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How to Beat the No-stand Blues
By Ed Waite
To the person who stole Mike Flanigan’s treestand: Thank you. A not-so-funny thing happened to Mike Flanigan of Conneaut, Ohio, on the way to his deer stand last Oct. 27. When he arrived at his tree, the stand wasn’t there. Understandably upset, he could’ve walked back to his truck to stew in his own juices for a few hours while h... READ MORE
A Series of Fortunate Events
By Mark Sharp
Sometimes the calendar tells you it's time to be in a tree. Sometimes it's brothers-in-law, or maybe the neighbor's combining. After a long day at the job site on Nov. 8, 2013, I wasn’t sure I wanted to go bowhunting. Although early November is usually a good time to be in a deer stand, there hadn’t been much activity to that point. Whi... READ MORE
Buck of Steel
By Mike Handley
Not all deer leap tall buildings when hit by a speeding bullet. One reason even veteran deer hunters fail to get more than one shot at a fleeing deer is because they’re shocked when the animal doesn’t falter or collapse after the first boom. All too often, those who manage a follow-up shot are too rattled to make it count. That might've... READ MORE
Because the Wind Was Wrong
By Dale Weddle
Not for nothing: If Larry Price tells you a turkey dips snuff, you’ll find the can under the bird's wing. Aside from accompanying his stepfather a few times in his youth, hunting never interested James Irvine until he moved his family from an urban to a rural setting almost a decade ago. “It was just seven or eight years ago that I boug... READ MORE
Fooling Moses
By Mike Handley
Trash talk and some eau-de-deer combine to cook this buck’s grits. When Josh Stephenson saw the tsunami rolling through the yellowed stalks, he stood and grabbed his bow. Whether the parting corn represented a Biblical shift or the opening of a new fault line near Danville, Ind., whether a robed and bearded man, a herd of deer or geology was ... READ MORE
Beyond Blessed
By Jenna Gregg
Jenna Gregg’s first-buck story will be hard to top, in print and on screen. I grew up around hunting with my parents and their friends, but I never really got into it until I started dating Floyd, now my husband, who suffers from OCDHD — obsessive-compulsive deer hunting disorder. Floyd pulled me into the fold during our high school yea... READ MORE
Burger to Bone
By Dale Weddle
It’s always wise to take one last look-see before committing to a target. Larry Mangin didn’t fall far from his family tree. His maternal and paternal grandfathers — Floyd Bennett and Tony Mangin — were hunting buddies. Both grew up in the Big Bend area of Meade County, Ky. Larry’s mother, Doris, is 86. On Dec. 12, 201... READ MORE
Opening Day to Remember
By Heather Artist
The best stands are sometimes determined by luck of the draw, even if someone else is doing the drawing. Last deer season, I scheduled a 10-day vacation to coincide with the opening of Missouri’s rifle season on Nov. 16. No longer in college (I graduated the previous May), I was determined not to miss a day of hunting. My two sisters, Michell... READ MORE
‘Warm Hollow’ Buck
By Dale Weddle
This Kentuckian never imagined he’d burn his only vacation day just to make a trip to the taxidermist. When the smoke cleared and the buck was no longer there, Roger Poe began shaking. He wasn’t sure if it was due to the December cold or the fact that he’d just shot at the biggest deer he’d ever seen. Second chances are rare... READ MORE
Five Dollars to Boot
By Ed Waite
Seeing a buck of this caliber in photographs is one thing. Seeing it in the flesh can steal consonants from speech. Shawn Evangelista almost forgot how to form words last year. Even his three-word sentences, repeated for emphasis, were more a series of emitted vowel sounds, punctuated by gulps of air. You’d think that seeing — and indee... READ MORE
Missouri Guy Gets His Groove Back
By Mike Handley
Ever stand in front of a classroom full of little deers, look down, and realize you’re naked (or might as well be)? Being busted by a button buck can wreck a deer hunter’s self-confidence. When this happened to Danny Boyer last season, the bowhunter from DeSoto, Mo., realized he had to change something about his setup, and none too soon... READ MORE
Switch-hitter
By Lisa Price
Sliding a shotgun stock over to your off-shoulder can mean the difference in shooting or not shooting. For more than two decades, the only people who saw Roy Smith’s deer mount were those who happened by his office inside the Perry County, Ill., highway department. It hadn’t been measured by anyone, never appeared in a record book and, ... READ MORE
Why Randy Brown Wants His Stand Back
By Dale Weddle
Kentucky’s early bow season offers grand opportunities at bucks still in velvet. Just ask Nick Brown. Nick Brown thought he’d caught a break when the buck passed behind a tree, which allowed him to draw his Mathews Drenalin. But that was before the animal stopped, forcing the 28-year-old bowhunter to hold both string and breath. Nick wa... READ MORE
No Walk in the Park
By Dale Weddle
The road to the taxidermist is sometimes pocked with potholes. If a relative shoots the buck you’ve been bowhunting, and then a power line crew armed with chainsaws moves in right on top of your hunting spot, would you chalk it up as a busted season? Jeff Osborne thought about it, but he just couldn’t bear spending Kentucky’s 2013... READ MORE
And It Wasn't Even Public Land!
By Mike Handley
Anyone who can remain in his stand after this kind of morning deserves a crack or three at a decent buck. Turning one's last vacation day and shelling out for a nonresident hunting license and deer tag are small prices to pay for a much-needed change of scenery. But when a frustrated Jesse Ferree paid that price in 2012, he got more of the same. Th... READ MORE