Big Buck 411 Blog

Mom Expires Massive Backyard Buck

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

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

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

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

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

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

250+ Inch Okie Buck New Bow Record

250+ Inch Okie Buck New Bow Record

By Patrick Dunning

Ethan Kile’s 27-point hammer from October 2023 is our new compound bow record in the Sooner State, posting 237 total inches of antler and a BTR score of 256 5/8 inches.    The Oklahoman works full time at an oil refinery and cuts and bales hay in the summer on his off days. Last year Ethan’s uncle asked him to come b... READ MORE

Still on the Hoof!

Still on the Hoof!

By Patrick Dunning

Jim Lauchard’s son found matching sheds of a suspected 230-class phantom buck while scouting a field before planting season last spring in the Buckeye State.  He told his dad he wasn’t interested in keeping the antlers and gave the set to Jim, who forwarded photos to his taxidermist and later had the sheds mounted.  &ldq... READ MORE

190” felled in Scioto County

190” felled in Scioto County

By Patrick Dunning

Meghan Hill was beginning to believe harvesting a mature buck wasn’t in the cards for 2023. She passed on three 130-class bucks with her compound bow earlier in the season and had a couple shooters on camera for a stint, but they disappeared once the rut commenced. The 24-year-old still held a tag after Ohio’s initial rut phase but h... READ MORE

Freak Buck in Okie

Freak Buck in Okie

By Patrick Dunning

Al Shene sent a bolt through this 31-pointer, nicknamed Stickers, on opening day of Oklahoma’s 2023 rifle season in Pottawatomie County. The 61-year-old had a four-year history with this irregular bruiser on his 82-acre slice of Sooner State heaven, and doubled-lunged the specimen with a crossbow his first sit of the season.  “I... READ MORE

Bow Buck Top 10 in Buckeye State

Bow Buck Top 10 in Buckeye State

By Patrick Dunning

Corey Myers broke Ohio’s top 10 in BTR’s perfect category for compound bow with his early October harvest in Columbiana County. His personal best buck measured 188 4/8 inches as a 13-pointer and is #8 in the state.  “We played cat and mouse for three years; I think he hunted me just as hard as I hunted him,” Corey to... READ MORE

200” Triple-Beam Buck in KS

200” Triple-Beam Buck in KS

By Patrick Dunning

Jerame Hugunin was living every construction worker’s dream on opening day of the Kansas 2023 muzzleloader season. He let both of his concrete pouring crews go home early due to rain and headed afield on the heels of a 200” triple-beam buck daylighting consistently since July.  “It’s every construction worker&rsquo... READ MORE

228” on KS Public Land

228” on KS Public Land

By Patrick Dunning

Buckmasters scorer Kenneth Forbus harvested Kansas’ fourth largest whitetail in BTR’s crossbow category on public land last month, thanks to some effective scouting and a strong west wind. The mainframe 7x7 holds 197 inches of bone before any irregular points were tallied and 31 scorable points in total. Kenneth measured his own buck... READ MORE

200" KY Buck in Velvet

200" KY Buck in Velvet

By Patrick Dunning

More important than Steve McMichael harvesting BTR’s fifth largest velvet buck in Kentucky with a compound bow, was the fact that he got to share the hunt with his stepson Acts, a true deer magnet. “We nicknamed him Lucky,” Steve told Buckmasters. “Wherever he’s at, the deer are there.”  Steve says thi... READ MORE

Another 200” Falls in Kansas

Another 200” Falls in Kansas

By Patrick Dunning

Chadd Lemaster could barely make out the silhouette of this 19-pointer at last light of Kansas’ 2023 muzzleloader opener, despite the 9X10 standing at 15 yards, but knew it was a mature buck with a wide frame worth harvesting.   By the time Chadd even realized the deer was there it had winded him and blew three times before disap... READ MORE

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