The year was 1949 and Sidney Torgerson found himself getting ready to head out for the final day of deer season. Since the opening, Sidney had been hunting approximately 20 miles east of Salina, Utah near Gooseberry. It had been an extremely tough hunt as deer numbers were down and there simply weren’t that many to be found. However, Sidney was a resilient and hard hunter; refusing to give up. Besides, he always enjoyed his time out in the hills and his plans for this crisp and cold morning were to merely head out for one final day of hunting. Little did he know how monumental of a day it would later turn out to be……

As daylight began to strike the mountains, Sidney climbed aboard his favorite horse, “Old Blue”. That horse would do anything that Sidney asked of him and the two had formed a trusting and long-lasting relationship over the years. He and Old Blue rode up from the ranch that Sidney had been running, heading for the country lying behind the other nearby ranches. There was one spot in particular that Sidney wanted to get to but as the two made their way, the trail led through some rough country. Soon, Sidney realized that to make things a little easier on both him and Old Blue, he would have to get off and lead the way.

Not long after dismounting, something peculiar caught Sidney’s eye which, at first, put a shot of adrenalin through his veins. It was definitely a buck, and he was bedded under a gnarled old cedar tree, a mere 100 yards away. However, Sidney just couldn’t quite figure out what he had growing out of his head. He just couldn’t ever see a set of antlers ever growing as big as what he thought he was looking at. After what couldn’t have been more than a few seconds, the old buck jumped up and took off, taking what Sidney still thought was the branches of the cedar tree with him. Without wasting a second, Sidney pulled up and fired a shot through is old, octagon barreled, .32 Special. Although hit, the buck continued on and Sidney quickly jumped aboard Old Blue and rode him as hard as he could, right through the nasty country where he had just been leading him. After a thrilling and exciting pursuit, Sidney and Old Blue finally caught back up to the giant buck and Sidney was able to get a fatal shot into the monster; putting him down for good!

When Sidney approached the fallen trophy, he was speechless as he stood over a 39 ½–inch wide, 11 by 13 set of antlers. The one side had a giant droptine that had a ball on the end of it, like that of a fist! Although never officially entered, the amazing buck scores in excess of 306 B&C inches!

After taking care of the buck, Sidney brought him to town in an old jeep that he had. Good news travels fast and the local newspaper called right away wanting a picture. Sidney’s son, Lee Torgerson, remembers going with his dad to the different schools that called to see the giant buck. They would let the kids out of class to come and look at the big buck that Grandpa Sidney had shot on that fateful last day of the 1949 Utah deer hunt.

The one picture is of me and dad and the buck in the back of the jeep.