Coleman Houston's 2008 Zone D5 typical scored 187 1/8 net and beat the former California Bowmen Hunters record by 5 inches. Photo by Bill Lentz.

What do two new California state-record archery bucks have in common? They were both arrowed by the same man -- Orangevale resident Coleman Houston.

In only six years of archery hunting, the 26-year-old heavy equipment repairman and part-time hunting guide has killed not one but two record bucks.

Many Golden State hunters only dream of taking a buck of a lifetime, and may not even get a glimpse of one, never mind two, in a lifetime of deer hunting in California.

But Houston not only saw two but also killed two -- in back-to-back years, no less! It's a feat that may be unprecedented, especially by a bow­hunter.

2008 BUCK
Houston's tall-tined, nearly perfect, 2008 typical buck was recognized by the California Bowmen Hunters record-keeping organization as the state's largest typical mule deer. A committee of official measurers scored it at 188 5/8 inches gross and 187 1/8 inches net. It surpassed the former record -- a 182 3/8-inch typical killed in 1982 -- by nearly 5 inches.

Another state deer-recording organization, California Records of Big Game, measured the buck and also recognized the 2008 typical as its No. 1 typical buck in its hybrid category, archery division.

The California Fish and Game Department does not keep a tally of the state's top deer but defers to record-keeping bodies.

2007 BUCK
Back in 2007, Houston took his first state-record buck. He killed it with a bow on the last day of the 2007 general rifle season. Later, California Bowmen Hunters measurers declared it to be the largest non-typical mule deer on record. It grossed 209 5/8 inches and netted 195 inches even. That put it above all other archery bucks in the state. It toppled the former record -- a 191-incher killed in 1986 -- by 4 inches.

When the California Record of Big Game scored the non-typical, it declared it was the largest non-typical in the archery division in its Rocky Mountain mule deer category.

According to the Safari Club International record book, this buck would place at No. 14 in North America, all-time archery. Not bad for a California buck that has a lot of blacktail characteristics!

THE HUNTS
The 2008 Typical Buck
It was a hot summer day, the 2008 opener of the archery season in Zone D5. Houston headed out to a chunk of public land where he'd seen a monster buck while scouting the area weeks before.

"I had estimated him to be a 160-class buck then, and I made up my mind to hunt him come opening day," Houston told California Game & Fish. "It was the largest buck that I'd ever seen in California."

Little did he know how much he underestimated the measurement and score of this soon-to-be state-record beast.

It was pitch-black when the archer left his vehicle and headed down the trail. As dawn arrived, Houston began searching for Mr. Big using a combination spot-and-stalk and still-hunt method.

Houston doesn't use a tree stand because he said he covers much more ground on foot. He was also concerned that another hunter might see that big public-land deer first.

After walking up and down rolling terrain all day and glassing a few deer, including a young 4-point, Houston still hadn't found his quarry. By then, it was 4 p.m.

He got to a sunny, open area on a slight slope with tall star thistle, and he decided to glass the oaks on the other side.