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Stress Test
By Richard C. West
It’s great to finally see the buck of your dreams, but don’t get too excited. On the Saturday before Thanksgiving in 2015, an Illinois buck tested my heart. It was the second day of the firearms season, and I’d spent my first day – all 12 hours – on the stand with nothing to show for it but a couple of song birds, a re... READ MORE
What the Doctor Ordered
By William Miley
The best therapy is spending time in a deer stand. I live in Abilene, Texas, but I am from Westminster in Maryland. About 17 years ago, my family attended a church picnic for 4th of July. Someone had set up a bow range as part of the entertainment, and my good friend Rick Ellis told me to give it a shot. I borrowed pastor Ed Conrad’s compound... READ MORE
Big Ten in the Buckeye State
By Jon Miller
After watching a big 10-pointer for two seasons, I finally got my shot at it on the evening of October 25, 2013.
I discovered this buck on my trail camera last year on my family’s 200-acre farm in Licking County, Ohio.
After capturing several photos, my cousin and I estimated the buck would push 140 inches. I knew if I ever saw this buck un... READ MORE
In Memory of Papaw
By Kyle Bevis
We all want big bucks, but hunting is more about the memories. On December 20, 2010, I harvested my first buck on my Papaw’s old home place. It took many long days of hunting, but I was determined to shoot a buck just to share it with him. It was funny because every time we would come in from hunting, the first question he would ask is, "Did ... READ MORE
Snow Falls in the Catskills
By Vincent J. Prybeck
To-the-point New Yorker has enough go for one more season. Nov. 17, 2018, Upstate New York. A Catskill Mountain deer season starts. Snow fell 24 hours earlier. Cloudy, windless, good snow, 28 degrees. In darkness, we hike uphill. With John settled, I head farther uphill. At 2,100 feet, I climb the ladder. Now wait. Season 48 now. How many do I have... READ MORE
Hard to Top
By Josh Tieman
Maybe it's a good thing this young hunter doesn't realize just how big his buck is.
Parker and I were on our first hunt together during opening day of Missouri's youth season.
While I had high hopes we would see a few deer and maybe even a buck, I never dreamed what would happen next. Parker spotted a buck to our left on the ridge and heading awa... READ MORE
Lessons in the Wild
By James Oliver
Young bowhunter doesn’t make the same mistake twice! I have been hunting for as long as I can remember. It was a tradition passed down by my father, and I have passed it on to my two boys. My youngest, Hunter, has been at home in the wild since the age of 3 when I took him hunting for turkeys for the first time. When he was 4, Hunter took his... READ MORE
Study, Hunt, Repeat
By Ben Englert
College student’s first archery harvest gets a 4.0 in Bowhunting 101. It was Nov. 15, and the 2018 Indiana shotgun season would begin two days later. I was logging as many hours as I could with my bow, hoping to tag out before the gun-toting army arrived on opening morning. I had put in countless hunts since bow season started on Oct. 1, but ... READ MORE
One for the Can
By Mike Kochheiser
Three generations of my family hunt on my father’s farm — my father, myself and my son. Until Ohio’s 2013-14 deer season arrived, none of us were aware of the huge, 196 1/8 inch buck with the 25 1/2-inch spread that my father would take before the season ended.
The first time we saw the buck was when it appeared on a trail camera... READ MORE
Rage in the Cage!
By Logan Hannon
My bowhunting adventure started on typical Friday night, hanging out with my buddies and playing some pool. Since each of us had put in lots of time in the woods without much to show for it this season, we devised a game plan for the following morning.
Someone was going to get a deer.
The rut was kicking in, the temperature was dropping and... READ MORE