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Entries for 'Gray Loon'
When the Wow Factor Trumps Score
By Mike Handley
While a 151-inch whitetail might be considered a buck of a lifetime by many, including yours truly (my best in 50 seasons tallies 150), it’s not ordinarily considered a truly world-class animal. But don’t say that to Clifton Vibbert. The hunter from Burkesville, Kentucky, enjoyed one of his career-best opening days last fall, which culm... READ MORE
Hunt for the Headless Buck
By Mike Handley
Dustin Procario lost his head in 2018, but he got better. Eventually. The hunter from Louisville, Ohio, was over the moon prior to that year’s deer opener. He’d been keeping tabs on a tremendous buck, and he’d practically picked the spot on his wall for it. Before the opening bell, however, a grisly discovery filled his head with... READ MORE
Back in the Game
By Mike Handley
You know those Photoshopped images showing a giant Typical standing alongside a Non-typical (usually Milo Hansen’s deer and the Hole in the Horn buck)? The one with the caption asking “Which one would you shoot?” That’s a no-brainer for Daulton Kirby. The 26-year-old Kansan will always choose the wonky one. Daulton is so int... READ MORE
Indiana Insomniac Finds Cure
By Mike Handley
After about a year of fitful nights, Ryan Woods is sleeping more easily these days. The Indiana bowhunter began losing sleep the night after he’d missed a world-class whitetail. His arrow sailed over the deer’s back. Not surprising (but extremely disappointing), the buck apparently left for another zip code afterward. Ryan would see no ... READ MORE
Everything to Gain
By Mike Handley
Once upon a time, Homer Miller held deer grunt calls in the same regard as Magic 8 Balls and fairy dust. Now he won’t leave for the woods without one, whether he’s hunting with a crossbow or a rifle. “I’d never had much confidence in them before Nov. 12, 2018,” the Louisiana hunter told John Phillips, who’s writi... READ MORE
Frustration to Elation
By Mike Handley
Kentucky deer hunter Jeremy Smith would rather have one weekend in November than go out every day in October. The choice, for him, is simple: Hunt when the animals are lying down, or hunt when they’re afoot. He went into the 2018 season with a particular buck in mind, but he’s a bird-in-the-hand-type guy. In early November, a 170-someth... READ MORE
The Man Has Priorities
By Mike Handley
Trading a bed and bandages for a deer blind and camo last season was a no-brainer for Eric Chicoine. The hunter from Saint-Pie, Quebec, had only three weekends he could hunt in 2018. Rather than spend one-third of his precious few off-days indoors, he postponed minor surgery in order to have every opportunity at an 8-pointer that had wandered in fr... READ MORE
Change of Scenery Just the Ticket
By Mike Handley
The next time someone asks Daniel Montgomery to sit in his treestand, the retired sheriff from Mt. Vernon, Indiana, will not be able to say YES quickly enough. Doing so last November resulted in adrenaline-marinated venison and quite a large piece of wall art. The owner of the property he hunts in Posey County asked if he would mind if a friend hun... READ MORE
Following Orders
By Mike Handley
After two decades of hunting deer on a spit of land once cotton-farmed by the president of the Confederacy, Bill Harvey finally shot his due in 2018. For two decades, he’s hunted Davis Island, a peninsula before the Mississippi River changed course a couple of years after the Civil War. Now accessible only by water and west of the main river ... READ MORE
When Their Brains are Scrambled
By Mike Handley
Don’t tell Greg Glesinger that the rut isn’t the best time to pin your hopes on tagging an exceptional whitetail. While it’s true mature bucks might have tunnel vision, no time for food and no brakes when chasing does, they’ve got to go somewhere, and that somewhere could be within 31 yards of your setup. The story of a doe ... READ MORE
Want a 225-incher? Pass up a 175.
By Mike Handley
How many inches of antler can a whitetail gain from year to year? If you ask Mike Sheffer, he’ll say close to 50. That’s how much the deer he arrowed in 2018 gained in each of the previous two years. The 48-year-old Kentucky bowhunter crosses the Ohio River to hunt in southern Illinois. In 2016, he collected trail camera photos of a 10-... READ MORE
If Not This Year …
By Mike Handley
Davey Stuckey waited a long time for a chance at his newest piece of wall art. He first became acquainted with the distinctive whitetail when his trail camera yielded photographs of it in June 2017. In velvet and with a long time yet to grow, the Ross County, Ohio, specimen was already a head-turner. Not for a lack of trying, Davey didn’t see... READ MORE
Multiple Beams in Oklahoma
By Mike Handley
The day someone makes an affordable trail camera capable of operating underwater, Travis Piepenbrok might buy it. Or he might not. The pest control technician from Vinita, Oklahoma, is a catfish noodler, accustomed to sliding his arm into holes in river banks and extracting nesting flatheads, many of them weighing in the double digits. Noodlers rar... READ MORE
In Praise of Grunt Calls
By Mike Handley
The third-largest whitetail felled during the 2018 season came out of Indiana. At 254 4/8 inches, Adrian Luntzel’s buck is the Hoosier State’s new crossbow record. Among all harvests there, it comes in at No. 6. Adrian – Al for short – knew the deer existed. After he’d heard rumors, one claiming the buck was a 250-inc... READ MORE
Jersey Doe Lives for Another Day
By Mike Handley
Corwin Myers spent a lot of time shivering in a Hunterdon County, New Jersey, deer stand during the first week of January 2018. Trail camera photographs of numerous bucks hardened his resolve and kept his internal furnace stoked. The local whitetails seemed less inclined to walk around in the cold and snow, however, and Corwin’s enthusiasm ev... READ MORE