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Head Knobs and Boom Sticks
By Ed Waite
New ground and a triptych of day-old trail cam images convince bowhunters to don orange and take up arms. Ethan Johnson and Will Montgomery have bowhunted together for several years, mostly on land owned by Ethan’s uncle. Ohio’s 2015 archery season wasn’t kind to them. “I was talking to my girlfriend’s father one eveni... READ MORE
Minnesota Man-Drive
By Darren Warner
Group effort leads to the undoing of one of the most talked about bucks of 2014. Stan Kreidermacher heard two shots on the other side of a deep ravine from where he stood. It was Minnesota’s late muzzleloader season, so two shots meant two hunters had slung lead. Soon afterward, he heard the footfalls of several deer descending the opposite h... READ MORE
Mother-in-Law Buck
By Lisa Price
A whitetail like this would give any hunter the Elvis leg. Joe Bryan of Rayville, Louisiana, made a lasting first impression on the hunters with whom he shared an Illinois deer camp in 2014. During the initial get-acquainted lunch at Buck Creek Farms, he told them his mother-in-law had booked his hunt as a gift for his 20th wedding anniversary. "On... READ MORE
Itchy Palms
By Ed Waite
A mother’s advice is right on target. When T.J. Schulz and his wife, Mandy, moved from Michigan to Goshen, Ohio, a few years ago, they found themselves with no place to hunt deer. Knocking on doors yielded no invitations, and the nearby public lands were crowded. A buck in the back of a truck probably kept the couple from writing off their ne... READ MORE
Twice as Wary
By Dale Weddle
And you think a 4- or 5-year-old buck is a challenge! Dave Morgan of Richmond, Kentucky, played cat and mouse with an Ohio buck for four years before hearing his bowstring hum while looking at it. He collected hundreds of trail camera photographs of the brute, but the elusive deer wasn’t keen on moving during the day or taking the same trail ... READ MORE
Day No. 6
By Dale Weddle
And on the seventh day, he rested and looked at the strange deer he’d shot. Kentucky Bend lies east of the Mississippi. It also lies west of the mighty river. It’s a perfect example of the old adage, “You can’t get there from here.” Ol’ Man River twists and then turns almost back on itself, cutting off a section ... READ MORE
The 21st Sit
By Ed Waite
They say too much pressure can ruin a stand. Notice they didn’t say “always.” Ellen Turner, who is a kitchen and bathroom designer when not in the deer woods, took up hunting just eight short years ago after marrying into a hunting family. She migrated to archery straight away as that was the longest season in Ohio. She began with... READ MORE
Second Chance
By Greg Hicks
Note to Self: A stagger doesn’t always precede a blood trail. Any honest deer hunter will tell you that shooting a mature buck requires a little luck. Skills and preparedness — not to mention his choice of time and place — helped Justin Braswell of Greenwood, Mississippi, connect with a giant buck on Dec. 18, 2014. But he’s ... READ MORE
Gut-Nav in the Deer Woods
By Greg Hicks
When striking out to hunt deer, it often pays to listen to the voices in your head and the pings in your gut. You know that inexplicable feeling that makes you look in a certain direction at just the right time, or to blow a grunt or bleat call at precisely the right moment? Matt Moss does. Intuition put the LSU-Shreveport Medical School student in... READ MORE
Ripple Effect
By John E. Phillips and Mike Handley
Searching for a buck, even a live one, sometimes requires widening the perimeter. Bo Holcombe wasn’t seeking a change of scenery when he varied from his routine on Dec. 13, 2014. He didn’t throw a dart or a rock. The Brierfield, Alabama, hunter’s choice to spend the evening in a different shooting house was more ripple than splash... READ MORE
Hold Low at 10
By John E. Phillips
First bow buck teaches veteran rifleman a valuable lesson about where to aim at deer outside (or inside) the pins. Travis Olson of Salina, Kansas, has hunted deer for 25 years, but the 2014 season was only his third to do so with a bow. “We have a lot of crop fields and open land with small patches of woods in between," Travis says. "I define... READ MORE
The Last Bull
By W. Gary Sitton
Veteran hunter cherished his last opportunity to act like a 10-year-old. My wife Judy and daughter Holly threw a big party to celebrate my upcoming 70th birthday, our 48th anniversary and a book I recently had published. More than 250 people attended the bash. One person I’d hoped to see was Michael Labrum, my elk guide for the last 14 years.... READ MORE
One of a Kind from Every Man’s Land
By Dale Weddle
Sometimes a guy just has to wade into the maddening crowd. Could access to 170,000 acres of public hunting ground cause you to move three or four states away? What if one of your first trail camera photographs from the area showed a 30-point buck? Those might not have been the reasons Jack Seppala packed his bags and moved from New Hampshire to Ken... READ MORE
Beast Between the Lakes
By Ed Waite
Sharing parking lots with fishermen and blood with ticks were small prices to pay in the 1970s for access to big deer in western Kentucky. Ask almost any bowhunter in Kentucky to name the country’s best deer hunter, and you’re going to get a slew of votes for David Howard. The proof, they say, is hanging inside the man’s home. Whi... READ MORE
Hunting and Hiding in Plain Sight
By John E. Phillips
When hunting eastern Colorado, you might have to cross your fingers and channel your inner reptile. Bill Lambert of West Monroe, Louisiana, never imagined he’d find himself belly-crawling with a weapon after leaving the military. But the old training came in handy while he was deer hunting in Kiowa County, Colorado, in December 2014. He and h... READ MORE