Hunter shatters Maryland state record
 
The Maryland Department of Natural Resources reported  a new state record buck was taken by Bill Crutchfield, Jr. of Charles County near his home in Newburg, Maryland. Crutchfield watched the buck for approximately two hours mid-day Monday before finding an opportunity to take the massive deer with a single shotgun round.
Bill Crutchfield, Jr.

Maryland DNR Wildlife & Heritage Service and Natural Resources Police personnel examined the buck on Tuesday. DNR staff confirmed that the buck has 26 scoreable points (13 on each side on the 25-inch rack) and a preliminary antler score of 268 5/8 inches. If approved by national scoring organizations, the buck will eclipse the current Maryland non-typical record, set in 1987 of 228 4/8 inches (antlers are measured in 1/8th-inch increments), by 40 inches. This becomes the number one non-typical buck ever taken on the entire East Coast, and ranking among the top 20 all-time largest non-typical deer in the world.      

Bob Beyer, associate director for game management, preliminarily scored the buck but official confirmation will not be possible until the antlers have met the minimum 60-day ‘drying’ period and an official score is taken.  A deer’s antlers are classified as being typical when they are symmetrical and regular in shape.  Non-typical antlers are those that have uneven or unusual tines, irregular points or outgrowths.

Bill Crutchfield, Jr.

“For its size, Maryland has always been one of the top-producing trophy whitetail states,” said Paul Peditto, director of DNR’s Wildlife and Heritage Service. “Our hunters have kept our trophy status a well-guarded secret; I expect that will change now.” Peditto’s comment about the deer was “That's stunning. That's a beast.”

For Crutchfield, a firefighter at the Indian Head Naval Surface Weapons Center, Monday afternoon's hunt in southern Charles County was a waiting game that began just minutes after he settled into his tree stand and heard a sound behind him in a marsh. “I turned around and seen him lay down about 100 yards away. I seen him shake his head and could see just a bit of his rack. I seen him last year and I knew he was big.” To calm his nerves, he called a hunting buddy, who reminded Crutchfield  that he had  plenty of daylight left and to take deep breaths. About an hour passed as the hunter calculated the distance and  thought about the shot. Suddenly, about 40 yards behind the big buck, an eight-point buck walked out. Minutes later, “my deer stood up and it was over like that,” said Crutchfield, who after looking at the buck called his friend again to alert him that the state record was in jeopardy.

Word of Crutchfield's accomplishment attracted a previous record holder, Walt Lachewitz of Gambrills, to  Hitchcock's shop, to swap  stories and snap pictures. “Sad? No,” said Lachewitz, who in 1998 bagged a white-tailed deer on the Eastern Shore that scored 185 7/8 inches. “I'm happy when someone gets a big one because it doesn't happen often. You could hunt for 10 lifetimes and not see a buck like that.”