The backer your buck deserves.
A 12″×16″ custom-cut buck record board. You tell us the year, the day, the month, and the point count. We laser-cut the wood at exactly those positions on the board, so the cut-outs are the record. No marker, no pen, no pegs, no magnets. The board ships with your buck’s story cut into the wood, ready to hang behind the European mount.
The state outline is engraved (your state on request, Michigan by default). The deer icons are engraved. The dial positions for every other year, every other day, every other point count are all pre-cut and ready for the next hunter. Yours are the ones removed.
What the board has on it (every one, in this exact layout):
- Year dial at the top — 12-rotation positions laser-cut, your year physically removed
- Left antler-points dial down the left side — 1, 2, 3, 4, 5+ positions pre-cut, your point count removed
- Right antler-points dial down the center-left — 1, 2, 3, 4, 5+ positions pre-cut, your point count removed
- Day calendar across the bottom — 1, 2, 3 (early) through 1-9 (late month, twice for short months), pre-cut, your day removed
- Month column down the right side — Sept, Oct, Nov, Dec, Jan (the deer seasons, north to late), pre-cut, your month removed
- State silhouette in the upper corner — Michigan by default, your state on request
- Small deer icons as decorative markers
How it works (the full system):
- Order the board from us (this product)
- Tell us the story in the order notes:
- Year the buck was taken (e.g., 2023)
- Day of the month (1–31)
- Month the buck was taken (Sept, Oct, Nov, Dec, Jan)
- Left antler points (1, 2, 3, 4, 5+)
- Right antler points (1, 2, 3, 4, 5+)
- State if not Michigan
- We cut the wood at exactly those positions — the laser physically removes the wood at the year, the day, the month, and the point counts you specified. The cut-outs become the record.
- Buy the antler mounting hardware separately (a universal antler mount kit, available on Amazon and at most sporting goods stores for ~$15) — bolts to the cleaned European skull and gives you a wall-mount bracket
- Mount the antlers to the back of the board (or 3M strips, or a French cleat, or magnets — your call)
- Hang it on the wall. No marking, no maintenance. The record is the cut.
One board per buck. A new season means a new board. If you take two bucks in one season, you order two boards. If you take a buck every year for ten years, you’ve got ten boards on the wall by the time you retire from the stand.
Pick your state outline (free customization):
- Michigan (default — both peninsulas, ships in 7–10 days)
- Any U.S. state — specify in the order notes, adds 1–2 days to lead time
- No state outline — clean board, all dials only
Specs:
- 12″ wide × 16″ tall
- Maple veneer over MDF core
- Laser-cut record positions, laser-engraved state outline + deer icons
- Pre-finished, ready to hang
- Made to order in Interlochen, Michigan. Ships in 7–10 business days
- Custom sizes: contact us for anything other than 12″×16″
Why this one over the others:
- The cut IS the record. Most antler backer plaques just hold the antlers. Yours holds the antlers AND has the season laser-cut into the wood at the exact positions for your buck. No fading, no smudging, no marker running out, no pen drying up. The wood is the record; the record is the wood.
- Permanent by design. The laser cut doesn’t wear off, doesn’t fade, doesn’t wash off. The board you hang in 2024 is the same board in 2044, same record, same cuts.
- Universal antler mount compatible. Works with any standard European-mount hardware (the kind with a metal plate that bolts to the skull cap and a wall bracket on the back). Buy the hardware anywhere; we don’t lock you into ours.
- Maple-veneer MDF, not solid wood. MDF doesn’t warp, doesn’t check, and doesn’t split the way solid wood does in a basement or a garage. The maple veneer is the look; the MDF is the stability. Indoor use, dry location.
- $40, not $200. The full taxidermy-shop plaque with the carved wood and the custom shape runs $150–300. This is the clean, simple, “I hunt every year and want one good board on the wall per buck” version. Same function, different budget.
Best for:
- The buck from this season’s opening morning — record the day, the month, the points, the year
- A trophy buck that deserves a real wall piece — the cut-out record is a step above a photo in a frame
- A “first buck” gift for the kid who just got their first deer
- A housewarming gift for the new place up north — order with the state outline of the state they hunt in
- A groomsmen gift from a hunting wedding — paired with a bottle of whiskey
- A retirement gift for the guy who took his last buck — the board, the mount, and the story, all permanent
- The cabin wall — between the fishing lures and the lake map
- The man-cave / she-shed / garage wall
What’s not in the box (so no surprises):
- No antler hardware included. The board is just the board. You’ll need a universal antler mount kit (Amazon ~$15, Bass Pro, Cabela’s, any sporting goods store) to bolt the European mount to the backer.
- No hanging hardware included. Wall, mantel, garage — you bring the screws, 3M strips, or French cleat that fits your wall. We can ship a sawtooth hanger on request (mention in the order notes).
How to order (please include these in the order notes — we can’t cut without them):
- Year the buck was taken
- Day of the month
- Month (Sept, Oct, Nov, Dec, Jan)
- Left antler points (1, 2, 3, 4, 5+)
- Right antler points (1, 2, 3, 4, 5+)
- State outline (if not Michigan)
We send a proof before we cut anything. Two rounds of revisions included. Verify the year twice — once it’s cut, we can’t undo it.
Care: Wipe with a dry cloth. Don’t soak it, don’t leave it in a damp basement or a hot garage. The MDF core will swell if it gets wet. The maple veneer is finished but not waterproof.
A note on the wood: Maple-veneer MDF is an engineered board — a thin layer of real maple on top of a stable MDF core. It takes laser engraving cleanly, holds its shape through temperature swings, and doesn’t warp the way solid wood does. The maple veneer you see is real maple; the board underneath is engineered for stability. The dial layout is engraved and filled with a dark brown stain so the lines stay readable year after year.