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Almost Too Easy
By Gita M. Smith
If David Bertsch had any doubts that the buck in the back of his truck was worthy of being converted into a pricey piece of wall art, they evaporated soon after he pulled into taxidermist Rick Busse’s driveway.“I’ve been doing this for 31 years, and I thought I’d seen everything,” Busse told him. “But I’ve ... READ MORE
Clay Commander Trades Pellets for Slug
By Mike Handley
Having a Gould point a shotgun at you, if you’re a deer or a clay target, is a good way to get dead. This is abundantly clear to fans and followers of brothers Aaron and Steve from Alexandria, Minn., who travel the country with their Winchesters to wow audiences with their reflexive marksmanship. Aaron, capable of busting clays between one-ar... READ MORE
Mighty Weren’t the Preparations
By Ed Waite
Taking note of the comings and goings of whitetails on a mere five acres should be as easy as pulling a can of green beans out of the cupboard. Cody Gwinner and his father, Ted, know their little patch of woods like it was a pantry. And they’d normally have pinpointed the freshest and most often used deer trails long before the season opened,... READ MORE
Eau De Buck
By Dale Weddle
Testosterone Can Be a Buck’s Undoing. Gazes locked with the biggest buck he’d ever seen, Tim Gosser froze in place, his rifle halfway between the shooting rail of his ladder stand and his shoulder. During those five minutes, the borrowed firearm went from weighing 7 to 70 pounds. The unbelievably big 10-pointer was so close that Tim co... READ MORE
Like Clockwork, Almost
By Mike Handley
Aubrey Man’s First Deer by Bow Shatters Texas Record! Robert and Jerry Taylor don’t need deer telemetry data to convince them that whitetails are creatures of habit. For four years, they merely had to look at the calendar to know approximately when a freakishly big buck was going to wander onto their little piece of Grayson County, Texa... READ MORE
Joshua Unglued
By Mike Handley
Fainting dead away might’ve been the only thing Joshua Bruce didn’t do during the last day of his 2012 hunt at Giles Island. He shook, probably squeaked, banged his rifle on the shooting house window, lost the use of his fingers and fell down twice. If he’d had any nerve pills, he might’ve chipmunked a handful. He was as rat... READ MORE
So THIS is What All the Fuss is About!
By Mike Handley
It took only a few seconds last fall for Calvin Gustus to decide he both loves and loathes bowhunting. The 2012 archery season was the 55-year-old volunteer fireman’s first, though he actually paid $50 for a bow in the mid-1980s. After shooting it a few times, he hung it up, forgot about it and, eventually, loaned it to his wife’s broth... READ MORE
Br’er Will and the Oak Patch
By Ed Waite
Disciplining an employee who lives and breathes deer hunting by giving him a day off in mid-November, even without pay, is a bit like sending a child to his room with a game-laden laptop and a Popsicle. After what happened to Will Durstine last year, his coworkers might be lining up for DLOs (disciplinary layoffs) in 2013. During deer season, Will ... READ MORE
Two-for-one Buck
By Ed Waite
Marion Goodpaster was enjoying his ringside seat during last year’s snot-slinging contest, but he really wanted it to end before the curtain fell on his Nov. 11 hunt in Ripley County, Ind. The hunter from Aurora, Ind., was between a belligerent buck and an equally mouthy doe, both determined to send the other running for cover. Had it not bee... READ MORE
No Coaching Necessary
By Mike Handley
Blane Haygood knew better than to try sneaking a look at the buck his daughter was about to shoot. He and she were sitting side by side in separate office-type chairs, looking out of opposite windows, when the enormous whitetail stepped into the lane 15-year-old Kendall was facing. It was bad enough that the girl had accidentally bumped the box bli... READ MORE
The Buck with the Jekyll & Hyde Rack
By Ed Waite
Powerless to do anything but gawk, Jeff Yelton’s gaze shifted back and forth from the deer with the strange rack to his watch. Always one to follow the rules, the hunter from Chesterton, Ind., knew it wasn’t yet light enough to legally squeeze his muzzleloader’s trigger. He was almost convinced something was wrong with his too-slo... READ MORE
Reminiscent of MOSSY HORNS
By Terry Rethman and Mike Handley
When the tale behind Del Austin’s world-record (P&Y) Nebraska whitetail was first told back in 1963, the hunter was more footnote than protagonist. Del might’ve been the one to let the air out of the buck called “Mossy Horns,” but he had no history with the buck. Instead, perhaps because it made for a better yarn, writer... READ MORE
Ohio Holdem
By Ed Waite
When it comes to deer hunting, brothers Steve and Scott Esker are “all in,” both figuratively and literally. The twins from Ohio have put more than 2,310 inches of antler in the record book during the last decade — 11 kills, two pickups and a pair of shed antlers, several of which have appeared within these pages, if not on the ma... READ MORE
Doppelganger Gets ‘Er Done
By Mike Handley
Sometimes it pays to stop and smell the hay — words to live by, according to an Arkansas tree trimmer who counts friends like a banker counts money. During a break from chasing turkeys in Kansas in the spring of 2010, Robert Weaver decided to cool his heels and watch someone cutting hay. The big John Deere looked like a house on wheels, and h... READ MORE
But Can I Hunt?
By Dale Weddle
It’ll take more than broken bones and bruises to keep Ken Carnes indoors during deer season. On Sept. 9, 2012, Ken and his brother, Troy, walked into the woods to do some scouting, pruning and to move at least one ladder stand. Only Troy walked out of there. Ken was on the 28-foot-tall ladder stand. He had just stepped down two steps when the... READ MORE
When Dylin Calls …
By Tim Beaumont and Mike Handley
Brecken Kennedy hates déjà vu. Dylin, his younger brother, loves it. Even before Brecken read the text message from Dylin on Nov. 25, 2011, he knew what it was going to say. The same thing happened in 2010, when he’d hunted hard —every day for two weeks — only to have his brother step in and shoot a wallhanger from t... READ MORE
Eeny, Meeny, Miny, Moe …
By Dale Weddle
If only Josh Prewitt had been in the right stand, his 2012 season could’ve ended a whole lot sooner. Two days into Kentucky’s 2012 modern firearms season, the bull of the woods stood in front of Josh’s empty ladder stand about half an hour after sunrise. The hunter from Brodhead was 400 yards away, watching another ridge, when the... READ MORE
Bottom of the Ninth
By Mike Handley
Jeremy Schmeidler might no longer play baseball, but that doesn’t mean he’s incapable of hitting a wicked curve ball out of the park. Nine days into the Sunflower State’s 2012 bow season, the 33-year-old from Hays, Kan., decided to ditch the game plan he’d so carefully crafted in favor of a whim. Rather than play it safe wit... READ MORE
An Alarm Clock Named Jake
By Bob Weber
I have hunted deer for most of my life and have had my share of exciting hunts. Last January’s outing with my stepson, Jake, ranks among the best. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed teaching Jake, now 13, how to hunt and what it means to be a hunter. We’ve been going together for five years. Jan. 19 was the last weekend to hunt the 2012-13 s... READ MORE
Double Take
By Mike Handley
Brian Miller knew a shooter buck was among the many deer gallivanting inside the little pine thicket. At least three bucks, in fact (the other two were forkhorns), and 10 does had entered the copse during the two hours he’d been aloft in his ladder stand on Nov. 29, 2012. Soon after the last trio wafted into the trees, all the deer began shuf... READ MORE