By Jeff Brown

Bay State bowhunters have dominated the deer-hunting headlines in the last few years, and for some good reasons. Better access to prime deer habitat coupled with an extended archery season means Bay State archers have the best of both worlds when it comes to crossing paths with Massachusetts' biggest bucks.

According to records of the Northeast Big Buck Club (the region's whitetail scoring and record-keeping organization), Massachusetts has produced more than 150 book-class archery bucks over the last three years! And in each of the last three seasons, more than one-third of the best bucks taken by any method (bow, gun or muzzleloader) were taken by archers. In 2003, this trend continued, and a buck arrowed by Worcester County hunter Mark Manoogian is proof positive that Massachusetts' trophy-buck potential is growing stronger every year.

The great buck arrowed by Manoogian is one of many impressive bucks arrowed during the state's archery season in October and November. Here's a look at this new state record for archery non-typicals, and the new No. 2 buck in the state for archery typicals, also taken during the 2003 season.

Manoogian hunts Worcester County, which traditionally is the No. 1 producer of trophy bucks in Massachusetts. In fact, according to the Northeast Big Buck Club, Worcester County has produced more record-book bucks than any other county in all of New England.

Manoogian had scouted a new area for the upcoming bow season and was looking forward to hunting it with his new bow. He hung a portable stand in a pine tree on the edge of a big, overgrown field and felt good about the amount of sign in the area. But his first hunt in mid-October yielded no deer sightings.

Mark Manoogian's incredible typical bow kill scored 170 4/8, making it the state's No. 1 archery non-typical and one of the best bucks harvested statewide in 2003 by any weapon! Photo courtesy of Mark Manoogian

Undaunted by his bad luck the first time out, Manoogian returned several days later for an afternoon hunt. It was Oct. 20, and the weather was seasonable (temperatures in the 40s), with clear skies and no wind. He got to his stand around 2:30 p.m. and settled in for an afternoon hunt, hopeful that bucks that had been scraping and rubbing in the area would show themselves before sunset.

As the afternoon progressed, three does worked their way past Manoogian. Although he had a doe permit, he passed them up, hoping for a shot at a buck. With the does in the field, Manoogian worked a bleat call, hoping to attract some bucks to the does standing in the field.

The strategy worked! Manoogian could hear what sounded like two bucks scuffling off in the woods, possibly sparring or fighting. Suddenly, a big 9-pointer appeared and moved quickly past him. He tried to get a shot at the buck, but could not. The buck chased after the does, and they all left the field.

Before Manoogian could even begin to feel disappointed, an even bigger buck emerged from the woods, apparently following the trail of the first buck. This time, Manoogian was ready, and at eight yards he let the arrow fly. The shot hit a little back on the buck, and it ran off across the field and into the woods on the other side. Manoogian never got a real good look at the buck, but he knew it was a big one.

Darkness was settling in, and Manoogian decided that it would be best to wait until morning to track the deer.

The hunter climbed down from his stand and went home for a long evening of impatient waiting, but Manoogian felt it was necessary to give the big buck an opportunity to bed down and bleed out.

The next morning, Manoogian and a few friends came back to the area to track the buck. Sign was minimal, with only a few drops of blood to follow. To make matters worse, dark clouds overhead were threatening rain.

Manoogian started to feel a little anxious about the prospects of recovering his trophy. He knew where the buck had entered the woods, and a few drops of blood could be found there. The trackers found some well-used trails in the area and started making figure eight patterns as they searched for the big buck, eventually finding the dead deer within 200 yards of the stand.

The buck was much bigger than Manoogian had recalled, and the tracking party was surprised and excited at the sight of this incredible rack. There were 16 points set on a wide frame - bigger than any rack any of them had ever seen before!

They brought the buck to Jerry's Bait and Tackle in Milford to check him in. The buck was weighed in at 186 pounds dressed, and of course, the deer caused quite a commotion as hunters marveled at the magnificent rack.

Manoogian brought the rack to taxidermist Dave Pelletier to get it mounted, and Paul Scheffler, a Northeast Big Buck Club measurer, was there to examine the deer. Scheffler was scoring some other racks and offered to green-score Manoogian's buck. The rough green-score put the rack in the high 170s as a non-typical, so Scheffler immediately called NBBC central to see if it would be the new state-record archery buck. It looked like it could be, and club officials confirmed that fact 60 days later when Scheffler final-scored the buck at 176 7/8 gross and 170 4/8 net non-typical, making Manoogian's buck the No. 1 archery non-typical in the state, and one of the best bucks harvested statewide in 2003 by any weapon!

As amazing as this score is, it could have been even better had it not been for a large broken point on the right side. The main beams are very long at 24 7/8 inches each, complemented by a wide inside spread of 19 1/8 inches. Five of the typical tines are over 7 inches, with the longest tine measuring 8 3/8 inches. The rack has very heavy mass throughout, with all eight mass measurements going over 4 inches.

This great archery buck beats the existing Bay State record by 8 inches. The previous record was held by John Cunningham, who shot a 168 7/8 13-point non-typical in Plymouth County in 2000.

Overall, the Manoogian buck ranks No. 4 in New England for all archery non-typicals, all time! It ranks behind Glenn Townsend's amazing 216 7/8 20-point non-typical taken during New Hampshire's 2000 season, Chris Krista's 199 1/8 17-point non-typical taken in Connecticut in 1998, and Chris Steven's 178 2/8 16-pointer taken in 2001, also in Connecticut. That sure is some pretty good company!

Manoogian's buck was the best non-typical archery buck shot in the entire Northeast this past season. Other monster non-typicals arrowed by local hunters include Tom Manente's 170-class 11-pointer from Middlesex County, Connecticut, David Bannister's 164 4/8-inch 11-pointer from New London County, Connecticut, and Roland Poulin's 163 6/8-inch 13-pointer from Belknap County, New Hampshire.

Other very good non-typical bucks arrowed in Massachusetts include Lance Legace's 164 4/8-inch 12-pointer from Worcester County and Wayne Flanagan's Norfolk County 12-pointer that scored 162 3/8 gross.

The Manoogian buck ranks No. 4 overall in New England for all archery non-typicals. Since 2000, there have been four non-typical bucks taken by archers that gross over 170 inches, another indication that archery hunting in New England can produce some real whoppers!

As this issue goes to press, Manoogian's buck stood as the largest gross-scoring buck from Massachusetts in 2003. But more news was being made by another Bay State archer, Rob Morris, who arrowed the state's new No. 2 typical buck!

Morris has been hunting for more than 20 years. At 33, he has already taken eight bucks with a bow, with nearly 40 deer in total over his hunting career, including several big-bodied and big-racked deer over the years in Maine and Massachusetts. His past experience was one of the keys that enabled him to arrow this year's phenomenal whitetail.

Morris had seen this buck with a smaller basket-racked 8-pointer on the last day of the 2002 season, but could not get a shot. In 2003, he hunted the area hard and had been at it for about three weeks with no luck. He had been trying to keep the buck in the area by making a fake scrape and keeping it fresh with scent. After three weeks of this, the buck finally got mad and ripped up a bunch of trees while making a half-dozen scrapes in the area. Morris knew he had more than a good chance at this buck now!

On Thursday evening, he went to the store to pick up some more scent and freshened the scrapes in anticipation of the early Halloween morning (next day) hunt.

He arrived at his stand at about 5:50 a.m. and got set up. It was a clear, calm morning, and a bit warm at around 50 degrees. Even so, it didn't take long for the action to begin!

Morris grunted a few times. At around 6:10 a.m., the monster walked in from Morris' right, offering him the perfect shot! Morris drew and let the arrow fly when the buck was only 15 yards away. The shot was perfect, taking out both lungs, and the big buck went only 100 yards before piling up in a swamp.

Morris could not believe it! All of his hard work had finally paid off. There was still some hard work to do (including one tough drag out of a thick swamp), but Morris didn't mind a bit! Dragging this big buck (which weighed 204 pounds dressed) was a joy, especially since this was the only buck Morris had seen in three weeks of hunting!

Morris took his buck to butcher Mike Quiron in Nashua, New Hampshire. Quiron was impressed with the buck and suggested that Morris contact Northeast Big Buck Club measurer Scott Tremblay to have it green-scored. He then forwarded photos and the green-score to me (NBBC club president), and we knew right away that this buck would have a great shot at being our No. 1 archery typical from 2003.

Some 60 days later, Morris' buck was officially scored by Carl Lieser, NBBC and Pope and Young scorer, and the results were fantastic! Morris's buck scored 166 4/8 gross and nets 156 6/8 Pope and Young points.

The rack is impressive in many ways. It is unusually dark brown in color and is a very clean 10-point with no scorable abnormal points or broken tines. The main beams are just over 25 inches each, complemented by an inside spread of 18 inches.

The rack has three tines over 10 inches. The longest tines are the right G-3 at 11 7/8 inches and the left G-2 at 11 5/8 inches.

The buck loses quite a bit of symmetry at the G-2s, where the right side is 4 2/8 inches shorter than the left and at the G-4s, where the right side is 2 6/8 inches longer than the left. These differences total 9 6/8 inches of symmetry deductions, which drive the net Pope and Young score down into the mid-150s.

The buck has very good mass, with circumferences of 4 2/8 and 4 3/8 inches, respectively, and all eight mass measurements exceed 4 inches.

This is a very impressive and clean 10-pointer that could easily have grossed in the 170s had the right G-2 grown to its full potential.

Morris' buck is the biggest archery typical taken from Massachusetts in 2003 and the largest typical buck taken anywhere in New England by bow during the 2003 season. His buck ranks No. 2 all-time in Massachusetts for archery typicals, falling second only to the phenomenal buck taken by Paul Reusch Jr. in 2000. The Reusch buck scored 173 2/8 as a 10-pointer, and was taken in Plymouth County.

For 2003, Morris' buck topped Ron Costa's 156 1/8-inch 9-pointer arrowed in Middlesex County. It also bested other bucks killed in New England by bow, including James Stockman's 163 6/8-inch 9-pointer from Carroll County, New Hampshire; and Thomas Neils' 152 1/8-inch 11-pointer from Windham County, Connecticut, among others.

For more information about the Northeast Big Buck Club, or to purchase the club's most recent record book - Northeast Trophy Whitetails IV - visit the NBBC's Web site at www.bigbuckclub.com; or e-mail jbhunts@aol.com.

Or write to them at NBBC, 390 Marshall Street, Paxton, MA 01612.

If you or someone you know has killed a buck that should be scored, visit the Web site for a list of measurers or call (508) 752-8762 to request a scorer in your area.