Smalltown Bucks

The 165-Inch Spike

The 165-Inch Spike

By Tony Crowder

Every time my daughter Alexis and I had been out hunting, she was determined that would be the time she would get a deer. She’d put in the work, helped build a box blind, and she’d been out there every chance she had regardless of weather. She was ready and hungry for her first deer. We’d planned to go hunting early Monday, Nov. ... READ MORE

It’s Great To Be Back!

It’s Great To Be Back!

By Chuck Manetta

Frustrated Florida hunter finally gets back to the deer woods. I was born and raised in Miami, Fla. I grew up in the Everglades and have a piece of land inside the Everglades National Preserve with two hunting cabins. While you might not think of Florida as a whitetail paradise, we had a healthy number of deer back in the day. They weren’t gi... READ MORE

Never Give Up

Never Give Up

By Ray Thiel

It only takes a second for an entire season of frustration to turn amazing. The 2018 deer season in eastern Connecticut was slower than normal. After two years where gypsy moth caterpillars ate nearly all the leaves off the oak trees, they just didn’t produce acorns. Unfortunately, on property I have permission to hunt on in Griswold, acorns... READ MORE

A Very Good Year

A Very Good Year

By Jason Hartpence

As a family of hunters and soon-to-be hunters, this year was good to us. The early season was particularly generous, as I harvested three of my four deer during that time. This season has been my most exciting yet, not because of my success, but because my son Hunter turned seven in October — legal hunting age for the state of Pennsylvania. ... READ MORE

Heart of the Hunt

Heart of the Hunt

By Christopher Jecker

Shortened season doesn’t stop concerned son from taking his best buck ever. While I live in Louisville, Kentucky, I hunt in Crawford County, Indiana. Two weeks before gun season, my work and hunting partner, my dad, had a massive heart attack. We rushed him to the ER, where the doctor informed us that he needed to have open heart surgery. A... READ MORE

Congratulations, Dad!

Congratulations, Dad!

By Aaron Rippstein

Sometimes the best bucks are the ones taken by the people we love. I wanted to share this buck taken by my dad, Rob, on Nov. 4, 2017 in Highland County, Ohio. Growing up in southern California didn’t offer many opportunities to go deer hunting, so when my family moved to Ohio in 1992, my father wanted to try something different. It didn&rsquo... READ MORE

In the Nick of Time

In the Nick of Time

By Jayden Steinkamp, age 11

Napping in the stand is okay, but shooting a big buck is better. It was midseason in Indiana in 2013, and the wind wasn’t blowing hard. We had gone hunting in the morning and saw one doe. We were hunting at my grandpa’s, and there are some big deer there. He doesn’t like us to shoot does, so we passed. When it got 2:50 p.m. that... READ MORE

Countdown to Kansas

Countdown to Kansas

By Carlo Longobardo

I’m a NYC fireman, and I’ve hunted since I was a kid. I’ve made a lot of memories with my father and family members. Now I’m proudly passing on the tradition to my son and daughter. This past fall was the second time I headed to Kansas to bowhunt the rut, and I’d literally been in a countdown for a year. On my first ... READ MORE

Pawpaw Comes Through

Pawpaw Comes Through

By Ethan Vailliencourt

My name is Ethan, and I am 8 years old. I got to go hunting for the first time during the last youth hunt of the 2013 season in Breathitt County, Kentucky. Since my dad had to work, my papaw took me hunting. We hunted in the morning on Dec. 28, and since we didn’t get anything, I told Papaw we should go back in the evening. When it was time,... READ MORE

Not a Monster, THE Monster

Not a Monster, THE Monster

By Sgt. G. A. Sinclair

New spot yields surprise wallhanger for West Virginian. Here is the story of my buck of a lifetime.  I hope you enjoy it as much as I did LIVING IT! It would be nice to see this in the “Buckmasters” Magazine or at least in print someplace!! I had hardly seen any deer the first four days of the buck firearms season in West Virginia.... READ MORE

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