Big Buck Tales

Richard Pauli Buck

Richard Pauli Buck

By Klaus Lebrecht

Prior to the 1983 gun season, Richard Pauli of Peoria, Illinois, saw this huge-antlered buck twice while bowhunting and once at night when he drove into a pasture to attend to some cattle. His headlights illuminated the deer drinking from a pond. Richard headed out on opening morning with a particular stand in mind. En route, he crossed a fence and... READ MORE

Jerry Bryant Buck

Jerry Bryant Buck

By Mike Handley

Strangely, the buck didn't react to the loud pop of the crossbow's string. The deer didn't charge off toward parts unknown. It merely stood there, sort of bobbing its head and pawing the ground. "I thought he was just peeved," remembers Jerry Bryant. There was no way that the hunter from Peoria, Ill., could shoot again. He can only cock his 10-year... READ MORE

Joe Godar Buck

Joe Godar Buck

By Joe Godar

Each year, my longtime friend, Don, and I manage to block off a few days away from work and family to bowhunt together. In 2012, we found three days in November. Our destination was some property in Highland County, Ohio, I’d purchased five or six years earlier, though I’d hunted the place for far longer. My family has had several cabin... READ MORE

Travis Cockburn Buck

Travis Cockburn Buck

By Jason Hoffard

Travis Cockburn winced whenever he heard a gunshot during last November’s firearms season in Illinois. He, his brother and father weren’t the only hunters in Williamson County who knew a very large buck was hanging around their 80-acre hunting spot near Johnston City. The Cockburns knew because Trent, Travis’ brother, had decided... READ MORE

Wayne Schumacher Buck

Wayne Schumacher Buck

By Duncan Dobie

As Wayne Schumacher sat in his stand watching the late afternoon shadows steadily darken, he briefly daydreamed about a huge 24-point buck that had been photographed near the property he was hunting. The thoughts that went through his head were not unlike those that go through the minds of many hunters who hope for a one-of-a-kind encounter with a ... READ MORE

Dann Hughes Buck

Dann Hughes Buck

By Savannah Hughes

For my dad, getting up early on a cold morning, layering himself in camouflage and then sitting in a deer stand or duck blind rates right up there with breathing. He lives for (and because of) it! Half his wardrobe is camo, and I guarantee that he gets his money's worth out of it all. It does not make sense to some people why Dad and other hunters... READ MORE

David Melton Buck

David Melton Buck

By Mike Handley

It was no small miracle that five Alabama men didn’t drown in the Tombigbee River back in 1956. Since none of them are alive today to tell the story of what happened 52 years ago, it isn’t known whether their johnboat was aluminum or wood, although it must’ve been powered by an outboard motor. The river is simply too strong to nav... READ MORE

Kevin Fitch Buck

Kevin Fitch Buck

By Ed Waite

It was as if the ground opened up and swallowed Kevin Fitch’s buck. One minute, it was on the receiving end of a shotgun slug (he hoped). The next, it was gone. Not fall-down-dead gone. Not running-with-the-wind-and-leaving-a-blood-trail gone. Just gone, leaving the hunter from Norwalk, Ohio, with Rodney Dangerfield eyes and a mouth full of... READ MORE

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