Deer hunters will have the rare opportunity to decipher the current state of the whitetail union when Buckmasters releases the ninth edition of their record book this fall.
Partly a who's who cataloging those who harvest or stumble across world-class whitetails, the 600-page tome shows where, when and by what means these animals — 25,000 in total — came to be included. The listings not only show the best whitetails of all time, but they also include entries through April 1, 2026. Of particular interest are the 7,000 deer added since the last edition was curated in 2021.
"Many people buy our book because they like looking at big deer, and we try to accommodate them," says Mike Handley, records program director. "There are more than 300 photographs inside this one, showing the various world records along with top-ranked bucks taken since the last edition was published.
"The real value is timing, however. Hunting forecasts are generally built on outdated information," Handley continued. "If you're trying to assess which areas offer the best chances of connecting with a mature and impressive whitetail or even what time of year holds more promise, a newly published record book is the hands-down best reference source available."
Buckmasters launched its Full-credit Scoring System in the mid-1990s as an alternative to other record-keepers' systems that reward symmetry at the expense of non-typical growth. Simply put, the nation's largest deer hunting organization decided to take a stand against deductions and "net" scoring. At first, the BTR (short for Buckmasters Whitetail Trophy Records) did not factor inside spread in ranking deer.
Now they do.
"Hunters aren't interested in how any organization judges their deer. They want the unvarnished truth," according to Buckmasters founder Jackie Bushman. "They want a score that represents everything God gave the deer, and we offer that. There's no gross, no net; just an accurate accounting of what's there."
The Ninth Edition marks the first time deer are ranked by that accurate accounting, which includes the inside spread. The switch caused a reshuffling of the records, rendering previous books as obsolete collector's items, but Handley says the change was a long time coming.
Slated to roll off the press this fall, Buckmasters Whitetail Trophy Records is available for pre-order at $59.95 plus shipping, a savings of $20 that'll expire when the books reach the company's warehouse. They may be reserved by visiting the store at Buckmasters.com.
"Copies will be limited," Handley warns. "We've already pre-sold more than half the books we plan to print, a new record for us. It could very well sell out by the end of the 2026 hunting season."