Former Soil Conservation Service employee and longtime writer Mat Taylor offers his outdoors column for Dispatch Record readers. He can be contacted at (254) 518-2262 or via e-mail at mntaylor@wildblue.net. The largest typical white-tailed deer in Texas, according to the Boone and Crockett Club, was a buck killed in 1963. It scored 196.5 inches.

That record may have been broken recently. I read an article on the Abilene Reporter News Web site about a large buck bagged by Dallas hunter Mike Hicks. He was hunting on the H&M Cattle Co. ranch in Shackelford County northeast of Abilene, when he downed the buck on the second day of the general deer season.

The article said the 16-pointer unofficially measured 203.38 on the Boone and Crockett scale and field-dressed 155 pounds. The score, however, may be lowered after the mandatory 60-day drying period, when the buck will be scored again. Hicks must have the buck scored by a certified Boone and Crockett representative.

Normally the difference between the “green” and “dry” scores is minimal. If that is the case, Hicks’ buck will be a new state record.

The Boone and Crockett scoring system recognizes mass and symmetry. The final score is deducted from the gross score for any unmatched points on either side of the antlers.

I checked the Boone and Crockett Web site, and in Texas most of the deer in the record book come from South Texas -- specifically the area around Laredo. In the past few years, though, more and more large bucks have been taken in the Rolling Plains region.

A photo of this possible new state record buck may still be available at the Abilene Reporter News site. I also saw the photo on other Web sites.

To compare the deer with other recently taken bucks, I checked with the 2008-09 Texas Big Game Awards Program results. Last season, the largest typical whitetail was taken on the King Ranch and scored 186 1/8. The largest nontypical came from Bosque County northwest of Waco, and it scored 214 5/8.

The Big Game Awards divided the state into several regions. In the Edwards Plateau, the largest nontypical buck was taken on the Duncan Ranch in Lampasas County. It scored 199 5/8. The largest typical in the Edwards Plateau came from Kimble County and scored 181 7/8.

TBGA records show the largest typical white-tailed buck entered from Lampasas County scored 144.

Boone and Crockett does not accept bucks killed inside a high fence. The reason is that many bucks are confined in small pastures and are given a high-protein feed year round. These bucks naturally would be larger than free-ranging bucks.

If you kill a large buck this season, you might want to enter it in the Texas Big Game Awards program. In the Edwards Plateau, the minimum Boone and Crockett score for a typical white-tailed buck is 130, and for non-typical, it is 140.

For information on how to enter, entry forms and a list of official scorers, go to the Web site www.texasbiggamewards.com.

Every year, a banquet is held to recognize hunters who bagged large bucks and the ranch from which the deer was taken.