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Cactus Ugly
By Mary Bostwick
When I climbed into my treestand in Screven County, Ga., on Nov. 17, 2012, I couldn’t have predicted my hunt would end by taking a buck with one of the most unusual set of antlers I’ve ever seen. I’d been sitting in my stand about 30 minutes when a young spike appeared. Ten minutes later, I saw what appeared to be a deer disappear... READ MORE
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
Lessons Learned
By Amanda Baker
Every miss and close encounter brings you that much closer. I have been deer hunting in Wisconsin for about 15 years. I started with a rifle and took up archery about three years later. I hunt public land and private, and until 2018, the biggest deer I had taken was a small 6-pointer. Some years, I didn’t shoot anything, and there were severa... READ MORE
From Sinkhole to Cloud Nine
By Mat Ritchison
On a cold and frosty Sunday morning, Nov. 3, 2013, I decided to hunt one of my favorite stands about 40 yards from the edge of a half-picked, Indiana cornfield. I was aloft 20 minutes before dawn.
Shortly after daybreak, I decided to start things off with an aggressive rattling sequence – to paint the deer a picture. I grunted three times, p... READ MORE
A Trip to the Bone Yard
By Krissy Jean Zimmer
You never forget your first archery buck, even if it happens after you’re a veteran hunter. There aren't a lot of “firsts” when you get to be my age and have been hunting for years, so harvesting my first buck with a bow this past season was extra special. I've been shooting bows for more than 20 years, and during that time I have... READ MORE
A Little Help from His Friends
By Craig Pondish
Garden State deer drive results in three deer, including a dandy buck. The New Jersey deer season has an extended permit season that continues from the regular six-day firearm season until January 31. The bag limit is one antlered and unlimited antlerless deer. On Saturday, Jan. 19, on private farmland in Burlington County, seven members of our sma... READ MORE
No Limits
By Bonnie Olson King
New hunter overcomes challenges to claim her first buck. The 2015 hunting season turned out to be one of the most incredible experiences of my life. I was 64 at the time and had only taken up hunting in 2012, when I retired from my nursing career due to significant health issues. That fall, I received a crossbow for my birthday, and that was when h... READ MORE
In the Nick of Time
By Jayden Steinkamp, age 11
Napping in the stand is okay, but shooting a big buck is better.
It was midseason in Indiana in 2013, and the wind wasn’t blowing hard. We had gone hunting in the morning and saw one doe. We were hunting at my grandpa’s, and there are some big deer there. He doesn’t like us to shoot does, so we passed.
When it got 2:50 p.m. that... READ MORE
The Fall that Changed It All
By Allen Wall
There’s no amount of experience or luck that will stop a treestand accident. The popping in my back sounded like someone running their fingers down the keys of a piano. The moment my feet touched the ground, my legs collapsed and my butt slammed to the ground. All of the vertebrae in my back compressed with the weight of my head and shoulders... READ MORE
Forged in Fire
By Tim Kamats
Hunting bonds between father and child can never be broken. In life we are allotted just so many opportunities to create bonds that stand the test of time. Hunting with my daughter Xaura proved to be one such opportunity. At the tender age of 10, Xaura and I started talking about her accompanying me through the woods in search of the ever-elusive P... READ MORE