‘Biggest deer I’ve ever put my hands on!’ Why yes, that would earn Buck of the Week honors

Luke Fatland with his monster buck from central Illinois. | Provided

Kevin Clancy nominated the monster buck his brother-in-law, Luke Fatland, took in central Illinois last month. For perspective, Fatland, of Sandwich, is 6-3 and 250 pounds. The buck had 17 points with one broken off on the back side.

“If I scored him correctly he green scored non-typical 221 1/4 [inches],195 typical,” Clancy messaged. “I’m not a professional scorer, but I should be close. He’s the biggest deer I’ve ever put my hands on!”

The antlers of deer are scored by adding and subtracting various measurements in inches. Green-scored is an early unofficial measurement. To be officially measured, the antlers must dry for at least 60 days.

It’s a deer worth a look from another side.

Luke Fatland’s big buck viewed from another side.

Buck of the Week, the celebration of big bucks and their stories (the stories matter, as this one shows) from around Chicago outdoors, runs Wednesdays in the paper Sun-Times when time is right. The online posting at chicago.suntimes.com/outdoors goes up at varied days of the week, depending on what is going on the wide world of the outdoors.

To make submissions, email (BowmanOutside@gmail.com) or contact me on Facebook (Dale Bowman), Twitter (@BowmanOutside) or Instagram (@BowmanOutside).