|
|
Entries for June 2019
Two Deer, One World-class Rack
By Mike Handley
While most hunters might choose to let a stand rest between bloodlettings, Dylan McGee opted to spend the afternoon of Nov. 3, 2018, in the very stand from which he’d arrowed a doe that morning. The Mason, Illinois, archer has hunted the same 300-acre private tract for six years. His favorite ambush point is an 80-yard-long finger of woods ex... READ MORE
Whack-a-Deer
By Mike Handley
For Derrick Blakeley, choosing where on the family’s third-generation farm to usher in Kentucky’s 2018 rifle season was easy. He went to the clover and turnip plot where he’d spotted a monstrous 10-pointer a week earlier. The particular homemade stand had been there for a long time. “The food plot I was hunting is shaped li... READ MORE
In Lieu of Breakfast
By Mike Handley
For Bo Ezell, skipping breakfast to go squirrel hunting is a no-brainer. Swapping a fork for a deer rifle, however, is a tough call. The 13-year-old was staying with his grandparents last December when forced to choose between staying indoors and eating and accompanying a neighbor who’d reported seeing a really big buck in her pasture. He rel... READ MORE
Squirrel, Squirrel, Deer
By Mike Handley
Austin Gaines learned an important lesson last deer season: Never assume the thing you heard is the same thing you heard before that. The 24-year-old diesel mechanic from Gallipolis, Ohio, is fanatical about stocking his freezer with venison, so he was thrilled beyond measure when a buddy helped him gain access to a nearly 700-acre, deer-rich farm ... READ MORE
Ghostbusting, Ohio Style
By Mike Handley
The first time Daniel Stutler retrieved trail camera photographs of the monstrous whitetail he would later nickname The Ghost, he’d already tagged out for 2017. The slack-jawed bowhunter from Ostrander, Ohio, was smitten from the get-go, and he was determined to keep tabs on the giant roaming his girlfriend’s family land in Delaware Cou... READ MORE