Doug Burris, Jr. had made the trip to the San Juan National Forest from Texas three years in a row. From 1969 to 1971 the Texan had hunted in the Dolores County area of Colorado. Each of the three trips had yielded good bucks. However, the season of 1972 was going to be special. He never imaged he’d take a record animal.
Burris and his three companions, Jack Smith, Robbie Roe, and Bruce Winters headed north to hunt mule deer once again. The first day of the hunt was quiet and no one saw a buck that they wanted to take. On the second day, Roe and Winters both took nice five-point bucks. However, Burris and Smith didn’t take anything that second day and remained hunting.
On the third day of the hunt, Burris spotted two nice bucks feeding. While watching the two bucks from around 500 yards away, a third buck moved into the clearing. Burris could clearly see the buck’s antlers even without binoculars. He knew this buck must be huge, so he began his stalk. The stalk took about an hour for Burris to cut the distance in half. At that point, a bedded doe spooked and took the three bucks with her. As the deer scattered, Burris took one quick shot with his .264 Winchester Magnum. The big buck fell at the sound of the report and the giant was Doug’s.
In 1974, at the 15th North American Big Game Awards Program Burris’ world record was confirmed. The buck scored at a final of 225-6/8 points. Later on, the Boone and Crockett Club dropped the so-called “double-penalty” for excessive spread, the buck’s final score increased by 6/8 of an inch to 226-4/8 points.
For more information about this buck and his score sheet, you can check out the Boone & Crockett Club’s website by clicking here.
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