Check out this monster!

[KahrMan]

That thing is huge. It is amazing that with the number of hunters out in the woods that bucks like this die of old age or winter kill or something.

In life, the impressive Lenox Township buck was an enigma.

In death, the buck still remains something of a mystery.

However, the full measure of the buck's enormous rack is no longer shrouded in secrecy. All thanks to Sweety, a five-year-old happy-go-lucky German Shepherd mix owned by Richard and Barb Ewing of Ashtabula County's Lenox Township.

It was Sweety, who likes to patrol the Ewing's Lenox Pinzgauer Farms, that first came upon the worn remains of the gargantuan 29-point non-typical, record-book buck.

And so the buck, which the Boone and Crockett Club has initially scored at 263 inches, is being called "the Sweety Buck," in honor of the dog-gone good white-tail-finding wizard.

Other vital statistics include that the rack has an outside spread of 31 5/8 inches, an inside spread of 24 2/8 inches with 16 points on the right antler and 13 points on the left antler. Each antler also sports a lengthy drop tine.

The rack is so impressive and potentially lucrative North American Whitetail magazine will feature the Sweety Buck in its November edition.

No doubt the Ewings will reward Sweety with some tasty treats along the way, too. That's because the Ewings have retained Chardon attorney Casey O'Brien to represent them in marketing the buck's skull and rack to the highest bidder. Such trophies can easily fetch many thousands of dollars.

The fact the Sweety Buck's rack will likely become the fifth-largest such headgear ever scored by the Boone and Crockett Club in Ohio, the Ewings will be in a great position to say "show me the money."

Richard Ewing said back in March, Sweety kept returning to the house with parts of a deer carcass, one leg bone at a time.

While mending fences that were damaged by last winter's heavy snows, Ewing thought he'd use Sweety as a guide dog. The buck's remains laid about 70 feet from the fence line on Ewing's property.

The buck also fell within only a few feet of where Ewing's late father typically took a stand during the deer-hunting season.

"I could smell it from 50 feet away, and I could see that it had been picked over by coyotes and other predators," Ewing said.

But not the skull and antlers. Perhaps protected during the winter by the abundant snow depth last winter — which topped off at around five feet on occasion — the calcium-rich antlers were spared the gnawing of small rodents such as field mice.

"We don't know how it died. It could have been shot and wandered over here to die or maybe it was hit by a car or maybe it just died of old age and the deep snow," Ewing said.

Determined to recover the rack, Ewing detached it from the rotting remains of the deer's body. He then called the Ohio Division of Wildlife officer assigned to Ashtabula County, Jason Hadsel.

Hadsel visited the farm and paid particular attention to where the buck's remaining remains laid.

"He couldn't find any slug and no broken bones that would indicate the buck had been shot or hit by a car. The Wildlife Division estimates that the buck was six or seven years old," Ewing said.

Hadsel also issued the Ewings a permit so they could salvage the skull and rack, making their ownership of the antlers and skull legal.

Ewing said once that paperwork was completed, the rack was taken to Linesville, Pa., taxidermist Jim Vorisek. Vorisek spent less than four hours cleaning the skull plate and making it presentable both to the eye and to the nose.

"He didn't want to keep it; he said his insurance wouldn't cover it if it were stolen," Ewing said.

Though no estimate could be determined as to how large was the buck's body when the animal was alive, there is a hint of that detail. That is because the Ewing's neighbor, Art Kroepel, had taken a lengthy video of the deer on July 19, 2009.

The buck was recorded feeding in a soybean field with Route 11 traffic clearly whizzing by in the background and about three-quarters of a mile from where its remains were found several months later.

Its size grows ever larger in the several-minute video as well. This fact becomes obvious when three other bucks are seen making their way into the field. Each of these other bucks sported respectable racks of their own. However, their headgear and their bodies were both dwarfed by what is now-known as the Sweetie Buck.

"My neighbor was trying to pattern the buck because he archery hunts. But just before the season started, the buck became totally nocturnal," Ewing said.

Even so, every now and then someone would catch a glimpse of the shadowy buck. In one case, a Route 11 driver thought he saw the buck dash across the four-lane highway. In another possible encounter, a young deer hunter thought his eyes were deceiving him when a large-antlered animal floated by in the day's pre-dawn darkness, Ewing said.

"He asked if there were any elk farms in the area," Ewing said.

For now the skull and rack are being kept under lock and key, secured in an undisclosed location, O'Brien said.

After the Boone and Crockett Club examines the antlers one more time with a panel of judges, the Ewings will work with O'Brien in finding an eager buyer. That shouldn't be a problem, according to O'Brien.

"We have the names of the country's top six buyers of deer racks," O'Brien said.

Among them is likely Bass Pro Shops and Cabela's. Of the Top 50 Ohio racks scored by the Boone and Crockett Club, Bass Pro Shops owns five and Cabela's owns one. In fact, the currently-ranked 13th rack came also from Ashtabula County but now resides as property of Bass Pro Shops.

What's more, the Ewings have purchased Kroepel's July 19, 2009 video, which will be bundled as part of a package, according to O'Brien.

"There's been a lot of racks sold, but I bet there aren't too many sales that also have included a video of the buck when it was alive and well," O'Brien said.

Besides the likely big bucks the Ewings will get for the rack, they also will ask for a replica mount. That way they can continue to marvel at the trophy without the worry of owning an item of such high value.

The trail may not end here, either. While trekking through his woods this past spring, Ewing came upon a right antler shed. If assembled with the other half and topped off on a live buck, the whole affair would in itself be a once-in-a-lifetime trophy.

Given the shed antler bears some of the same characteristics found on the Sweetie Buck rack, well, the question remains whether there is a Son-of-Sweetie Buck lurking somewhere in the matrix of woodlots and farm plots of Ashtabula County's Lenox Township.

[memphismason]

uh, wow!

[roverboy]

Uh, wow is right Memphismason. He's pretty awesome.

[ShaunM]

Thats not antlers it's a TREE!!!!

[Guest jackdm3]

"Son-of-Sweetie Buck" will do wonders for their tourism.

[kb4ns]

Dang! I had no idea big racks would fetch that kinda cash!

[roverboy]

Yeah big racks that score really good are very valuable. Most all hunters that have killed high scoring B&C bucks have sold them for big bucks. Maybe mine will come someday. My best so far is 129 4/8 points. A midget compared to most.