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The Latest Buck Bedding Research
By Mark Melotik
Have you ever set a stand based on where you believed a mature buck was bedding? Many of us have done just that, but the latest whitetail research has found the tactic might be hit-and-miss at best. Well, sort of.
According to data compiled recently by Mississippi State University researchers and presented at the 2024 Southeast Deer Study Group Me... READ MORE
Mushroom Hunt Leads To Tall-Tined Treasure
By Mark Melotik
It was back on April 15, 2022, when Ohio’s Joel Drake found a monster of a Buckeye State deadhead. And ever since, friends and family had been asking just how many inches the mighty rack might hold. Now, Drake can finally tell them. Spoiler alert: It’s much larger than he thought.
Earlier this year Drake, 23, had gotten word that a l... READ MORE
Focused Youngster Nabs Impressive KS Pickup
By Mark Melotik
How’s your shed hunting been so far this spring? Stumble across any noteworthy deadheads? One of the people who can relate is Wyatt Dochterman, age 9 of Fort Riley, Kansas. He now owns an impressive rack listed in the BTR record book after an official scoring session in late March.
At the tender age of 9 and already in the BTR records? Absol... READ MORE
Hunting A Kentucky Legend
By Mark Melotik
For Kentucky’s Ryan Ederer and his wife Jodi, bowhunting whitetails is a team effort. That’s because the Grant County couple’s 2- and 6-year-old children keep them plenty busy when out of the woods, but the plan seems to be working nicely.
Case in point? The gigantic Bluegrass State stud bagged by Ryan Ederer on Sept. 14, 2023.... READ MORE
Reuniting With A Jaw-Dropping VA Droptine
By Mark Melotik
Opening morning of Virginia’s 2023 muzzleloader season will likely never be forgotten by Surry County hunter Jake Berryman. On that date—Nov. 4, 2023—the 17-year-old laid claim to the largest buck ever taken by the hard-hunting Berryman family, an 18-point bruiser that is now the state’s 11th largest whitetail in BTR’s... READ MORE
A Legendary Deer Gets Its Due
By Mark Melotik
For those of us who count chasing mature trophy whitetails as more a year-round lifestyle than simple hobby, a question often arises: Do the record books hold all the best heads ever taken? The easy answer is “not possible” — especially considering how long whitetails have been hunted across their remarkably wide and diverse range... READ MORE
Iowa Pickup Turns Heads at 2024 Deer Classic
By Patrick Dunning
We’ll never convince die-hard anti-hunters that regulated hunting seasons are the best way to help wildlife, but we should strive to educate those who don’t hunt (but aren’t opposed to it) about nature and pecking orders in the animal kingdom. Nature is beautiful, but it’s often brutal and unforgiving, too.
Anti-hunters p... READ MORE
First buck hits Top 10 in Hoosier State
By Patrick Dunning
Gregory George grew up in a family of hunters in the western part of Michigan’s lower peninsula, where he says folks gun hunt for meat in sweatpants, and buck-skinning poles give locals a chance to showcase trophies during deer season.
Throughout his childhood in the Great Lakes State, Gregory harvested three does, mostly as a rite o... READ MORE
190” Texas Tank
By Patrick Dunning
A fine example that giant free-range whitetails reside in northeast Texas can be found in Cody Nicholson’s pre-rut success last year on a new permission piece.
In the short history Cody had with this farm, he identified the 20-pointer through trail cam photos and one distant on-the-hoof encounter during bow season.
... READ MORE
Mom Expires Massive Backyard Buck
By Patrick Dunning
As a mother of five small children, Morgan Witek was too busy juggling babies to even entertain the thought of harvesting her first deer last season, let alone a buck of this caliber.
She'd been practicing with her Husband Chris' crossbow in the backyard for a few years, and the plan was to hunt together for the first time next season ... READ MORE
Youth Hunter Fells 200” in Michigan
By Patrick Dunning
On the second morning of Michigan’s 2023 youth weekend, 15-year-old Dylan Meyer harvested the state’s third largest whitetail in BTR’s shotgun category on a parcel of land behind his father’s auto repair shop in Ottawa County.
The mainframe 9-pointer tipped BTR scales at 211 6/8 inches with 20 scorable points and a ... READ MORE
MS Long Bow Buck
By Patrick Dunning
There aren’t many teenagers in the world that can say they harvested their target buck with the long bow they custom built from start to finish, but 17-year-old Case Chacon isn’t like most kids his age.
Case is a junior at Bayou Academy in Boliver County, Mississippi, and plays centerfield for the high school baseball tea... READ MORE
XBow buck #2 typical in IL
By Patrick Dunning
Deer hunting, like baseball, is a game of failure. Major-league hitters who strikeout 70% of their trips to the plate still bat .300 and enjoy hall-of-fame worthy careers.
Northern Illinois’ Brent Dykstra knows the weight of failure all too well. He was a relief pitcher at Northern Illinois University in the late 90s for a team tha... READ MORE
VA Swamp Buck Recovered Via Drone
By Patrick Dunning
Micky Bracey’s Virginia swamp buck from December 2023 is the state’s fourth largest typical in BTR’s shotgun category. With a two-inch irregular point coming directly off its base, the 10-pointer from Southampton County measured 171 7/8 inches for Buckmasters Trophy Records.
“This year I bow hunted him all season bu... READ MORE
One Last Siesta For This KS Giant
By Patrick Dunning
The last time Anthony Callihan posed for a photo with a buck alongside his grandfather, he was a mere six years old with wide eyes for his family’s tradition. Fast forward nearly four decades to December 2023, the 42-year-old harvested a 270-class buck he’d never seen on opening day of Kansas’ rifle season and got to celebrate the... READ MORE