Rack Magazine

Oversized Load

Oversized Load

By Mike Handley

Ohio trucker keeps promise to share venison with his friend’s mother, the leaseholder. Robert Smith of Sidney, Ohio, spends most of his days in the cockpit of a semi. So busy crisscrossing the country in 2012, he could hunt only during weekends. He rarely got two full days, however. By 5 p.m. on Sundays, he was often beginning a new week behi... READ MORE

No. 3

No. 3

By Ed Waite

Bowhunter credits homemade mineral and real estate for the bony trophies on his wall. Garnering Buckmasters’ prestigious Golden Laurel Citation for his state-record 2014 whitetail should have been the epitome of David Howard’s fantastic deer hunting career, but the retired coal miner apparently isn’t ready to lay down his bow. Th... READ MORE

Why We’re Getting a New Sunroom

Why We’re Getting a New Sunroom

By Mike Handley

Long-standing Illinois record withstands first real threat. Here’s the story behind the new No. 2. As soon as Jeff Heimann decided to point his shotgun at the bobble-headed buck instead of the doe he’d originally intended to shoot, he stopped paying attention to its antlers. For all he knew, he was about to take an easy poke at a 10-poi... READ MORE

New Stand, Second Sit

New Stand, Second Sit

By Zach Baer

Rumors of this buck’s demise by vehicle were greatly exaggerated. After booking my first hunt with Sunfish Valley Whitetails in 2013, I have returned every year to enjoy the hospitality, great food and lodging. Theirs is a family-run business in Latham, Ohio, and the guides work diligently to ensure the best possible hunting experience. This ... READ MORE

‘Freakin’ Movie Star’

‘Freakin’ Movie Star’

By Lisa Price

2015 buck is proof Louisiana’s best public land still has what it takes to grow head-turners. Garry Ward couldn’t believe it. From the vantage point of his climbing stand, he was surrounded by scrapes and rubs. The deer poop on the ground was so plentiful in places that it also could be seen from up high. So where were the deer? He&rsqu... READ MORE

Eleventh-hour Mood Swinger

Eleventh-hour Mood Swinger

By John E. Phillips

While this Texan was second-guessing his decision to hunt with an outfitter, his taxidermy bill was approaching on four legs. When Philip Kalmbach of Lincoln, Texas, decided to up his odds of taking a real trophy whitetail in 2015, he turned his attention to Kansas. The 44-year-old had taken plenty of Texas bucks wearing between 120 and 140 inches ... READ MORE

Lucky Coat

Lucky Coat

By Lisa Price

Forty-year-old coat, a freebie, is still this Arkansas hunter’s good luck charm. In 1933, with interest rates prohibitively high on loans, the federal government enacted the Farm Credit Act and established the Production Credit Association. The association provided low-interest, short-term credit to farmers, ranchers and other rural residents... READ MORE

If It Talks Like a Buck

If It Talks Like a Buck

By Dale Weddle

It sometimes pays to blow through a tube if you hear a grunt-like noise. The weirdest growling, grunting sound that Brandon Brown had ever heard echoed out of the nearby hollow. Steadying himself, the Kentuckian blew on his grunt tube a couple of times in response. A buck with a familiar rack came into view five minutes later, moving toward the sta... READ MORE

The Last Two Minutes

The Last Two Minutes

By Dale Weddle

Tennessean’s pull-up rope was already tied to his bow when he quickly aborted his planned descent. Military bases can offer some outstanding whitetail hunting if you’re willing to jump through the necessary hoops to gain access. Fort Campbell, which straddles the Kentucky-Tennessee border, has lots of hoops. Matt Carrigan of Chapmansbor... READ MORE

If at First You Don’t Succeed

If at First You Don’t Succeed

By Ed Waite

Rather than throwing in the towel after a miss, father and son hit the reset button. David and Brittany Oettel knew a bigger-than-average whitetail roamed the area near their farm as early as Christmas 2014. An across-the-road neighbor, a bowhunter, told them he’d stuck a giant buck and hadn’t found it. The man was convinced the shot wa... READ MORE

Image No. 1

Image No. 1

By John E. Phillips

Arkansas man a believer in trail cameras after his first photograph. Stumbling upon a shed antler in 2015 set the stage for Brandon Brewer’s deer season the following year. The hunter from Humnoke, Arkansas, found the half-rack on the farm he works. He’d been walking the edge of a reservoir filled with buckbrush, which had sprouted duri... READ MORE

Choosing Eenie over Meenie

Choosing Eenie over Meenie

By John E. Phillips

Mississippi deer hunter bases choice of destination on nighttime sighting vs. daytime photos. Trail camera photographs, shed antlers and a witness’ wide-eyed description might’ve piqued Pittman Edwards’ interest in the giant whitetail seen by members of at least two hunting clubs in Bolivar County, but it took seeing the animal to... READ MORE

Trading Whiskers for Whitetails

Trading Whiskers for Whitetails

By Matt Bingham

This Tennessean mothballs his rods and reels when the oaks begin dropping acorns. I am an avid Mississippi River catfisherman for most of the year, but I swap my fishing stuff for deer hunting gear between September and December. A few years ago, my fishing partner, Josh Doyle of Marion, Arkansas, invited me to hunt with him in St. Francis County. ... READ MORE

A Different Kind of Crown

A Different Kind of Crown

By John E. Phillips

Step right up, folks, and behold the St. Francisville monster. A Louisiana dentist became a social media phenom last year after arrowing a whitetail worthy of its own carnival barker. Dr. Frank Sullivan got almost as much press as the president last October, all because he shot a sideshow-huge buck that hung out behind his St. Francisville business... READ MORE

Two Miles In

Two Miles In

By Mike Handley

It’s funny how counting a few points can stoke a man’s furnace. On the last day of the Black Warrior Wildlife Management Area’s three-day, mid-December rifle season, Shannon Alvis shot one of the largest public land bucks ever recorded from Alabama. He can thank a buddy, Darrell See, for telling about the hunt, his intuition for c... READ MORE

Party's Over

Party's Over

By Lisa Price

This Buckeye State hunter thought he'd never get to turn out the lights. When Ohio bowhunter Craig Peters called his wife on Nov. 10, 2016, to tell her he'd arrowed his biggest buck ever, she wasn't surprised. Neither were his coworkers, family or friends. For the past decade and a half, Craig has refused to shoot immature whitetails. "My father (R... READ MORE

Trading a Soup Spoon for a Fork

Trading a Soup Spoon for a Fork

By Mike Handley

After five years, discriminating deer hunter collects meat for his soup and bone for the wall. It took half a decade for Husky Hummel to leave Ohio with something more than a nonresident hunting license in his pocket. The 48-year-old car dealer from McClure, Pennsylvania, is accustomed to eating tag soup. He prefers it to the notion of shooting a d... READ MORE

An ‘Average’ Guy with a Cheap Crossbow

An ‘Average’ Guy with a Cheap Crossbow

By Mike Handley

Absolutely nothing is average about this public land giant. A full belly, a hunting buddy and visions of big bucks can make a seven- or eight-hour drive seem more like a jog around the block. Matthew Ostrander had made the long drive from Richmondville, New York, to Coshocton County, Ohio, twice before Thanksgiving 2016, but by himself. His buddy, ... READ MORE

Right Time, Right Place

Right Time, Right Place

By Dale Weddle

Some things are just meant to be. Evan Richardson is not your typical 12-year-old. While other kids his age might find a thousand things more interesting than twiddling their thumbs in a deer stand, Evan can’t imagine anything more pleasurable. He might be short in the tooth, but this little deer hunter already values the experience more than... READ MORE

The 246-incher You Never Heard About

The 246-incher You Never Heard About

By Rusty Johnson

This Oklahoma giant flew under the radar. George Allen Jr. has hunted the same stand on his father-in-law’s property for almost 20 years, and he’s harvested some great bucks there. None, however, can touch the whitetail he yelled at on Nov. 20, 2016. George knew a big 10-pointer was roaming the Seminole County tract in 2016, and he hunt... READ MORE

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Copyright 2020 by Buckmasters, Ltd