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Roger Maes knows he\u2019ll recognize his grandfather\u2019s nearly century-old trophy buck whether it\u2019s in online photo lineups, hanging in a Northwoods tavern, or fully restored and displayed at a giant hunting\/fishing store.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
But the Madison, Wisconsin, resident hasn’t seen the buck for over 30 years, not since his grandfather sold it shortly before dying in 1993. Maes is just going off his childhood memories and an old photograph whose top-left corner is peppered with thumb-tack holes. The photo shows the buck\u2019s decrepit shoulder mount and 18-point, coffee-colored rack flanked by two old snowshoes on his grandfather\u2019s basement wall in Niagara, Wisconsin.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Maes hopes to find someone who\u2019s seen the antlers so he can get them replicated for his family\u2019s posterity. He also hopes a $500 reward might produce the needed video or photographs showing the rack\u2019s unique traits.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Maes\u2019 grandfather, Theodore \u201cTed\u201d Maes, was a serious hunter and trapper, and worked at a nearby paper mill. He shot the old \u201cswamp buck\u201d at age 21 on Nov. 21, 1932, roughly 7 miles east of Pembine in Marinette County, not far from the Kremlin mine and Michigan\u2019s Upper Peninsula.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
And that\u2019s about all Maes knows about his grandfather\u2019s hunt that day. Roger Maes isn\u2019t even certain his grandfather shot the buck with the .300 Savage Model 99 lever-action rifle that Roger\u2019s brother now owns. And he definitely doesn\u2019t know if his grandfather shot the buck from a stand, while taking part in a drive, or still-hunting alone through a cedar swamp.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
All Ted Maes ever said was that he killed nearly 70 bucks in his life, but only one \u2014 that lone buck on his wall \u2014 had venison too tough to chew. He did, however, eat its heart and liver. And he figured the buck was at least 10 years old because it lost all but a couple of its teeth.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\u201cOf course, my grandfather might have been embellishing all that,\u201d Roger Maes said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Whatever the case, Ted Maes knew his buck\u2019s antlers were exceptional. Forty-six years ago, on Jan. 25, 1980, at age 69, he took his buck mount to Duaine K. Wenzel in Crystal Falls, Michigan, to have it officially scored. He then paid the $20 registration fee to enter it in the Boone and Crockett Club\u2019s record book. Wenzel scored the rack as a 202-7\/8 \u201cnontypical,\u201d and listed its gross score as 208-4\/8 before deductions.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Wenzel judged the rack as nontypical because its 10-point main frame also had eight abnormal points totaling 38 inches, including a distinctive 7-inch drop tine beneath its left beam. In addition, the \u201cG2\u201d tines on both beams carried forked 9-inch tines jutting up from their bases, the right G2 measuring 10-5\/8 inches and the left measuring 10 inches.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
The rack also measures 23-7\/8 inches between its main beams and 19-5\/8 inches between its tips. It currently ranks 203 of 618 nontypical Wisconsin whitetails in B&C\u2019s records.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Roger Maes thinks his grandfather sold the old mount for $200 to an antler collector who often stopped to visit.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\u201cLate in his life, I don\u2019t think my grandfather really knew how unusual or valuable those antlers were,\u201d Maes said. \u201cAround Christmas, he would put a red ornament on its nose and stick it in the snow out front. He didn\u2019t even worry that someone might steal it.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Maes wants everyone to know he and his family aren\u2019t seeking to own the rack. They simply need a better look at it so they can make an exact replica. The old photo from Ted Maes\u2019 basement doesn\u2019t clearly show the rack\u2019s abnormal points. Maes contacted the Boone and Crockett Club, but learned he can\u2019t get the club\u2019s file photos of the antlers unless he\u2019s listed as the owner, or the owner grants him access. The B&C Club\u2019s files still list his grandfather as the owner.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Kyle Lehr, B&C\u2019s director of big-game records, said the club can\u2019t release anything that\u2019s not listed in its (public) records unless the owner requests the files or provides written consent to share them.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\u201cSituations like this are tough; they\u2019re unfortunate,\u201d Lehr told MeatEater. \u201cWe get requests like this from time to time, where family or friends know about a rack but no longer have it. It\u2019s not a spot we enjoy being in. We hope Mr. Maes can find the current owner, and if we learn it\u2019s OK, we\u2019ll provide whatever help we can.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Roger Maes, 59, said the original photo of the buck in his grandfather\u2019s basement stirs many memories. \u201cMy grandfather had a barber\u2019s chair down there,\u201d he said. \u201cEvery time we got our haircuts, we\u2019d sit in that barber\u2019s chair, looking at the mount with its cracked nose and hair shedding from its left ear. It was an amazing buck, but I was too young to appreciate what I was looking at.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\u201cMy dad often reminded (my grandfather) to never sell the buck,\u201d Maes continued. \u201cDad knew an antler collector was pestering my grandfather every time he passed through town, but Dad didn\u2019t learn my grandfather had sold it until after he died. My father never had time to track down the collector because (Dad) died just four months after my grandfather passed.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Roger Maes, meanwhile, had moved to California for work, but moved back to Wisconsin in 2001 and settled in Madison. He soon got into bowhunting, which rekindled his interest in his grandfather\u2019s big buck. He attended a few deer shows to look at all the buck mounts, and contacted the son of an antler collector who might have known about the missing buck, but nothing came of it.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\u201cI kind of dropped the ball on it for a while,\u201d Maes said. \u201cBut as time went on, I\u2019d find myself scrolling through thousands of photos every deer season, knowing I\u2019d recognize it if I saw it. And then, cut to this year, I recommitted to finding it so I could get an exact replica made. With social media and all the advances in online searches, I figured it would be worth offering a $500 reward to help find the antlers.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Maes asks anyone with information to contact him at roger@statepointmedia.com.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
He\u2019s optimistic because each deer antler is unique, and the deer-hunting universe features countless geeks who never forget an antler.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\u201cIt won\u2019t matter if the mount is still battered and cracked, and sitting in some bar in the middle of nowhere, or if it\u2019s been restored to its full glory and on display with lots of other big heads,\u201d Maes said. \u201cThe more people who see that old photo, the better the chances that someone will recognize it.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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