Buck nets plenty of points
OAKLANDTWP — Twelve years ago, Roger Young believed he bagged the biggest buck in his life.
He was wrong.
Young, 58, has been a deer hunter for 46 years and has been hunting exclusively on his 52-acre property for a number of years.
"I got an 8-point with an 18Z\x inch spread in 1995,"he said. "I had it mounted and it's displayed in my house. I never thought I'd get one bigger."
But while hunting from his treestand Dec. 6, Young shot a 12-point, 180-pound buck. The buck's rack could end up scoring more points than any other in Pennsylvania this year.
A score of 150 generally makes the state record book. Young's buck is estimated to score out at 170.
"They measure a lot of things," he explained. "The diameter of the base, the height from the base to the tip of the rack — that's where it's going to score high."
"When the game warden first saw it, he whipped out his camera and began taking pictures before he got any information about me,"Young said.
"What makes this rack so unique is how tall it is. It's estimated that the buck was 5 years old."
And the buck had been spotted before. Others hunt on Young's property and have been pursuing that particular deer for some time.
Young's son, Terry Young, shot a 10-point buck the day before, less than 250 yards from where Young got the 12-point.
"Game officials believe that 10-point is an offspring of this one,"Young said.
Since suffering nerve damage to his back and legs in 1995, Roger Young primarily hunts out of his treestand, though he occasionally walks in the woods.
"I don't get around all that well, though, and that treestand is heated,"he said. "Besides, I can move around up there and (deer) can't see me.
"I was 130 yards from that buck and could see the top of his rack sticking up. He was laying down, got up and circled around to lay down again. He made that circle at the wrong time."
Young shot the buck at 8:40 a.m.
Young's grandson, 13-year-old Trent Young, bagged his first buck as well. He got a 4-pointer during the first week of gun season near North Washington.
"I took him up in the treestand with me when he was 3,"Young said of his grandson. "He loved it. He's been into hunting ever since."
Young said he and the buck likely will appear in the Pennsylvania Game News. The game warden called him Thursday, asking that the buck be brought to the regional office in Franklin to be scored.
