Big Buck Tales

Mike Beatty Buck

Mike Beatty Buck

By Dan Armitage

Fumbling nervously in the darkness for one of his distinctive white-fletched arrows, Mike Beatty had made one of the toughest decisions of his life: to temporarily abandon the search for the monstrous whitetail he'd shot at dusk. Still not convinced that he'd chosen correctly, the Ohio bowhunter nocked the projectile on the barbed wire fence to mar... READ MORE

Johnny King Buck

Johnny King Buck

By Mike Handley

The two men approached the downed buck cautiously, from different sides. Johnny King’s bullets had dropped the enormous whitetail, but Brad Heisz, who’d answered his cousin’s desperate call for help, had obligingly administered the coup de grace. Brad reached it first, while Johnny was circling around in front. He knelt, grasped t... READ MORE

Lord of the Flies

Lord of the Flies

By Mike Handley

’Twas a tiny female fly — not a bullet, broadhead or Buick — that brought down the largest antlered (wild) whitetail in North America last year. And it might have gone undiscovered had a Kansas man not taken a stroll along a creek bank in search of the buck that had dropped off his nephew’s radar. The deer, while alive, was ... READ MORE

Richard Pauli Buck

Richard Pauli Buck

By Klaus Lebrecht

Prior to the 1983 gun season, Richard Pauli of Peoria, Illinois, saw this huge-antlered buck twice while bowhunting and once at night when he drove into a pasture to attend to some cattle. His headlights illuminated the deer drinking from a pond. Richard headed out on opening morning with a particular stand in mind. En route, he crossed a fence and... READ MORE

Larry Reece Buck

Larry Reece Buck

By Mike Handley

Larry Reece was desperate. With shooting light quickly fading and a "decent" buck almost within range (at least it was before it disappeared into a pine plantation), he glanced at the grunt tube in his hand. The 57-year-old deer hunter from Benton, Miss., considered the little gadget long on hype and short on magic. He'd never had a deer respond to... READ MORE

John Klucky Buck

John Klucky Buck

By Mike Handley

When John Klucky first laid eyes on the buck that would be New Hampshire’s state-record Typical, it wasn’t a Kodak moment. He revels in telling the story. In fact, he rattles off the details so quickly that his tongue begins to knot. But the hunter from Bow, N.H., freely admits that he had no clue as to the caliber of whitetail he twice... READ MORE

Mark Woller Buck

Mark Woller Buck

By Lisa L. Price

Mark Woller has his son, Eric, to thank for rekindling his interest in bowhunting. Eric’s newfound enthusiasm for archery was not only contagious, but it also led to Mark’s replacing his 20-year-old bow. "I’d been too busy with other obligations to do any bowhunting for a few years,” said the hunter from Merrill, Wis. &ldquo... READ MORE

Ronald Ewert Jr. Buck

Ronald Ewert Jr. Buck

By Gary Fahrni

Back in 2000, Ronald Ewert Jr. picked up a shed on the family farm near Leavenworth, Kan., that bewitched him. The misshapen antler sported a foot-long drop tine that more resembled a club. When he learned in 2003 that his neighbor shot a 22-pointer with a drop tine, he was afraid the buck he’d obsessed over was dead. But when Ron finally saw... READ MORE

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Copyright 2020 by Buckmasters, Ltd