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Roving Whitetail Chooses Wrong Zip Code
By Ed Waite
Late-season bowhunt ends with a world record and a good cry. Long after most of Ohio’s deer hunters had either tagged out or quit because of the bone-chilling cold, 33-year-old Jim Cogar of Powell was still climbing into stands, hoping to see the rambling buck he’d been after since October. It was almost as if he couldn’t live wit... READ MORE
For Mississippians, Pike Still Peaking
By Jill J. Easton
If your heart’s set on steak, would you go to a fast-food drive-through? Finding a good place to hunt trophy whitetails can be difficult. For Matt Moore and his dad, Jimmy, the search for the perfect property spanned years. They traveled to several states and tried many outfitters without much success. But that was before they happened upon S... READ MORE
Who Needs Fanfare?
By Tom Hough
Here’s the buck nobody saw at the Iowa Deer Classic. When I first heard about Jason Chase’s buck, I was ogling several other world-class whitetails being measured behind the curtain at the 2013 Iowa Deer Classic. It seemed inconceivable that another deer of that caliber wasn’t even at the show (that it was hanging inside the Schee... READ MORE
Twice Aloft
By Dale Weddle
You’re either a deer hunter or a Soprano if your brother-in-law calls to say he killed Dave, and all you can say is “Woohoo!” It’s a good thing Nathaniel Yoder was sitting down when he viewed the images captured by his trail camera in August 2012. The Kentucky native had strapped the camera to a tree near a new mineral lick ... READ MORE
Term of EnDEERment
By Rusty Johnson
In a perfect world, we’d all have plenty of time to evaluate antlers. But is there such a place? Alberta deer guide Aaron Franklin will never forget the week he spent trying to make an Oklahoma hunter’s dream come true. The moment Devin Moore told Aaron, “Let’s go find a big ol’ buck,” the pace for the next six d... READ MORE
Trip Wire
By Ed Waite
If the llama’s looking, you’d better have more than a hammer in hand. After three years of playing cat and mouse with a warhorse of a buck, ’twas Gary Hornbeck who wore the Cheshire grin in 2012. Had it not been for an old wire fence, however, the normally surefooted whitetail might have won the day. At the very least, the deer hu... READ MORE
From the Land of She-Deer …
By Ed Waite
Unlike the monsters under beds and in closets, this Ohio buck is the real deal. When the McGuires go hunting, it’s more like grocery shopping. Ohio might be home to the country’s most prosperous taxidermists, and Mahoning might be one of the few counties even nonresident hunters are able to cite. But the public and neighboring ground th... READ MORE
Blame it on the Corn
By Mike Handley
If a ‘big tater’ is an astonishingly huge whitetail, is a ‘little tater’ a spike? State wildlife managers have long known that, for hunters, seeing deer is just as important — perhaps more — than tying a tag on one. As long as hunters know the animals are out there, they’re content with spending money for l... READ MORE
‘Bad Day’ a Good Day to be in a Stand
By Jill J. Easton
This Missouri bowhunter is more accustomed to buying condiments than paying for taxidermy. Bill Testerman of Belton, Mo., considers himself more meat hunter than antler guy. But his affinity for venison aside, that might change now. Okay, so maybe Bill doesn’t see only backstrap when he’s looking at a deer. A buck has always been cause ... READ MORE
Creature from the Green Lagoon
By Kenny (and Bryce) Fulton
How to cure, or at least forget about, a sore throat. The drive home was surreal. I kept checking and double-checking my rearview mirror to make sure it was still back there. I called my son when I pulled onto Interstate 35 just south of Salina, Kan., and told him the news. “The antlers are sticking up over the tool box,” I said. &ldquo... READ MORE
Off the Beaten Path
By Dale Weddle
Why does a buck cross the road? To get shot, of course … which is why it might be best to hunt deep within the woods on one side or the other. The large snowflakes fell silently to earth, brushing Ricky Roy in his deer stand tucked among the limbs of the skinny little tree he’d climbed. Twenty-five feet below, the ground was already wh... READ MORE
Eh, Y’all Check This Out!
By Mike Handley
From Alabama to British Columbia is a long way to go to hug someone who doesn’t want to be hugged. Brett Winford doesn’t make a habit of wrapping his arms around men he barely knows, but he admits he did it — once — in 2007. That was the third and last year the Shelby County, Ala., homebuilder traveled to British Columbia to... READ MORE
Listen to the Locals
By Dale Weddle
The man told them all the big deer were shot during rainy-nasty weather … After waiting an hour at his truck, Wayne Jordan returned to where he’d launched an arrow at the huge drop-tined buck. Everything had happened so quickly, he wasn’t sure if he’d even connected. “I saw the deer wobble a little bit as it ran off,&... READ MORE
Four Shots, One Buck and a Very Dead Phone
By Ed Waite
Jeff Sims killed his cell phone on Nov. 24, 2012, but not before the entire civilized world — or at least much of Franklin County, Ind. — knew what else he’d killed. The deer hunter from West Harrison called and texted so many people, he fried his cell phone’s innards. It took only four shotgun slugs to do the same to the bu... READ MORE
Footlongs for Four
By Dale Weddle
Half of this Kentucky Stud’s Uprights are At Least 12 Inches Long! Setting out and monitoring trail cameras can be almost as satisfying as squeezing a trigger, especially if photographs reveal a world-class buck. Danny Smith of Monticello, Ky., can attest to that. “I started using trail cams about 10 years ago,” he said. “I ... READ MORE