At the tagging station -- a local general store -- a crowd gathered to watch as the buck was weighed in at 220 pounds.

Carl Lieser, an official scorer for the Boone and Crockett and the Northeast Big Buck Club, green-scored the buck at a whopping 197 inches for the NBBC. Spiers had always been a meat hunter and knew nothing about antler scoring. But he knows a little something about it now!

THE SPIERS BUCK
With a gross score of 197 1/8 and a net score of 178 2/8, the Spiers buck ranks as the largest typical killed in New England in 2005, according to the Northeast Big Buck Club.

Because of some significant asymmetry deductions, the net score will rank only in the all-time top 15 in the B&C records for Maine typicals. But with its gross-score, Spiers' great buck stands as the second-highest gross-scoring typical in New England, behind Whitey Sovinski's 204 1/8 Massachusetts typical.

The Spiers rack is tall and tight, and very dark. The brow tines are 13 2/8 and 14 3/8 inches respectively, by far the longest brow tines ever seen on a New England buck! The rack has a relatively short spread of 15 4/8 inches, but the tine length is outstanding, with a total of five tines over 11 inches long. The main beams stretch over 27 inches each. With circumferences ranging from 4 6/8 to 7 1/8 inches, it is hard to believe that this was the smaller of the two bucks Spiers saw that morning!

THANKS, RODNEY!
He aptly credits his cousin, Rodney, for helping him take this great buck. Without his help and advice, Spiers knows this great event would never have happened.

For more information about the Northeast Big Buck Club, or to buy their latest record listings, call them at (508) 752-8762 or visit them online at www.bigbuckclub.com. You can also write to NBBC, 390 Marshall Street, Paxton, MA 01612.