It's official, Oklahoma has a new archery state record whitetail!
NOTE: Post originally published in February, 2020.
Young bowhunter Guner Womack absolutely rocked the whitetail hunting world last year after he harvested an awesome 16-point buck in Oklahoma's Pawnee County.
Now the Oklahoman is reporting the animal is the new Oklahoma State Record for a typical whitetail taken with archery gear. The deer was finally panel-scored in front of a live audience in attendance at the Backwoods Hunting & Fishing Expo in Oklahoma City on March 1.
With the conclusion of the required 60-day drying period complete, Womack's buck grossed 201 5/8 Boone & Crockett. The final net score was 188 5/8 inches, the massive whitetail deer barely edged out the old state record buck by only one-eighth of an inch!
There had been much speculation after the big buck was first shot that it would shatter the overall record for a typical buck in the Sooner State. There were even rumblings it could possibly edge out the long-standing Pope & Young world record taken by Mel Johnson all the way back in 1965. Most of that speculation came after the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation's initial scoring session revealed a green score of 209 5/8 inches, which would put the deer among the Top 5 typical whitetails of all time. However, the net score in that initial session was revealed to be 192 6/8.
While the world record hype quickly died down, this whitetail buck is proving to be extremely popular among deer hunting enthusiasts, even those who don't live in Oklahoma. Most of that hype is centered around the buck's beautifully symmetrical and near-perfect 8x8 frame, something that is very rarely seen in typical whitetail deer. It's little wonder the photos of the Oklahoma State University student's harvest spread like wildfire on social media.
One of the craziest things about this new state record is that the deer was estimated he was only 4.5 years old! It left many hunters wondering what kind of antlers it could have been after one more year. Of course, he would have been crazy to pass up a buck with antlers of this caliber! The Womack family was very familiar with the animal from trail camera photos. While the buck had been quite large the year prior too, it had also broken many points off while fighting.
Womack also surprised many hunters when he told Newson6.com last year that he doesn't go hunting specifically for trophy bucks, that it's more about the meat and conservation for him.
Congratulations to Guner Womack the buck of a lifetime and on re-writing the Oklahoma record books from all of us here at Wide Open Spaces!
For more outdoor content from Travis Smola, be sure to follow him on Twitter and check out his YouTube channel.
NEXT: EDITOR'S PICK: OUR FAVORITE GEAR FROM ATA 2020
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