I’m normally the last one to pass along “stuff” that’s sent to me via e-mail. My middle name should be “Doubting Thomas,” as I don’t trust anything I read, see or hear unless I’m watching it happen or it comes from an extremely trusted and reliable source. As a career-long reporter and journalist, my standards for trustworthiness are very, very high.

So, the fact that I’m cluing you in on a really cool YouTube video and website that were sent to me via e-mail should let you know, I believe in the source: the boys over at the BioLogic Division of Mossy Oak. These deer are real and there’s nothing questionable about them.

For the last 3 years, the Farming for Wildlife website has included a feature that uses scouting camera photos to monitor the growth of a pen-raised white-tailed bucks in Wisconsin. The first season it was a buck named “Sudden Impact”. Then it was the buck known as “Prime Time.” And this year they’ll be following and sharing the development of a buck named “The Big Show (TBS).” Last year as a 3-year-old, TBS grew an amazing 372 inches of antler.

On YouTube, check out the 2011 “Watch Him Grow” introductory video right here. If you’re like me, this footage and the prospects of what “The Big Show” may grow in 2011 will leave your head spinning.

And check in regularly on the “Watch Him Grow” update page at the Farming for Wildlife website. As of this posting, there are already a couple of updates that really set the stage and get your imagination racing as to how big TBS will get.

Bobby Cole and the rest of the BioLogic folks are completely upfront that this doesn’t have much of anything to do with free ranging deer or the kind of management practices you’re going to put in place on your hunting ground. It’s all about seeing and understanding the potential of a genetically superior deer with unlimited, proper nutrition and a “stress-free” environment. But it sure is fun and tantalizing to watch, too.

So, how big do you think “The Big Show” will get? What do you think is the “outer limit” of how large whitetail antlers can grow? 500 inches, 600 inches, more?