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Entries for May 2022
Heartbreaker
By Mike Handley
The best day of a 15-year-old's life as a deer hunter was also the worst for some of his neighbors. Noah Rogers' big brother, Jared, wasn't exactly thrilled either. A lot of people in that pocket of Powell County were salivating over a world-class whitetail seen and photographed on several area farms during the six years before Noah shot the local ... READ MORE
Big Game Swap
By Mike Handley
A simple handshake helped a Maine outfitter and a farmer from Ohio shorten their bucket lists in 2020. It's impossible to say who got the better end of the deal, the man who took home a brace of record-book whitetails, the one who felled a truly world-class black bear, or the taxidermists who earned one or more truck payments. None of this would've... READ MORE
A Beast by Any Other Name
By Mike Handley
I admit I’m paid to come up with myriad ways to describe whitetails. Referring to a storied animal as a buck or a deer 27 times in one article is a surefire way to put a reader to sleep. To keep your attention, I generally alternate between the two, or I might substitute nouns like whitetail, giant, 20-pointer, 10x10 or behemoth. If I’m... READ MORE
Double the Pleasure
By Mike Handley
Des Moines bowhunter Brady Snyder doesn't always budget for taxidermy, but when he does, he prefers paying double. That's what happened in 2019 anyway, when he let the air out of a couple of world-class whitetails, a 174-incher during a local urban management hunt and an even bigger one during Iowa's regular bow season. The larger scored 183 and ch... READ MORE
New Texas Record is Deer of the Year
By Mike Handley
For the first time since Buckmasters began awarding its annual Golden Laurel Citation, a Texas specimen will claim deer hunting's highest honor. Tarif Alkhatib's 2021 Grayson County whitetail will be the 32nd recipient of the GLC, first awarded to the world-record Tony Fulton Buck in 1996. The award is given to our Deer of the Year, based on the ma... READ MORE