The Pope and Young Club has named a new world-record mule deer. The typical buck was taken in 2016 and honored earlier this month at the club’s 30th biennial convention. The mulie’s size was impressive, but the way it was scored is even more noteworthy.
Frank Cheeney arrowed the buck on August 13, 2016, while hunting with his son in southeastern Nevada. They spotted the deer bedded in the sagebrush with several other bucks, and after a brief discussion the two decided Frank should try a stalk on the group. With his shoes kicked off and the wind in his face, Frank approached the deer and prepared to shoot.
The biggest buck stood first. Frank drew and let an arrow fly, tagging what would later be certified as a 205 6/8-inch typical buck. That extra three quarters of an inch helped put Cheeney’s buck over the previous typical record of 205 inches flat.
Cheeney’s mule deer was officially measured on April 8 at the 30th biennial Pope and Young Club convention in St. Louis, Missouri. The convention marked the first time P&Y has used a Special Panel to measure a potential record, which came as a recommendation from Records Chairman Ed Fanchin.
The Special Panel was actually two separate panels, each having three experienced scorers and a Boone & Crockett representative present. What made it so special is that the buck should have been scored at the next biennial convention, not the 2017 one. P&Y scores its entries by which biennium they fall into. Trophies from January 1, 2014, through December 31, 2016, were measured at the most recent convention. However, Cheeney’s buck was entered in the January 1, 2017, through December 31, 2019, class. Rather than wait two years to make it official, the club allowed the mule deer to be scored early.
Four other world records were honored during this year’s convention. A typical American elk, a desert bighorn sheep, a Coues deer, and a Shiras moose were also announced at P&Y’s awards banquet.