22-point buck taken in Carrabassett Valley … but not by a hunter

So, this isn’t a hunting story. Let’s get that out of the way right off the bat.

This 22-point buck was hit by a vehicle in Carrabassett Valley last week. (Bonnie Holding photo)

This 22-point buck was hit by a vehicle in Carrabassett Valley last week. (Bonnie Holding photo)

It is, however, a deer story, and it features a buck with an enormous rack of antlers. Therefore, I knew many BDN readers would want to get a look at a deer that was a victim of a car-deer crash in Carrabassett Valley, near Sugarloaf.

Some say the locals have been seeing the buck for awhile now; Joe Gambino, who has a place at Sugarloaf, said he has hear that some “Sugarloafers” have been calling him “Brutus.”

When Gambino posted photos to Facebook last week, I checked in with him — he said the unofficial tally credited “Brutus” with 27 points on that impressive rack.

On Thursday, I caught up with Danny Barker of Coplin Plantation, whose employee hit the deer. Fortunately, the driver had just dropped off a co-worker, and was traveling only 30 mph when he hit the deer.

“It was actually 22 points,” Barker said. “But then it had a whole bunch of [non-countable] points sticking up three-quarters of an inch or so. They have to be an inch to be considered a point. I think in another year it probably would have been a 30-pointer.”

Barker said Dick Arsenault, a professional antler scorer, counted the points for him.

Barker’s employee didn’t have room to display the antlers, and gave the deer to his boss. Barker butchered the animal, shared the meat with the driver, and will have a shoulder mount done.

“I’m getting it mounted, and after he sees it, if he wants it back I’ll just give it to him,” Barker said. “It’s too beautiful of a deer not to get it mounted and to just keep the horns.”

 

John Holyoke

About John Holyoke

John Holyoke has been enjoying himself in Maine's great outdoors since he was a kid. Today, he's the Outdoors editor for the BDN, a job that allows him to meet up with Maine outdoors enthusiasts in their natural habitat. The stories he gathers provide fodder for his columns, and this blog.