kind of way).