Big Buck Tales

Jeff McCulley Buck

Jeff McCulley Buck

By Ed Waite

Jeff McCulley would’ve been elated to burn his 2009 buck tag on the wide and tall-tined 8-pointer that had given him the slip all season. It was the biggest he’d seen on the 25 acres for which he’d gained permission to hunt through a fishing buddy who knew the landowners. The 41-year-old hunter from Stow, Ohio, lived just 10 or 15... READ MORE

Audrey Sharp Buck

Audrey Sharp Buck

By Audrey Sharp

I didn’t sleep well on the Friday night before Indiana’s 2011 firearms opener. My husband, Jerry, had agreed to stay home with our daughters so I could go hunting with my dad, Tim Ostrander, and I was excited. I awoke at 4:30 a.m., got ready and was at my parents’ home an hour later. Dad asked me if I wanted to skip hunting and j... READ MORE

Dean Dwernychuk Buck

Dean Dwernychuk Buck

By Buckmasters Online

Dean Dwernychuk of Calgary, Alberta, had established tree and ground blinds in five strategic locations around the perimeter of an alfalfa field west of Calgary. He had been within bow range of excellent bucks on several occasions, but some minor complication always prohibited a shot. On Sept. 25, 1984, he prepared again for the hunt with renewed ... READ MORE

Brandon Alday Buck

Brandon Alday Buck

By Mike Handley

Brandon Alday's 4-year-old son, Hayes, nearly choked him when the yelling commenced. The boy was getting a free ride on his father's shoulders when Brandon’s flashlight beam fell across the buck he was convinced he’d either missed or maimed. "I started screaming like a little girl, which scared my son half to death," Brandon laughs. "H... READ MORE

Mike Beatty Buck

Mike Beatty Buck

By Dan Armitage

Fumbling nervously in the darkness for one of his distinctive white-fletched arrows, Mike Beatty had made one of the toughest decisions of his life: to temporarily abandon the search for the monstrous whitetail he'd shot at dusk. Still not convinced that he'd chosen correctly, the Ohio bowhunter nocked the projectile on the barbed wire fence to mar... READ MORE

Bruce Lane Buck

Bruce Lane Buck

By Bruce Lane

Rather than striking out for my deer stand in the pouring rain on Oct. 31, I crawled back under the covers. The storm was supposed to move out by noon, which meant I could still spend half my Saturday in a tree. I’d hung my stand several months earlier, after spotting a huge whitetail bedded on a brushy hillside. The buck’s travel route... READ MORE

Gary Fears Buck

Gary Fears Buck

By Mike Handley

Because of a foreboding weather forecast, heightened by bad luck at the onset of his planned weeklong hunt, Gary Fears headed afield on Nov. 24 with the resignation of killing the first decent buck dumb enough to wander into his crosshairs. Not even a doe was safe. Four days earlier, Gary had a spring in his step when he walked into the little hole... READ MORE

Larry Reece Buck

Larry Reece Buck

By Mike Handley

Larry Reece was desperate. With shooting light quickly fading and a "decent" buck almost within range (at least it was before it disappeared into a pine plantation), he glanced at the grunt tube in his hand. The 57-year-old deer hunter from Benton, Miss., considered the little gadget long on hype and short on magic. He'd never had a deer respond to... READ MORE

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Copyright 2020 by Buckmasters, Ltd