Big Buck Tales

Bo Middleton Buck

Bo Middleton Buck

By Mike Handley

When Bo Middleton’s grandfather, the late Floyd “Cooney” Sanders, told him he’d seen a great big buck while looking out his kitchen window, Bo humored him. But the more the 28-year-old thought about it, he could not dismiss the possibility. “He was getting on (in years), and he could not see that well,” Bo said ... READ MORE

Kevin Fitch Buck

Kevin Fitch Buck

By Ed Waite

It was as if the ground opened up and swallowed Kevin Fitch’s buck. One minute, it was on the receiving end of a shotgun slug (he hoped). The next, it was gone. Not fall-down-dead gone. Not running-with-the-wind-and-leaving-a-blood-trail gone. Just gone, leaving the hunter from Norwalk, Ohio, with Rodney Dangerfield eyes and a mouth full of... READ MORE

Charles Falkenheiner Buck

Charles Falkenheiner Buck

By Charles Falkenheiner

My buddies and I first became aware of this deer in August 2012, but nobody saw it during daylight hours until the hunting season was almost at an end. On that day, the bowhunter who saw it said the buck’s rack looked pretty busted up, so we all decided to hold off in hopes it would survive another year. During the summer of 2013, one of sev... READ MORE

Kyle Simmons Buck

Kyle Simmons Buck

By Mike Handley

Because he rarely asks for time off from his job, inclement weather usually dictates when Kyle Simmons can go hunting. The demand for firewood near Spragueville, Iowa, keeps him busy for 60 or more hours a week. But last October, the 24-year-old saw the stars aligning and asked his boss for an uncharacteristically long weekend. Rain had ushered in ... READ MORE

Tom Hamel Buck

Tom Hamel Buck

By Mike Handley

It might be impossible to determine the extent of one deer’s effect upon the economy in Republic County, Kan., a couple of years ago, but there’s no doubt a substantial amount of cash changed hands when photographs of the animal hit the Internet. An influx of nonresidents hungry to lease hunting ground is never appreciated by those who... READ MORE

Green Campbell Buck

Green Campbell Buck

By Mike Handley

If 14-year-old Green Campbell had been given a choice on Oct. 20, 2007, he would’ve gladly given up his ringside seat to one of the most dramatic college football games of the year. When he retrieved the 200 images from his first-ever trail camera that Saturday morning, which was exciting enough, he came across three shots of an unbelievable... READ MORE

Gary Fears Buck

Gary Fears Buck

By Mike Handley

Because of a foreboding weather forecast, heightened by bad luck at the onset of his planned weeklong hunt, Gary Fears headed afield on Nov. 24 with the resignation of killing the first decent buck dumb enough to wander into his crosshairs. Not even a doe was safe. Four days earlier, Gary had a spring in his step when he walked into the little hole... READ MORE

Joe Godar Buck

Joe Godar Buck

By Joe Godar

Each year, my longtime friend, Don, and I manage to block off a few days away from work and family to bowhunt together. In 2012, we found three days in November. Our destination was some property in Highland County, Ohio, I’d purchased five or six years earlier, though I’d hunted the place for far longer. My family has had several cabin... READ MORE

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Copyright 2020 by Buckmasters, Ltd