Cook County News Herald

Vascko leads Buck’s Big Buck Contest



A Stillwater, Minnesota hunter is the early leader in the 2018 Buck’s Big Buck Contest.

Jacks Vascko’s 229-pound, 6-ounce field dressed buck is the heaviest entry so far.

The difference between second and third place is about one or two good munches of grass for a deer.

Denise Axtell’s field dressed buck weighs 213 pounds and 8 ounces.

The Hovland hunter’s deer is only two ounces heavier than Grand Marais’s Mark Rosbacka’s 213-pound, 6-ounce buck.

After the November 3 opening weekend there were a total of eight entries at Buck’s Hardware Hank.

Although Rosbacka’s entry wasn’t quite the heaviest, it had the largest antler spread with 21 inches across.

The other entries so far are from Brad Olson, New Richmond, Wisconsin, 202.8 pounds; Lance Huskey, Grand Marais, 202 pounds; Jillian Johnson, Muskegon, Michigan, 189.2 pounds; Don Lehto, Grand Marais, 177.5 pounds; Lloyd Speck, Grand Marais, 163.4 pounds.

The winner of the heaviest (largest dressed weight) buck will receive a new rifle. Half of the entry money will go to the hunter who brought in the deer with the largest antler spread and the other half of the money will go to the winner of the drawing, which is pulled from the pool of applicants who paid $10 each to enter. This year there are 397 entries.

The contest wraps up on Sunday, November 18, the last day of the Minnesota firearms season.

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