A Pheasant Hunter Killed the New No. 1 Whitetail Ever Killed in the States...35 Years Ago

Adam Moore Sep 11, 2026

This week the Jordan Buck was officially supplanted from atop the Boone and Crockett record books. The Aiuppa Buck, a 207 ⅞-inch Illinois typical whitetail with foot-long eye guards, takes its place by 1 6/8 inch. But it didn’t dethrone the Jordan Buck overnight. In fact, it might have gone unnoticed if it weren’t for an electrician who spotted the buck passing slowly into obscurity 32 years after Sam Aiuppa killed it.

After a day of pheasant hunting in LaSalle County, Illinois, in 1991, Sam Aiuppa decided to spend the remainder of the evening in a deer stand, he told Rack Magazine in an interview. Aiuppa swapped his birdshot for a slug in his Remington 870, and after just 40 minutes in his stand, he spotted the massive buck approaching. Once the buck stepped into range, Aiuppa dropped it in its tracks. But it would be over three decades before the buck made it into the record books.

aiuppawt 3sheds

Once word spread about the giant rack hanging in Aiuppa’s basement, antler collector James Martin drove to Illinois, bought the rack from Aiuppa, and started the process for official Boone and Crockett scoring. Officially, the buck scored 207 ⅞, still shy of the Hanson Buck (213 5/8), but enough to propel it all the way to the no. 2 spot for the biggest whitetail ever killed.

Images via Boone and Crockett.