A HIT OR A MISS?
When the smoke cleared, Waltman could see that both the doe and buck were still running. The buck slowed down, however, and then went out of sight. The goldenrod was so tall that Waltman couldn't be sure if the deer was down or not.

Waltman waited in the stand for an agonizing 45 minutes. He then got down and went to where he thought he hit the buck, but found no blood.

He began making small circles, working his way towards where he saw the buck last, hoping to find either blood sign or the deer.

Working his way slowly through the tall goldenrod, Waltman finally found him. It was Old Brown Horns, all right, and he was even bigger than Waltman had remembered!

The shot had hit the big old buck between the last two ribs and had traveled all the way up through the heart and shoulder. The big buck never knew what hit him.

Waltman's dad was hunting nearby, and it did not take him long to find his way over to his son. When he saw the dark rack, he knew it was the same big buck he had seen earlier. His dad was thrilled, especially because he had told Waltman to hunt that particular stand that morning.

As it turned out, Waltman killed Old Brown Horns only 500 yards from where he'd missed him with his bow in 2005. But this time, he had made good on a rare second opportunity at a great buck.

THE SCORE
Waltman's buck is very impressive -- a classic 10-point typical rack with good strength in all aspects, and great character because of its unusually dark color. The gross typical score (before deductions), according to the Northeast Big Buck Club, is 167 3/8. The net B&C score is 160 7/8 after asymmetry deductions.

The main beams are very strong at 26 4/8 (right) and 27 4/8 (left). The beams frame a wide 20 5/8-inch inside spread, giving the rack even more appeal. The longest tines measure over 9 inches each. And the buck has very good mass, with first circumference measurements of 4 7/8 and 5 1/8 inches.

At the time this article was written, Waltman's buck was the largest typical muzzleloader buck entered to the Northeast Big Buck Club records from New York.

The New York State Big Buck Club could not be reached for comment, and the buck had not yet been submitted for its review and/or acceptance.

MORE BIG MUZZLELOADER BUCKS FROM NEW YORK
As mentioned earlier, many other quality muzzleloader bucks have been taken in the Empire State in recent years. The largest gross-scoring buck killed by a muzzleloader hunter was a great non-typical killed by Andrew Carney in Allegany County in 2004. That 16-pointer scored 187 3/8 inches gross and 174 3/8 net B&C points.

In addition to Carney's, several other blackpowder bucks are worth mentioning. In 2003, Blake Burnette took a great Cortland County 15-point non-typical that had a gross B&C score of 185 2/8 and netted 180 2/8 inches.

And in 1999, Donald Hayton connected on a Livingston County 16-pointer that had a gross score of 184 4/8 and netted 181 1/8 inches.

In October 2002, Mike Dupell took a 176-inch 16-point non-typical in Hamilton County that netted 171 5/8 inches. More recently, in 2005 Hugh Matthews took a Saratoga County non-typical 16-pointer that scored 170 3/8 gross and 167 inches net.

The largest typical muzzleloader buck taken in recent years is Gregory Radford's 11-pointer, also from Livingston County in 2002.

That buck had a gross score of 174 inches and netted 166 7/8 inches after deductions.

That is quite a crop of great blackpowder bucks taken in just the last five years! Interestingly, Livingston County produced an unusually high percentage of the best muzzleloader bucks taken in recent years.

BIGGEST GUN BUCK OF 2006
Of course, many other fantastic bucks were taken during the shotgun and rifle seasons throughout the state. Recently, in fact, we brought you the story of the best buck of the year -- Bob Cuozzo's huge 19-point non-typical shotgun buck taken in Chemung County that scored over 215 gross Boone and Crockett points!

You can see the full story, photos and score information in the July issue of New York Game & Fish.

As is often the case when a giant buck is downed, other very impressive bucks can go unnoticed.

Here's a look at several other great firearm bucks from 2006.

Two huge 17-point non-typicals also fell in New York this past year -- the first in Wayne County to Stephan Bailey. His buck had a gross score of 183 2/8 inches and a net B&C score of 177 1/8. This big-racked buck had a big body also, dressing out at 215 pounds.