Big Buck Tales

Shawn Sears Buck

Shawn Sears Buck

By Ted Rose

On opening day of the 1990 firearms deer season, Shawn Sears was up early enough to get to his favorite treestand before daylight. He had no idea that this foggy, cool morning would produce a lifelong memory and a prominent place in the deer hunting record books. Shawn explained that he had been hunting for a number of years with a bow. He had bee... READ MORE

Joseph Shields Buck

Joseph Shields Buck

By Mike Handley

If five antler scorers were to lay their tapes on the antlers of a buck hanging over the late Logan Sewell's mantel in Vidalia, La., they might very well come up with five different tallies. That's because the non-typical rack carries what many would consider as multiple main beams, and the choice of a typical mainframe will affect spread, symmetry... 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

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

Scott Odenbrett Buck

Scott Odenbrett Buck

By Rusty Johnson

Try telling Ryan Odenbrett that life is fair. He wanted to go bowhunting on the cool gray afternoon of Oct. 20. He knew exactly which stand to visit, too. But the conflicted sophomore at Southern Missouri really needed every available hour to study for a biology test. Or did he? His dad, Scott, made the decision easy. “You study for your t... READ MORE

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

Robert Shadow Buck

Robert Shadow Buck

By Duncan Dobie

"Robert Shadow's '09 Kansas bow tag almost wound up in a drawer rather than on a buck's antlers. He and his son, Alan, had drawn the permits and were looking forward to hunting the "Promised Land," but then along came a double dose of tragedy. Robert's 89-year-old mother passed away in early October. Later that same month, a tornado toppled a large... READ MORE

David Laster Buck

David Laster Buck

By Mike Handley

You might not find David Laster’s name on the speakers’ list at any deer hunting seminars, but don’t be surprised if you see the 28-pointer he shot last year hanging shoulder to shoulder with Mississippi’s finest whitetails. The buck didn’t make a big splash outside of the 57-year-old’s hometown of Columbus, Miss... READ MORE

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