Justin Gordon was bowhunting in LaPlata County, Colorado, on Sept. 2, 2018, when he arrowed a buck that could be recognized by the Pope and Young Club as the new velvet world record non-typical mule deer. The preliminary score of Gordon's buck is 338 7/8 inches. The incredible deer has 28 points on its right side and 19 points on the left. P&Y’s special panel will convene on Oct. 28, 2020, in Lehi, Utah, to measure this potential world record.

The P&Y Club Board of Directors voted unanimously to recognize velvet world record categories in June 2020. If the special panel verifies Gordon’s non-typical mule deer, it would be the first velvet non-typical mule deer world record recognized by the P&Y Club. 

Gordon said, “Where do you begin when describing an archery backpack hunt into the phenomenal Colorado backcountry that culminates in the harvest of one of the most unique mule deer ever? To find an animal this rare in such a remote and beautiful setting can't be described merely once in a lifetime. It is against all odds for a deer like this to reach full maturity. Where this buck spent its summers, the migration corridors it traveled, and the winter habitat it occupied all further reduced the likelihood of a buck of this caliber to grow old.

“Five days into the 2018 archery season, the buck was first spotted by a friend with whom I shared basecamp. The buck was a ‘spooky’ deer, always on the move and rarely hanging around past the dimmest of predawn light. Several days after we initially spotted the buck, we were fortunate to have the deer present an opportunity for a stalk. After a couple of hours, I found myself inside 27 yards of the bedded buck. When he stood, he presented a steep quartering away shot. The arrow flew true, and the buck died after a very short run downhill.”