November 2001 More News

Buck may win record, contest
Flint man enters eight point, 195 pound deer in Wellston competition

By Patrick Sullivan Record - Eagle staff writer WELLSTON - A big buck contest in this small town has already a state record, but the game isn't over yet, it's organizer says. "This buck is no ringer by any stretch of the imagination." Said Daryl Galazen, treasurer of the Wellston Area Tourist Association, Sponsor of the contest.    "It's in the lead, it is absolutely in the lead at this particular point, but even though this is a massive, massive deer, somebody could beat it."    Galazen is talking about a 195 pound eight point taken Friday in Hillsdale County by a Flint man.  Victor Bulliner had the buck measured at the Cabela's out door store in Dundee, where its score on the Boone & Crockett Club scale, 184 1/8 Could be enough for the Michigan eight point buck record.     On Monday after the owner of the property where Bulliner shot the the deer suggested he enter the Wellston contest, Bulliner and his son Chad, took the buck to the White Tale Party Mart in the Manistee County town to have it measured.     To promote tourism in the area the Wellston contest is open to hunters from across the state, as long as their deer was in Michigan, Galazen said.     Unlike the Boone & Crocket scale, the Wellston contest uses a simple system to measure deer,  the score equals the expanse of the rack from the inside plus the number of points that are larger than one inch.     That means that a buck like the 14 pointer that won in Wellston last season could beat Bulliner's buck this year, Galazen Said.     So far, however, Bulliner is leading the 130 to 140 deer that have been registered in Wellston.     "Someone could beat me, even though I don't think they will," Bulliner said.  "It's kind of unusual.  If you could win a contest with an 8 point, it's got to be pretty big to do that."     The contest which began Oct. 1, with the opening of bow season, will last through the end of firearm Dec 1.  There is no registration fee, and everyone who brings in a buck gets $25 worth of promotional items.  Everyday a daily winner is selected who wins a $25 pair of binoculars.     Overall prizes are offered for the first three highest scoring bucks taken in both bow and firearm categories.  First prize for the largest buck by a firearm is an $1,800 Weatherby rifle with a scope.