Awesome deer, Bob. Usually you hear people complain about "ground shrinkage" upon approaching a buck. I bet it sure is nice to have it the other way!
Never heard of a Maine Patch buck before. Anyone care to explain?
Azar: In Maine, if you kill a buck that field dresses in excess of 200 pounds, the State of Maine gives you a red patch,shaped like Maine. It says "Biggest Bucks in Maine Club".
The only way into the club is to kill a 200 pound plus buck.
It's a Maine hunting tradition going back for years,the emphasis always having been on the weight of a buck. Every Maine deer hunter knows about this and the Holy Grail of Maine deer hunting is killing a buck big enough to qualify for The Patch.
There is also a yellow patch provided by the Maine Antler and Skull Trophy Club,giving emphasis to the size of the antlers. This is not state sponsored,but is like B&C with minimum scores in the typical/NT category.
People sew these patches onto their hunting jackets and keep them for years.
My last patch buck qualified on both counts;232# dressed and the 10th largest typical taken in the state that season. That was awhile back.
I have no idea what percentage of the harvest each year is comprised of bucks dressing over 200 pounds.....but it is small. A patch is very hard to get.
What will kill you is how many bucks dress in the 175-190 pound range and are certainly "big" by any standard.
But they aren't 200 pounds....
