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Here's a shot of the right G2 area on Chuck Hartman's buck. Pretty awesome, huh? (Click here to read today's story in The Roanoke Times, or better yet, go buy a paper!)

Because both of these points share a common base, one of these would be considered the G2 and the other would be an abnormal "sticker."  This trait renders the rack a non-typical in the eyes of Boone and Crockett.

I always hate to get too hung up on scores, but I understand a lot of people care about that. This trait really kills the score. Had these been separate points this rack would have been a typical 10 with two stickers.

I'm far from expert on scoring, but I think that means the rack's net typical score would be the gross minus penalities, the largests of which would be for the 7-inch drop tine. There would also be penalties for lack of symmetry, which would total up to a few points. (If I'm off base here, baseball pun not intended, someone feel free to chime in.)

So, if the gross non-typical score was around 184, as one expert who has measured the rack estimates, that would put the potential net typical score in the low- to mid-170s -- big enough to make the all-time Boone and Crockett book. And, just to give you an idea how rare that is, Virginia has just over a dozen typicals in the all-time book. (The record was 189 2/8, killed in Buchanan County in 1999.)

Of course while it's fun to speculate, it doesn't really matter. The rack is what it is, which is just a monstrous whitetail for Virginia or anywhere else.

I don't do many "This Guy killed a huge buck" stories for The Roanoke Times. But every once in a while a story comes along that makes the cut. I'm working on one this week, and it will run tomorrow.

The hunter is Chuck Hartman, the retired Virginia Tech baseball coach. He killed this 12-pointer in the Catawba area during the late muzzleloader season.

While talking to people about the deer the thing I kept hearing was "The pictures don't do the deer justice." So I took a little trip to visit the taxidermist who is mounting the deer so I could put my hands on the rack. My thoughts: "The pictures don't do the deer justice."

This thing is simply awesome. It's not astoundingly wide, or tall. But the mass is just incredible.

Of course the question people will want to know is how this thing --  a non-typical because the G-2 on the right side is split -- will score. One person who is familiar with the rack guessed mid-160s under the B&C system. Not that it really matters. Virginia just doesn't grow many bucks like this.

My friend Patrick Baker (left) sent me this shot of him and his uncle after a good day of duck hunting aboard "The Deathstar" boat earlier this season on the Ohio River. It seems a fitting picture for a cold, dreary day like today.

Of course, even though it's what many would consider great duck hunting weather, there's no duck hunting. The season ended Saturday.

Baker, an Abingdon lawyer who also does some outdoors writing, said a season of 5 a.m. wake-ups and long drives took its toll and he was ready for the season to end.

I hate to say I didn't get out on a single duck hunt. I could probably come up with a half-dozen excuses but the bottom line is I just didn't have the gumption to make it happen.

I do remain hopeful that I can maybe get a final goose hunt in before that season closes in a couple of weeks.

This will be one of those winter afternoons when it would be nice to sneak out of work a bit (or a lot) early for some outdoors fun.

Forecasters are calling for temperatures around 60 degrees in Roanoke. After the weather we've been having, it's going to feel like Florida.

I'm always amazed on days like this by the number of people I find fishing at lakes and ponds. I'm generally an optimist. But as nice as the air temperature is, the water temperature is still frigid and one nice day is not going to send bass, sunfish and other such lake dwellers on a feeding frenzy. Maybe these anglers know this and just don't care. And, of course, there's nothing wrong with just getting out and fishing even if you're not going to catch much (or anything).

Now, I will say that when we get a real significant warm snap of several days in late January or February it can really turn on the crappie fishing. When the water warms a few degrees those fish will find the warm water and if you find them, the action can be good.

On a day like this I think trout are probably the most appropriate target because they are relatively active in cold water. On a stream with wild fish, you might actually see a hatch today. Something like little stoneflies. So it can be a chance to get away from the nymphs you've been fishing for the past couple of months.

Stocked trout waters can be great on a day like today. It's been a quiet week for stalking but a few area waters have gotten trout. In Franklin County, Runnett Bag Creek and the Pigg River were stocked on Tuesday. Mill Creek and the Maury River in Rockbridge County also got fish that day. Bedford County's Liberty Lake was stocked yesterday (Jan. 22). I don't know what's on the stocking schedule for today.

Someone told me that the Pigg River stocking was a little unusual this time. Apparently the river (which is really more like a creek) was pretty socked in with ice on Tuesday so all of the fish went into just a few spots that were open. So the fish were pretty concentrated. That ice should be gone by now but it probably wouldn't be hard to find the spots. Just look for the crowds. Of course, I'm guessing those crowds have hammered the fish pretty good by now.

Washington and Lee grad Boyd Martin from Columbia, Md., killed this nice buck during the general firearms season in Franklin County. Martin was hunting with his college buddy, Jeff Fletcher, who lives in Roanoke.

For those of you who have seen a hard copy of today's Roanoke Times (left), you may have noticed it's a special issue.

That's right. I got a mention in the Letters to the Editor section. I mean, I rarely even make the Sports Mailbag. It's a big day.

The letter writer is not a fan of hunting. She really isn't a fan of the hunting "hero shots" we've been running in the paper pointing readers to "Your hunting photos" that are appearing on this blog.

I admit I've been a little surprised at just how many plugs The Wild Life has been getting lately.

When we started those daily online teasers on page 2 of the main news section, this blog didn't get much love. But that has changed over the past couple of months as the folks who pick those teasers have been watching our Web traffic numbers.

I don't have exact figures, but let's just say in November and December, we did well. I say we because you all get a lot of the credit. (Although my wife accuses me of visiting the site 100 times a day to pad the numbers.) Read more »

Jerry Justice of Huddleston sent in this shot of his son, Darrell, with an albino whitetail. Darrell shot the deer the day before Thanksgiving while hunting on his farm in Pelham, N.C., just over the state border south of Danville.

Albinos are not unheard of, but they are rare enough that many of us hunt our whole lives without ever seeing one. Jerry Justice said this is actually the second one his son has killed. The first came 18 years ago in Amherst County.

"How rare is that?" Justice wondered in his note. I'd say pretty rare.

Richard Garrett of Lexington was standing by a tree the day after Thanksgving in the national forest in Rockbridge County when he heard a big buck coming. But it wasn't a big buck. It was this massive black bear.

The first bear Garrett has killed in 40 years of hunting, this trophy weighed 480 pounds and was over 7 feet long (or tall, if you want to put it that way).

Those of you who follow my reporting in The Roanoke Times know it's probable deer hunters will set a new record this year.

At the same time, hunters (and not just deer hunters) were achieving a more dubious accomplishment. They didn't set a record for accidents and fatalities, but it was among the worst years in some time.

I'm working on a story on this, and would like to talk with at least a couple of folks who were involved in accidents. I can get names through sheriff's offices, the DGIF law enforcement divisions, etc. But if any of you know names, that would help.

Also, I'm sure someone has to know the name of the guy in Botetourt who got hurt by the wounded bear. Even though that wasn't an official hunting accident, I'd like to talk with him, too.

No need to post them here. In fact, I'd rather not have the names here. Just send me a confidential e-mail (click on my name in my bio to the right).

Thanks.

Dallas Witcher of Sontag killed this big boar while hunting near Gretna in Pittsylvania County.  Witcher was using a 7 mm rifle.