Big New York Buck

WOW.... thats an awesome buck....and to have trail cam photos, sweet

For the second year in a row, Pendleton has shown up on the state's Big Buck Club map by producing another monster whitetail from the township. This time, it was Keith LeVick of Newfane in the spotlight, an avid bowhunter who was in the right place at the right time during the regular Southern Zone firearms season - an activity he normally doesn't do a lot of. While hunting with his Thompson Center Pro Hunter .50 caliber muzzleloader during the first week of the regular season, LeVick connected on the buck of a lifetime. The non-typical rack had 21 scorable points, sporting an inside spread of 19 inches. A rough green score with his taxidermist Jim Block of North Tonawanda at The Buck Stops Here put it around 215 inches. Official scorers were being contacted as of this writing. The story started earlier in the year. LeVick, a chiropractor in Niagara Falls, has a passion for bowhunting. His wife, Jackie, does, too. They are serious about their bowhunting, hunting together all the time.

They also hunt with Mike Wasik of Lockport and the trio had set up a trail camera over the summer in one particular area of Pendleton that they have permission to hunt on. When they went to check their camera in early June, they were shocked by the size of the huge buck that was photographed. "We dedicated our bow season to that buck," explained LeVick. "I only saw him once, chasing a doe at 45 yards. There wasn't a shot available, though." Fast forward to the regular deer season. Not a big shotgun hunter, LeVick decided to take his muzzleloader over to hunt. His intent was to pop a doe for the freezer, holding a Deer Management Unit permit for 9A.

It was a Tuesday afternoon and just like clockwork, a doe entered into his field of vision - moving from a thicket into a wheat field. That was when he saw some additional movement and the first thing he noticed was the drop tine. It was the big buck! And it was just 30 yards away. Taking careful aim, he fired his muzzleloader. When the smoke cleared, he saw that the 190 pound animal had dropped to the ground. Not taking any chances, LeVick reloaded and shot again. "I was lucky," he reflected. "I was sighted in to be an inch high at 100 yards and the deer was almost too close."

When asked if he did any calling or used any scents, LeVick insists he didn't do anything too special. "I do use tarsal gland scent and other Northern Whitetail scents - not to attract them but to stop them so I can get a shot. While he's taken quite a few nice deer with a bow over the years, this is the biggest antlered deer he's taken so far. The New York State non-typical antler record is a rack that scored 244-2/8 from Allegany County in 1939. It was shot by Homer Boylan and there were 26 points on the head gear. From the overall record book, it could place in the top five all time for New York. However, it could become the largest New York deer ever taken by a muzzleloader. We'll do some research and report back. We'll also have an official score after the 60-day drying period is complete. Any way to you look at it, it's another Pendleton monster that has been the buzz around hunting circles the past week and a half. Nice shooting, Keith!