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Entries for 'Gray Loon'
Bellringer Gets Another Poke
By Mike Handley | September 14, 2014
After more than 20 years of collecting glass-eyed trophies for his wall, Tony Pruett of Vanntown, Tenn., would rather hunt with his son or grown daughter than go it alone. But he had no buddy when he took to the Lincoln County woods before dawn on Dec. 31, 2012.
He tried rousting then 12-year-old Tyler, but his son opted to sleep in that day. A wa... READ MORE
Fooling Moses
By Mike Handley | September 07, 2014
When Josh Stephenson saw the tsunami rolling through the yellowed stalks, he stood and grabbed his bow. Whether the parting corn represented a Biblical shift or the opening of a new fault line near Danville, Ind., whether a robed and bearded man, a herd of deer or geology was to blame, the 25-year-old bowhunter wasn't going to find out without clip... READ MORE
Clue(s)
By Mike Handley | September 01, 2014
Colonel Mustard did not do it in the library with a lead pipe. Miss Scarlet did not do it in the kitchen with a knife. And Professor Plum didn't do it in the study with a revolver.
In the game of Clue that played out in central Louisiana during the long Christmas break, 'twas John Prior who drew blood, with a rifle, in a place called Honey Brake.
... READ MORE
Never Assume You’ve Missed
By Mike Handley | August 24, 2014
One reason even veteran deer hunters fail to get more than one shot at a fleeing deer is because they're shocked when the animal doesn't falter or collapse after the first boom. All too often, those who manage a follow-up shot are too rattled to make it count. That might've been the case in Pointe Coupee Parish, La., last December, when Phil Major ... READ MORE
Opening Day to Remember
By Mike Handley | August 17, 2014
Last deer season, Heather Artist scheduled a 10-day vacation to coincide with the opening of Missouri's rifle season on Nov. 16. No longer in college (she graduated the previous May), she was determined not to miss a day of hunting.
The night before the opener, she and her two sisters arrived at their parents' house and set their alarm clocks for ... READ MORE
Thanks to a Little Brown Bottle
By Mike Handley | August 10, 2014
Mike Mallory has no qualms about stinking up his boots. As far as he's concerned, drag rags are for wusses.
The old trick of dousing his boots with doe-in-heat scent paid off handsomely last year for the carpenter from Akron, Ohio. Going into the season, he might've known the place he hunts held at least three shooter bucks; he knew where they lik... READ MORE
The Wind and the Willows
By Mike Handley | August 03, 2014
On Nov. 18, the Monday following an unsuccessful opening weekend of New York's 2013 shotgun season, Tom Sheridan left the auto body repair shop early in order to rush home and hunt the remains of the day. The wind was supposed to cease gusting that afternoon in Onondaga County, and he was eager to be in a deer stand.
"I hate to hunt in the wind," ... READ MORE
Going the Distance
By Mike Handley | July 27, 2014
South Louisiana hunters are accustomed to racking up miles whenever they set their sights on big deer. The Sportsman's Paradise might yield some of the most bodacious bucks on the planet, but coming across one in Acadiana is like looking for alligators in Minnesota.
That's why 25-year-old John Zaunbrecher Jr. of Eunice, La., doesn't think twice ab... READ MORE
Much to be Said for Autopilot
By Mike Handley | July 20, 2014
Don't you just love it when the "pretty good" buck you thought you shot winds up being a giant? That's a rhetorical question, of course, since most deer hunters are far more apt to experience the opposite.
Dustin Shaffer, however, could answer that question.
When a buck charged out of a honeysuckle patch last season with ears back, looking to kic... READ MORE
New World Record Velvet Buck by Crossbow
By Mike Handley | July 13, 2014
Opening day of bow season in Louisiana, when even a tee-shirt can feel like a parka in the often oppressive heat, might still attract hunters itching to get started. But hopes aren't generally high, even if trail cameras are clicking away, night and day.
Such was the case in 2013, when Charles Falkenheiner woke before dawn. Even though his b... READ MORE
And it Wasn’t Even Public Land!
By Mike Handley | July 06, 2014
Burning one's last vacation day and shelling out for a nonresident hunting license and deer tag are small prices to pay for a much-needed change of scenery. But when a frustrated Jesse Ferree paid that price in 2012, he got more of the same. The Indiana hunter, weary of hearing gunshots and seeing more hunters than deer where he hunts close to home... READ MORE
Success in the Sauna
By Mike Handley | June 29, 2014
If you're going to spend an afternoon in a deer stand when the mercury is pushing 100 degrees, you'd better keep the wind in your sweaty face.
Bowhunter Jody Slingo knows this. Even though he could pinpoint - almost to the blade of grass - where an incredible buck would enter a field every evening, even though he had a slam-dunk stand positioned i... READ MORE
Kentucky Buck Reshuffles Longbow Records
By Mike Handley | June 22, 2014
At first glance, Joe Lacefield's buck might appear to sport identical foot-long drop tines on a 4x4 mainframe. That's exactly what Joe, a B&C measurer and wildlife biologist with the state of Kentucky, thought when he peered at the dying animal through his binoculars.
Actually, however, the deer's main beams droop downward, which is even more ... READ MORE
How to Beat the No-stand Blues
By Mike Handley | June 15, 2014
A not-so-funny thing happened to Mike Flanigan of Conneaut, Ohio, on the way to his deer stand last Oct. 27. When he arrived at his tree, the stand wasn't there.
Understandably upset, he could've walked back to his truck to stew in his own juices for a few hours while his friend and son hunted.
Instead, he channeled his inner squirrel – or ... READ MORE
Possum-playing Buck Unravels Kentucky Hunter
By Mike Handley | June 08, 2014
Dennis Nickell and his friend, J.T. Rawlings, knew an enormous buck had been seen near the 160-acre farm they hunt in Fleming County, Ky., in 2013. A neighboring landowner had retrieved trail camera photographs of the animal when its impressive rack was still in velvet.
Despite spending many hours in a treestand with his bow in September and early... READ MORE