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Entries for 'Gray Loon'
Alabamian Wins Face-off in Illinois
By Mike Handley
The buck was behind, downwind of and looking at Robert Cardin. If Robert had been in a stand back home in Alabama on that day in 2013, things would not have ended well for the deer hunter. But the man was hunting in Illinois, where mature whitetails are more apt to say oops before getting out of Dodge. The face-off occurred on the last afternoon of... READ MORE
Ground Swellage
By Mike Handley
Maybe it's a good thing that Michael Schumann and his sons, Dillon and Matthew, thought they were hunting a 180-inch buck on their ground in Randolph County, Mo., in 2013. Had they known the whitetail they nicknamed The 180 would actually gross more than 200, life away from a deer stand would've been even more unbearable. They'd been watching the d... READ MORE
Never Too Late to Learn a New Trick
By Mike Handley
Aging babyboomers aren't particularly cozy with new technology, but that doesn't mean they'll always shun it.
After all, it's hard not to agree that 100 television channels is better than three, that possessing a cell phone is better than driving around and looking for a pay phone, or that today's refrigerators are far superior to yesteryear's ice... READ MORE
Whac-a-Buck
By Mike Handley
Billy Graham of Arkansas was within a hair's breadth of pounding a buck that would rival his career-best when a much bigger one popped out of its hole on Dec. 17, 2012.
The 59-year-old went out that afternoon with the intention of hunting from his wife's favorite box stand overlooking a small food plot and pecan orchard. Neither Debra Graham, nor ... READ MORE
Missouri Guy Gets His Groove Back
By Mike Handley
Being busted by a button buck can wreck a deer hunter's self-confidence.
When this happened to Danny Boyer during the 2013 season, the bowhunter from DeSoto, Mo., realized he had to change something about his setup, and none too soon.
When his ill-fated morning hunt ended on Saturday, Oct. 26, he asked his brother-in-law, Eric Coleman, to help hi... READ MORE
A 10 on the Sphincter Scale
By Mike Handley
Nobody knows better than Jason McKenzie that when a man's tectonic plates shift, only a giant whitetail can stop the quake. The hunter from Shongaloo, La., hunted Kansas for the first time in 2012. He crawled into his pop-up blind before sunup on Dec. 1, his third day there, and cursed his lack of clothing. But before long, he was itching to get ou... READ MORE
‘Desperation Move’
By Mike Handley
Before Kenny Grant took up bowhunting in 2012, he put little faith in plastic things that go urrrp or mehhh. After all, riflemen don't generally need to coax too-far whitetails to come closer.
Had it not been for one of the little plastic calls, however, he might still be daydreaming about the 200-plus-incher he set out to arrow in 2013.
Kenny ga... READ MORE
What a Difference a Year Makes
By Mike Handley
Mature bucks' antlers might grow half an inch or more a day during the spring and summer months, but that doesn't mean they'll double in size from one year to the next. After all, unless they're on the downswing, whitetails have to regrow what was shed (or something similar) before adding mass, length or extra points.
That wasn't the case with a s... READ MORE
‘I’ve Got Your Deer’
By Mike Handley | November 03, 2014
When Mitchell Oney answered his cell phone on the evening of Kentucky's 2012 rifle opener, he was probably relieved that his wife Michelle, who was hunting nearby, hadn't somehow been injured.
He still swallowed hard after she spoke.
"I've got your deer. Do I shoot him?" she asked.
Mitchell had been obsessed with this buck for two years, and the... READ MORE
Buckeye Bookends
By Mike Handley | October 26, 2014
Rob Ross and his 13-year-old daughter, Ginny, will never forget Ohio's 2013 deer season, when both shot record-book bucks from the same homemade ground blind, two weeks apart.
Ginny was first to fill her tag on the afternoon of Nov. 23, and her father was beside her.
"We didn't see this buck until it was practically in our lap, only 30 yards from... READ MORE
‘Warm Hollow Buck’
By Mike Handley | October 15, 2014
When the smoke cleared and the buck was no longer in the food plot, Roger Poe began shaking. The hunter from Mt. Olivet, Ky., also imagined the worst: that he must've pulled the shot and missed, or else hit the deer too high. It's always disconcerting when a deer doesn't drop, isn't it? After all, that's why a lot of hunters simply can't manage fol... READ MORE
Third Time’s the Harm
By Mike Handley | October 12, 2014
Twice in 2012, friends of Bill Robinson stuck a magnificent buck with arrows. One hit it too far forward in the shoulder; the other didn't go deep enough. The first time, the buck was on the north side of the Republican River; it was on the other side a month later. The following year, Bill happened to spot the deer with the palmated rack, still so... READ MORE
Bossier Behemoth Reshuffles Records
By Mike Handley | October 05, 2014
Going into Louisiana's 2013 deer season, Jon Black and his son, Hunter, had a couple of bucks on their wish lists. They'd combed through thousands of trail camera photographs, and those two towered above the rest. Hunter wound up taking one of the 1,200-acre farm's superstars in late November, a 14-pointer that scored in the 170s. By then, however,... READ MORE
Hiding in Plain Sight
By Mike Handley | September 28, 2014
While hunting turkeys in Republic County, Kan., during the fall of 2012, Tom Hamel and his grandson, Shea Crum, twice jumped an enormous whitetail. Unbeknownst to them, the deer was the talk of the nearby town.
"Almost everybody knew about that buck," Tom said.
"Two farmers had photographs of it. One man was even posting pictures on the Internet,... READ MORE
COLD Trailing
By Mike Handley | September 21, 2014
Few Southerners get the chance to track deer in snow, which sounds easy enough.
In theory.
A Louisiana oil man thought it would be a piece of cake, but that was before the giant whitetail he shot last January ceased bleeding, before its tracks began disappearing as the temperature began rising.
It was fun while it lasted, but when four sets of e... READ MORE