"For one thing, a buck from this area was recently scored at 180 7/8 B & C points, which could be the new No. 2. Granted, this buck was taken many years ago - 50, in fact. Seems it was killed in 1939 or before because a business card glued to the base of the deer mount says it was mounted in 1939 at Wiggins Taxidermist/Tanners in Salem. It's believed that Leonard Hammer Sr., who owned an auto repair shop in Salem, killed the buck near Valsetz, Oregon, had it mounted and then kept it in his shop, where its huge size went unnoticed until recently. Valsetz is a former timber mill city (it's been abandoned for over a decade now), well within the boundaries of all the various record keeping systems. Hammer died in 1994 and the mount was eventually given to a friend of the family, who also did not register just how big it is. The huge buck finally came to the attention of Ole Oleson, a local gunshop owner, who recognized its potential. Now the search is on to verify information so the rack can be certified and can take its rightful place in the record book. If the buck had not had two extra small nontypical points (deductions), it would have surpassed the current world record, a Washington buck scoring 182 2/8 B&C points. The Hammer buck is still a tremendous example of this deer species. Several other outstanding bucks have been killed in this general area and, in my opinion, it is quite possible that this area could produce another rack of this quality.
There are vast areas of public land here, but there are fewer clearcuts now that timber operations have been greatly curtailed, so there is less habitat for the deer. However, there are many miles of old logging roads where one........(continued)
