One Hunter, Two State Records! - Northeast Big Buck Club
One Hunter, Two State Records! - Northeast Big Buck Club
One Hunter, Two State Records! - Northeast Big Buck Club
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<strong>One</strong><br />
<strong>Hunter</strong>,<br />
<strong>Two</strong><br />
<strong>State</strong><br />
<strong>Records</strong>!<br />
In 2004 Mark Thomas did something<br />
most Bay <strong>State</strong> Archers can<br />
only dream about – he arrowed<br />
a 10-Point typical in Norfolk County<br />
that scored 175 6/8” gross P&Y, and<br />
established a new Massachusetts<br />
<strong>State</strong> Record for archery Typicals.<br />
That record held until 2006 when<br />
a hunter from Worcester County<br />
arrowed a massive 180-class buck<br />
that pushed Mark’s great buck to a<br />
respectable #2. Many hunters would<br />
be content with that accomplishment.<br />
However, Mark Thomas cares little<br />
for accolades and little about what<br />
other people think. He just loves<br />
to hunt big bucks. That passion<br />
translated into another great buck<br />
on Halloween in 2007. And this one<br />
would become the state’s nontypical<br />
archery record! continued on page 36<br />
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Awards 2008<br />
<strong>Northeast</strong> BIG BUCKS
On Our Cover -<br />
Mark Thomas and his<br />
"Bay <strong>State</strong>" Monster.<br />
www.bigbuckclub.com Awards 2008 35
Bay <strong>State</strong> Archer<br />
Shoots New<br />
#1 Archery<br />
Non-Typical<br />
Mark has been hunting this area for many years. He is<br />
primarily a bowhunter, and has killed many great bucks in this<br />
county over the years including the aforementioned former state<br />
record typical killed by Thomas. The land he was hunting in late<br />
October of 2007 was familiar to him, as he had been hunting it<br />
for several years. In the past he had seen some nice bucks here,<br />
and in fact in 2006 his trail camera got a bunch of photos of a<br />
great drop tine buck. He hunted the buck hard that year, and<br />
had a close encounter one day in the rain but thought better of<br />
trying a shot. He became obsessed with the monster, and hunted<br />
the buck hard the rest of 2006. He even hunted Christmas day<br />
for the buck (and Mark has two small kids!). The season closed<br />
Background<br />
Norfolk County in eastern Massachusetts<br />
is one of the smaller counties in the state,<br />
at 444 square miles. It is located from just<br />
south of Boston and runs down to the<br />
corners of RI and CT. It is a very suburban<br />
area with a population of 650,000 people,<br />
or more than 1,600 people per square<br />
mile. This is not exactly what you might<br />
consider ideal whitetail habitat. However<br />
experienced New England bowhunters<br />
know that deer densities are higher in<br />
suburban counties, and often hunting<br />
pressure is very light, translating to great<br />
trophy opportunities for bowhunters who<br />
can gain access to small pockets of cover.<br />
In fact, this small county has produced<br />
more than 50 bucks that make the NBBC<br />
record buck, including the states largest<br />
gross-scoring buck! In 2005 Jeff Draper<br />
found a giant 210” non-typical dead off<br />
Route 128 (that state’s busiest highway).<br />
That buck currently ranks as the state’s #1<br />
non-typical of all time.<br />
by Jeff Brown<br />
without another sighting of the buck, so Mark set his sights on<br />
shed hunting. He found the right shed with a huge drop tine, and<br />
he continued to follow the buck through the summer, capturing<br />
10 trail camera photos of the buck. Mark was psyched for the<br />
beginning of the 2007 season.<br />
The Hunt<br />
Halloween morning of 2007 was very cold, although the<br />
weather called for the temperature to rise quickly during the day.<br />
Mark was in a treestand about 200 yards from where he had seen<br />
the great buck in 2006, and he rattled and grunted throughout the<br />
morning as the temperature rose. At about 8:45, just before Mark<br />
was ready to get down, he heard a deer walking in the distance.<br />
He scanned the pines 100 yards from his stand, and caught sight<br />
of a single tine from the rack – and he knew instantly it was<br />
36<br />
Awards 2008<br />
<strong>Northeast</strong> BIG BUCKS
“his buck.” The buck<br />
walked out of the pines<br />
looking for a fight, and<br />
immediately picked off<br />
Mark in the stand. Mark<br />
froze, and the two had a<br />
standoff that lasted for<br />
about a minute (but it<br />
seemed like an hour!).<br />
Finally the buck flicked<br />
his tail demonstrating he<br />
was relaxed, and started<br />
walking. At 37 yards the<br />
buck turned broadside.<br />
Mark drew his bow and<br />
let the arrow fly! The<br />
arrow struck the buck<br />
high, and he bolted out<br />
of sight. Mark was juiced<br />
with adrenaline, but<br />
his experience with big<br />
bucks taught him to always wait at least three or four hours before<br />
beginning the tracking job. While he waited he called his friend<br />
Matt Grady and also called his father. After they arrived and the<br />
“wait was over” they tracked the buck for about 150 yards, and<br />
found the monster than Mark had hunted so hard for the past two<br />
years. Mark could not believe that the big beast was actually there<br />
on the ground!<br />
After dragging out the buck they took him to a check station<br />
and weighed him at just over 200 lbs. dressed. They headed back<br />
to the house and Mark called all his hunting buddies who knew<br />
how obsessed he was with this deer, and they all got together at<br />
Mark’s house to celebrate. TJ Mello – Mark’s friend and also a<br />
scorer for the <strong>Northeast</strong> <strong>Big</strong> <strong>Buck</strong> <strong>Club</strong> – was among those at<br />
Mark’s house, and he green scored the buck. He informed Mark<br />
that there was “a chance” that this could challenge for the state<br />
record. Sometime later TJ organized an official panel scoring<br />
session with the NBBC, and the results supported TJ’s claim!<br />
Stats and Ranks<br />
The Berestka <strong>Buck</strong> was the current Massachusetts <strong>State</strong><br />
Record Archery Non-typical. The final gross score of this<br />
amazing rack was 178”, with a net score of 166 7/8” non-typical.<br />
This is what the Thomas buck would need to beat when it was<br />
officially panel scored by <strong>Northeast</strong> <strong>Big</strong> <strong>Buck</strong> <strong>Club</strong> scorers with<br />
a panel led by TJ Mello (note: all potential NBBC state records<br />
require a panel of senior scorers to be convened to determine the<br />
final score). Mello had “green scored” the buck at 178”. He was<br />
“conservative” in his treatment of several abnormal points, and<br />
felt the buck had a good chance of scoring better during the panel.<br />
And he was correct – the buck scored a whopping 179” gross<br />
B&C, besting the current record by an inch!<br />
This buck is very impressive in many ways. It is a massive 9-<br />
point typical with 5 additional abnormal points, including a large<br />
group of points at the base of the left beam. There was no sign<br />
of the big drop tine the buck had in 2006, although it was plenty<br />
impressive without it! The beams are relatively short at 23 7/8”<br />
and 21 3/8”, forming an awe-inspiring inside spread of 26 6/8”.<br />
The buck has great mass, with bases of 5 2/8” and 7 7/8” on the<br />
left side where the large mass of abnormal points come together.<br />
The final gross score of this amazing rack is 179 0/8”, and it nets<br />
out at 165 5/8” non-typical because of the significant deductions.<br />
Let’s take a look at the best bow bucks of All-Time in this state.<br />
The top three Archery Non-typicals<br />
in this state are now:<br />
1. Mark Thomas<br />
179 0/8” gross 165 5/8” net 2007 Norfolk County<br />
2. Larry Berestka<br />
178 0/8” gross 166 7/8” net 2005 Worcester County<br />
3. Mark Manoogian<br />
176 7/8” gross 170 4/8” net 2003 Worcester County<br />
Amazingly, Thomas also owns the number two archery typical in<br />
the state as well! The top three archery typicals are:<br />
1. Paul Buccaccio<br />
185 7/8” gross 172 1/8” net 2006 Worcester County<br />
2. Mark Thomas<br />
175 6/8” gross 173 4/8” net 2004 Norfolk County<br />
3. Paul Reusch Jr.<br />
173 2/8” gross 166 7/8” net 2000 Plymouth County<br />
As you can see, Thomas’s accomplishment is mind-boggling. But<br />
as I will show you later – it is not unprecedented…<br />
see next page<br />
www.bigbuckclub.com Awards 2008 37
<strong>One</strong> <strong>Hunter</strong>, <strong>Two</strong> <strong>State</strong> <strong>Records</strong>!<br />
continued from previous page<br />
Bay <strong>State</strong>s Best Bow<br />
<strong>Buck</strong>s of 2007<br />
The Thomas <strong>Buck</strong> is just one of several<br />
outstanding archery bucks taken in 2007<br />
in this state. In a previous issue of this<br />
magazine we brought you the story of Fred<br />
Cristina’s outstanding 172 6/8” Plymouth<br />
County 10-Point – the best archery typical<br />
of 2007 in the state. And many other great<br />
bucks were arrowed throughout the state<br />
this past season. <strong>Buck</strong>s of 150” or better<br />
were arrowed in many counties, including<br />
Norfolk, Plymouth, Worcester, Hampden,<br />
Middlesex and Berkshire. That covers nearly<br />
the entire state. Let’s take a look at some of<br />
those bucks. Jim Kelly shot a monster typical<br />
10-Point in Middlesex County that scored<br />
164 5/8” gross P&Y. Kelly’s buck had a 20<br />
1/8” inside spread and bases of 5” each. In<br />
Berkshire County in the western part of the<br />
state Justin Davis shot an enormous 8-Point<br />
with a gross score of 157 7/8”. Davis’s 8-<br />
Point had main beams of over 25” each and<br />
an inside spread of just under 19”. Other 150-<br />
class bucks included Dave Zani’s 155 1/8”<br />
non-typical 11-Point from Worcester County;<br />
The Score<br />
The beams are relatively<br />
short at 23 7/8” and 21<br />
3/8”, forming an aweinspiring<br />
inside spread<br />
of 26 6/8”. The buck has<br />
great mass, with bases of<br />
5 2/8” and 7 7/8” on the<br />
left side where the large<br />
mass of abnormal points<br />
come together.<br />
The final gross score<br />
of this amazing rack is<br />
179 0/8”, and it nets out<br />
at 165 5/8” non-typical<br />
because of the significant<br />
deductions.<br />
Jeff Brown<br />
NBBC President<br />
Robert Mastroianni’s Hampden County 11-<br />
Point scoring 153 4/8”; a 152 5/8” 10-Point<br />
for Steve Coulter, also in Hampden County;<br />
and a 152 1/8” 9-Point for Rick Anketell in<br />
Worcester County. In total, this state’s bow<br />
hunters took three bucks in the top twenty<br />
archery All-Time and two (Cristina and<br />
Thomas) in the top seven All-Time. That<br />
makes for quite a year!<br />
Summary<br />
Shooting one buck that makes top ten alltime<br />
in any state is quite an accomplishment!<br />
Just imagine shooting two bucks that both<br />
rank number two in the archery typical<br />
and non-typical categories. This is an<br />
astronomically improbably accomplishment.<br />
And yet, it is not unprecedented. In 2006<br />
Massachusetts hunter Bill Tatro took the<br />
#1 muzzleloader non-typical and the #5<br />
muzzleloader typical in the same season! And<br />
just imagine, for a period of time he also held<br />
the state record gun typical that now ranks<br />
#2 in that category. So I guess we can say<br />
that Mark Thomas and Bill Tatro have both<br />
accomplished something that many of us<br />
would have considered nearly impossible!<br />
38<br />
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