Smalltown Bucks

Heart of the Hunt

Heart of the Hunt

By Christopher Jecker

Shortened season doesn’t stop concerned son from taking his best buck ever. While I live in Louisville, Kentucky, I hunt in Crawford County, Indiana. Two weeks before gun season, my work and hunting partner, my dad, had a massive heart attack. We rushed him to the ER, where the doctor informed us that he needed to have open heart surgery. A... READ MORE

Nephew's 1st Buck Leads to Uncle's Bruiser

Nephew's 1st Buck Leads to Uncle's Bruiser

By Rocky Harrell (Cody Harrell's uncle)

I love hunting. The good Lord comes first, and then family, then deer hunting, but I really love deer hunting.  I've hunted in Rutherford County in Middle Tennessee since I was about 8-years-old, but I didn’t take my first deer until I was 10. Hunting in Tennessee was hard at that time. All I saw were does, never any bucks. When I was ... READ MORE

All in the Family

All in the Family

By Jessica Jenderny

I’ve been hunting with my dad, Eric Jenderny, since I was old enough to walk. He taught me what his dad taught him about hunting. His best friend Bruce Rogers also taught me a lot about hunting, so what I’ve learned about deer and hunting, I owe to them. Now that I’m 16, I’ve become a mighty hunter like my mentors. The we... READ MORE

Lucky

Lucky

By Shawn Stephenson

Thank goodness for dogs that have more sense than their human companions. I had the great pleasure of hunting in Central Ohio during Halloween week in 2011. It was one of the best hunting experiences in my life, and I was able to call in several deer within bow range. I ended up shooting a nice 8-pointer that weighed over 250 pounds. Over the nex... READ MORE

Half a Buck Is Better Than None

Half a Buck Is Better Than None

By Michael Krause

Even deer hunters get by with a little help from their friends. For the past 30 years, I’ve been venturing back to my old stomping grounds in Deposit, N.Y., to hunt with my friends from high school. This past season resulted in a once-in-a-lifetime experience. It happened at about 3 p.m. on the second day of the New York season. It was cold... READ MORE

Turkey for Two

Turkey for Two

By Krissy Jean Zimmer

I love it when a plan ... falls apart. It just makes it that much sweeter when you make a new plan, get busted twice and still manage to bloody up the tailgate. As planned, we started the morning on the ground in front of a long narrow food plot. We knew the sun was going to be highlighting us so we brushed in, settled down and waited for daybreak.... READ MORE

Velvet Surprise

Velvet Surprise

By David M. Cole

I wasn’t a white-tailed deer hunter until I met Donna Shuman at Georgia Southern University. The first time I traveled to her hometown to meet her family, I was instructed to go to their hunting club. I arrived just after dark, just in time to see my future wife dragging a nice buck under a fence. After we were married, I became an avid deer... READ MORE

Worth the Wait

Worth the Wait

By John Mitchell

It took a few years, but when Micah got his first deer, it was a good one. I started taking Micah to the dove lease when he was 7, and he started deer hunting with me when he was 9. Micah has developed a love for hunting and being in the woods. Even so, it felt like he would never get his first deer. It seemed like no matter what, something always ... READ MORE

It’s Great To Be Back!

It’s Great To Be Back!

By Chuck Manetta

Frustrated Florida hunter finally gets back to the deer woods. I was born and raised in Miami, Fla. I grew up in the Everglades and have a piece of land inside the Everglades National Preserve with two hunting cabins. While you might not think of Florida as a whitetail paradise, we had a healthy number of deer back in the day. They weren’t gi... READ MORE

One for the Can

One for the Can

By Mike Kochheiser

Three generations of my family hunt on my father’s farm — my father, myself and my son. Until Ohio’s 2013-14 deer season arrived, none of us were aware of the huge, 196 1/8 inch buck with the 25 1/2-inch spread that my father would take before the season ended. The first time we saw the buck was when it appeared on a trail camera... READ MORE

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