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Deja Vu All Over Again
By Kenneth Piper
Virginia bowhunter is having a season for the ages.
If Christian Howes had stopped hunting on Aug. 24, he already would have had a great season.
Traveling to Tennessee from his home state of Virginia to catch one of the earliest bow openers in the country, Christian shot an impressive 13-pointer on the 23rd.
His Tennessee buck scored 178 2... READ MORE
2024 Could Be a Banner Year
By Mark Melotik
The 2024 deer is off to an incredible start, largely we’re told thanks to a cold front that chilled things in Kentucky for its traditional bow opener. If you ever wanted proof that cooler weather encourages buck movement in late summer/early fall, here it is.
We’ve gotten so many Kentucky giants sent our way that people are complaini... READ MORE
A Giant Second Chance
By Mark Melotik
Now you see him, now you don’t. That quaint phrase more or less describes John Egan Griffith’s bowhunt for one of the most-impressive mainframe 8-point bucks ever taken, a buck Griffith would finally anchor last Oct. 15, following a three-year chase in north Louisiana.
Griffith, 28, has been hunting the same family owned 1,000-acre p... READ MORE
Kentucky 8-Pointer Is New Best-Ever
By Mark Melotik
Bowhunters live for those up-close, in-your-face encounters that make neck hackles stand up straight. But how close is too close? On Sept 12, 2024, Kentucky’s Brandon Burman found that answer was about 10 yards. Unable to shoot through a screen of branches that helped conceal his 20-foot perch, he could only watch a world-class 8-pointer belo... READ MORE
An Illinois Halloween Treat
By Mark Melotik
South Louisiana’s Janie Milioto bagged her first deer at the tender age of 6 and has been getting after it ever since. The latest example of her drive, dedication and whitetail savvy is her jaw-dropping 2023 Illinois bow buck — a long-tined main-frame 10-pointer the hard-hunting 26-year-old called into bow range last Halloween.
Encou... READ MORE
Bowhunting an Internet Legend
By Mark Melotik
One of the first rules of hunting mature bucks? Hunt where they live. That was the thinking of Arkansas resident Josh Hogue when he began hunting a stretch of Arkansas County public land four years ago, on the advice of some veteran local hunters who’d traveled there regularly and come back packing some impressive trophies.
Hogue, 27, is a... READ MORE
Info Sought On Poached 200-plus Iowa Giant
By Mark Melotik
The search continues for the poacher of a giant Iowa whitetail killed August 1st or 2nd in Louisa County, Iowa, along the far-eastern edge of the state not far from the Mississippi River.
Authorities are offering a $1,000 reward for the arrest of the perpetrator of the crime involving the high-profile 200-plus-inch deer, which fed regularly in d... READ MORE
An Indiana Mass Monster
By Mark Melotik
Dedicated Indiana deer hunters Robbie Roland and his wife Casie know that certain mature bucks have a knack of eluding hunters. But there is a definite, two-pronged benefit to that elusiveness. With age comes increased antler mass and plenty of inches. And sometimes, a whole lot more than you’d think.
Back in 2021, Robbie noticed a younger... READ MORE
Running Down A Duck-Country Giant
By Mark Melotik
The almost-magical powers of the whitetail rut have helped many of us get the drop on typically reclusive mature bucks. But it was bit of unusually early rutting activity — an unexpected bonus — that seemingly played a part in the taking of one of Mississippi’s best bucks of 2022.
That year, Mississippi’s Steven Ginn and ... READ MORE
A Virginia Fall To Remember
By Mark Melotik
Come the rut, it’s likely you’ll find mature bucks hanging in hot pockets of doe activity. Last fall, Virginia’s Richard Butler was dialed in on some of the hottest rut action in the state.
As proof, Richard, 50, would anchor an amazing buck scoring some 188 inches on Nov. 14 during Virginia’s early muzzleloader season. B... READ MORE
A Va. Public-Land Giant
By Mark Melotik
A 200-inch buck on heavily hunted public land? That lofty dream became a stunning reality last fall for longtime Virginia outdoorsman Dennis Lawson, 54. But he’d known for years he was hunting the right area to get it done.
The thousands of acres of remote public land in and around Bath County might not hold a high density of deer, but the... READ MORE
8 1/2-Year-Old Monarch Falls to Hard Work and a Plan
By Mark Melotik
Can you be too careful when hunting an old, top-end whitetail that has eluded you for several years? Kentucky’s Jeff Deberry, 57, knew exactly the elusive skills of the outsized whitetail he was hunting when his ultra-cautious plan to waylay the brute finally came together last Nov. 11 — opening day of Kentucky’s 2023 rifle season... READ MORE
Remembering a Canadian Legend
By Mark Melotik
Over the years I’ve been fortunate to meet and get to know several avid hunters who have bagged truly outstanding bucks. But maybe one of the most unexpected occurred recently while I was in spring black bear camp in northern Alberta. The week was special not only because many of us bow-bagged some beautiful trophy-sized black bears, but also... READ MORE
A Virginia Giant’s Fatal Mistake
By Mark Melotik
Virginia’s Jessica Burks will likely never forget Thanksgiving day of 2023. It’s because Thursday, Nov. 19 found her in a treestand hunting a buck she had been chasing for the past four years, and year five would finally give her the opportunity she’d dreamed of.
Four years previous on another Thanksgiving day, Jessica had been... READ MORE
Opening-Day Ambush
By Mark Melotik
For Kentucky’s Travis Mays, the third time really was the charm. Last Sept. 2, Mays, 31, closed out a three-year quest for an outsized Bluegrass State buck by arrowing the velvet-antlered brute on a hot and steamy opening day. The buck had read the script that fateful evening — something it had not come close to doing in previous years.... READ MORE