GALLATIN, Tenn. — Big deer generate a lot of excitement and conversation, while cranking up the outdoors rumor mill. Monster bucks are the stuff of modern hunting folklore and mythology.

While the deer firearms season continues in Michigan, and Ohio archery hunters dot the woodlots and field edges, the attention of white-tailed deer hunters across the country has been locked in on the north-central section of the Volunteer State. That is where Stephen Tucker recently took a buck that could turn out to be a world record.

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First, some perspective: In Ohio, a true “big buck” should have antlers that meet a minimum 140-inch score for a typical rack, or a minimum 160-inch score for a nontypical rack. The preliminary score for Tucker’s deer is around 310 inches.

A bragging-worthy buck in the Ohio/​Michigan region has eight or 10 points and a nice spread to its antlers. Something in the 12- to 14-point club brings out the oohs and the ahhs. The deer this 26-year-old Tennessee hunter harvested has 47 points.

Some additional background: A “typical” rack usually means the antler points only grow off the front side of the main beams. There will be some quibbling about this (and everything else) with deer hunters, but that’s a very basic explanation of the term. Typical racks have upright points and a balanced look.

A “nontypical” rack, such as that displayed by Tucker’s trophy, lacks the symmetry and balance most deer antlers display. These nontypical racks do not have the same number of points on each side, as a typical rack would. The antlers grow in an irregular pattern, often because of genetics or injuries, and the antlers often have points extending off of other points.

Nontypical racks can look like a disheveled chandelier, or an upside-down root cluster. These racks display different degrees of oddity, and there is essentially no limit to the variations.

Tucker told the Tennessean newspaper that he took his huge buck with a muzzleloader and actually got a second chance on the deer after his gun had misfired the first time. Two days after the close call, he encountered the big whitetail again and took down the deer from about 40 yards.

Dale Grandstaff of the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency gave the rack its initial gross scoring of 313 2/​8, and after deductions the net score came in at 308 3/​8. He estimated the huge buck’s age at just three and a half years.

The rack must undergo a mandatory 60-day drying out period before it can be officially scored. Grandstaff estimates that the 47-point rack could eclipse the world record nontypical, taken by a hunter in Iowa in 2003 and scored at 307 5/​8.

Tucker’s buck came from Sumner County, which is about 25 miles north of Nashville. Sumner County is named for General Jethro Sumner, who served in the Revolutionary War as a brigadier general. About a third of the county’s 529 square miles are used in agriculture, and Tucker farms for a living.

In order to produce a rack of this size and magnitude, it takes age, genetics, and good nutrition, according to Ohio wildlife biologist Clint McCoy, who works out of the ODNR’s Olentangy Wildlife Research Station.

“In the case of truly world class deer, we’re talking about a heavy dose of just the right mix of genetics,” McCoy said, adding that it is even more unusual for a buck to produce such a massive rack at a younger age.

“Most deer produce their largest set of antlers at five-to-seven years of age. Even when bucks are allowed to reach older age classes with unlimited access to highly nutritious foods, most will never come close to growing a set of antlers like this. It is truly a genetic anomaly, particularly when you consider that they estimated the deer’s age at only three-and-a-half.”

McCoy said that whether the Tucker buck eventually claims the world record for a nontypical rack or not, it is something to behold.

“Think about all the millions of whitetails that have ever been harvested or found dead, and only a handful have ever grown more than 300 inches of antler. These kinds of bucks are truly ‘freaks of nature,’ ” he said.

Tucker, who estimated the buck’s weight at 150 pounds, had the deer processed. The rack is drying, and very likely headed for display at outdoors shows across the continent.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Contact Blade outdoors editor Matt Markey at: mmarkey@theblade.com or 419-724-6068.

First Published November 18, 2016, 5:27 a.m.