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Entries for 'Gray Loon'
Long Odds
By Mike Handley
For Jake Steven, assigning most-wanted status to a buck has more to do with predictability than the size of its rack. That’s why his No. 1 target in 2017 was a 12-pointer, even though his trail camera had yielded photographs of a much larger whitetail. The 26-year-old real estate agent and auctioneer might’ve been overly pessimistic, ho... READ MORE
Okie Solves Riddle Before Skewering Dream Buck
By Mike Handley
Chris Talbot used to rack his brain whenever he saw ripples on his duck pond. He always attributed the surface disturbance to deer, even though, try as he might, he never actually saw them. He now believes otherwise. Chris was deer hunting on the evening of Oct. 15, 2017, when he finally realized an otter was responsible for the tiny little wake. B... READ MORE
Cleats vs. Boots
By Mike Handley
Worried football practice might cut into his time in a treestand, Loyal High School’s freshman quarterback almost passed on team tryouts during the summer of 2017. He wound up making the team, which by the way kicked conference butt that fall, but 15-year-old Wyatt Dietsche would’ve traded his gray uniform and cleats for camo and boots ... READ MORE
Public Land, Gnarly Country
By Mike Handley
One of the biggest whitetails to go through Tennessee taxidermist Michael Austin’s shop last year didn’t belong to a customer, and he won’t make a dime off it. Instead, the deer without a nametag will lighten the 54-year-old’s own wallet. Michael brought this public land bruiser home from Kentucky, his reward for spending op... READ MORE
Maine Event
By Mike Handley
For what it’s worth: A 15-foot-long canoe can ferry 700 pounds. Wendell Wentworth of Washington, Maine, accounted for 180 of those pounds in the low-riding vessel last fall. Son Christopher chipped in 250. And the whitetail between them weighed in the neighborhood of 263. There wasn’t a whole lot of clearance from gunwale to water, but ... READ MORE
Once a Naysayer, Not Always a Naysayer
By Mike Handley
Frank Lemongelli is a bowhunter. Bowhunters are generally pessimistic. Therefore, Frank is a pessimist. Or at least he used to be. When the 48-year-old health department inspector drew his bow to shoot an impossibly huge buck last fall, a tree branch obscured the deer’s side. In order to get a shot, he would have to wait – arm cocked an... READ MORE
No Truer Words
By Mike Handley
When Steven Everett purchased 130 acres in Logan County, Oklahoma, in 2015, the previous landowner told him the property held some big bucks. Deer season had already started, but it didn’t take long for the new owner to validate the seller’s claim. “We got a picture of a deer I named Goliath, which was the first name I thought of ... READ MORE
Despite the Near-70-degree Weather
By Mike Handley
The beetle man hates Josh Feldman, but at least one taxidermist near Alton, Illinois, could kiss him. Had it not been for Josh’s shaming, Aaron Fry might’ve paid to have insects clean his 2017 buck’s skull so he could screw it to a plaque. But the cape and antlers are now with a taxidermist, soon to be Aaron’s first trophy w... READ MORE
Daddy Sang Tenor
By Mike Handley
Some men squeak when they see rats, snakes or spiders. It takes a dead buck - a big one - for Bill Nadeau to sing tenor. That said, the deer hunter from Indiahoma, Oklahoma, outsang Luciano Pavarotti on Nov. 3. While looking for the buck he shot that afternoon, Bill called a buddy, Kris Borden. The phone was to his ear when he found first blood, an... READ MORE
Two for Two
By Mike Handley
After a lifetime of fantasizing about hunting deer in far-flung places, Arkansas hunter Mike Novak lived the dream twice in 2017. Friends invited him to hunt in both Illinois and Ohio. He originally declined the latter because the proposed dates overlapped, but he didn’t count on filling his first tag an hour and a half into his Illinois stin... READ MORE
A Different Kind of Crown
By Mike Handley
Deer hunters in St. Francisville have some of the whitest, best-tended choppers in all of Louisiana. That’s because Dr. Frank Sullivan’s office has monstrous picture windows overlooking a wooded back lot, and whitetails come to a couple of feeders long before sunset. Until last fall, one of the backyard bucks was a walking legend. The d... READ MORE
Long Time Coming
By Mike Handley
Nineteen-year-old Luke Lohan might be flying blind when he climbs his next treestand. The kid from St. Clairsville hunted the same Ohio buck for three seasons before removing it from his most-wanted list in 2017. So unless his trail cameras yield some new incentive this summer, he’ll head afield with only fingers crossed. Luke is a heavy equi... READ MORE
CCTV, Kansas Style
By Mike Handley
Ethan Lorance knows the value of eyes in the sky, or at least on the ground. The 25-year-old pipefitter from Bonner Springs, Kansas, employed several trail cameras to learn as much as he could about the buck that made him a social media star this fall. Ethan retrieved his first trail cam photograph of the unique buck in June 2016, when it was a 5x5... READ MORE
Big Dank Down
By Mike Handley
Tim Starkey’s friends can breathe a sigh of relief. The 25-year-old oil field worker has buck meat, which means the jerky is about to flow. He’ll continue to give it away, but this batch will cost him a lot more than he normally spends for spices. His taxidermist can vouch for that. Tim’s was one of the first Oklahoma bucks liked ... READ MORE
North Carolina Prize
By Mike Handley
Work, school and parenting leave little time for Chris Carter to indulge his passion for deer hunting. The 27-year-old electrical engineer from Raleigh, North Carolina, calls himself a weekend warrior, but even that’s a stretch since he rarely hunts on Sundays. He’s more a Saturday warrior. In fact, the only reason he went afield on Oct... READ MORE