I’m holding the biggest set of typical antlers any white-tailed deer ever grew. Photo courtesy of Josh Duncan

The year 2025 changed the history of white-tailed deer in America. For many people, the news boils down to an antler collector paying $1 million for the biggest set of typical antlers a deer ever grew, but that’s not the story. The story is that if the purchase hadn’t happened, the biggest secret in whitetail history would have remained a secret, perhaps forever.

For white-tailed deer enthusiasts, antlers are significant, so significant that several organizations keep records based on size. For right or for wrong, big antlers can make a hunter famous, but the biggest pair of antlers crowned the head of a deer no hunter ever shot. How do we know that? We know because every buck sheds his antlers every year, and way back in 1959 a Nebraska rancher found this pair of shed antlers that were second to none, and still are.

No one outside his immediate family and a few friends knew anything about these antlers. Eventually, they came to be known as “The General,” named by renowned writer Dick Idol who first reported it in the December 1996 issue of North American Whitetail magazine. I’ve known about them since then, but never knew how big a story this was and never dreamed I would get to tell it.

We didn’t learn until 1998 when they were officially measured by the North American Shed Hunters Club that these antlers are bigger than the current world record (the Hanson Buck), bigger than the previous world record (the Jordan Buck), and bigger than any typical antlers anyone has ever seen. Then, after the million-dollar deal, it was discovered that the antlers aren’t what anyone thought they were because around 1995, someone altered them. Why would anyone do that? No one knows why, but soon everyone will know exactly what happened.

I have been assigned by Deer & Deer Hunting magazine to investigate this story and to tell all of it. I have previously written some big stories, but this is the biggest. It will be published in a spring issue of the magazine, and perhaps sooner online. It’s a privilege, and it has led to meeting some great people. A wrong was done by someone, and every single person wants the truth to be told. I am trying to tell everything we know.

Until 2025, the antlers were enigmatic, mysterious. People have long wondered what happened to that great buck. How long did it live? Did a hunter ever shoot it? Are any others of his shed antlers out there somewhere? We now know the answers to all these questions. The deer lived at least five years after its massive antlers were found. Almost for sure, no hunter ever shot it. And yes, almost miraculously, other shed antlers from the same buck have turned up–and we have proof.

There’s more. The story has enough twists and turns to be made into a movie. While Hollywood won’t care enough to put it on the silver screen, deer hunting America does care, and the movie is now being made. It will be distributed through a streaming service, probably late in 2026.

And most importantly, the purchase of these antlers has led to a story of restoration and redemption. That is the real story and soon, everyone will know what I and a few others know.

Not many people have held these stunning 1959 shed antlers in their hands. I have, and when I did, I felt chills. I’ve also held a life-size replica that is a perfect representation of what the antlers looked like before they were altered. I can think of no word adequate to describe them.

So, if you want to know the full story of the biggest typical antlers any white-tailed deer ever grew, stay tuned.

***

When “The Everyday Hunter” isn’t hunting, he’s thinking about hunting, talking about hunting, dreaming about hunting, writing about hunting, or wishing he were hunting. If you want to tell Steve exactly where your favorite hunting spot is, contact him through his website, www.EverydayHunter.com. He writes for top outdoor magazines, and won the 2015, 2018, and 2023 national “Pinnacle Award” for outdoor writing.