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Lone Star Long Shots
By Mike Handley
Would-be WMA hunters face 30-to-1 odds for a foot in the door. If drawn, they must then shoot TWO does before they can even think about punching a buck tag. It’s probably easier to win a multi-stage immunity challenge on the reality TV show “Survivor” than it is to legally shoot a buck – small or large – inside the Lon... READ MORE
The Buck That Wasn’t
By Mike Handley
Here’s a deer. Here's its steeple. Open it up, and ... Whoa, Mama! When Doug Laird of Russellville, Missouri, talks about the deer he shot in 2014, pronouns appear to jump the tracks. “A big buck came through at 9 a.m., about an hour before I normally leave the woods,” he says. “It had a small doe with it, and an 8-pointer w... READ MORE
Tube Music
By Mike Handley
Oklahoman uses deerspeak to lure 17-pointer into the light. If four decades have taught Dean Holbrook anything about the deer hiding among the slick hills of Kiowa County, Oklahoma, it’s that the bucks are almost completely nocturnal until the very air reeks of doe. Almost. That’s why the 52-year-old farmer from Lawton rarely hunts with... READ MORE
Yes, It’s THAT Big
By Ed Waite
Bowhunting gains a new totem for its pole, another from Ohio and a new No. 2. Dan Coffman agreed to be a bowhunting mentor to his good friend, Josh Terry, in the summer of 2014. Soon afterward, Josh gained permission for them to hunt 400 acres in central Ohio. The guys devoted many hours to scouting the land and identifying potential stand sites. T... READ MORE
The Fourth R
By Mike Handley
Reading, ’riting and ’rithmetic are followed by rut in this corner of Ohio. Most teenagers who want a day off from school must feign an upset stomach, a sore throat, or devise a way to make a thermometer show a fever. Sixteen-year-old Austin Etherington of Piqua, Ohio, had merely to ask his mother. His reason – and she wanted one ... READ MORE
Mother Lode
By Ed Waite
This West Virginia coal miner found the mother lode of antler last December. Brandon Duncan wasn’t overly impressed the first time he laid eyes on the deer that landed him in this magazine. That was in 2014, when the buck was considerably smaller. The deer he wanted to kill that season was bigger, so he considered this one his second choice a... READ MORE
Missouri Mood Changer
By Mike Handley
Self-proclaimed grumpy old man forgets how to frown, if only for a day. Except for a half-hour during the morning of Nov. 10, the 2014 bow season wasn’t particularly memorable for Tom Ciak, the graying and bearded proprietor of Big Bird’s Bait and Bows in Maryville, Missouri. His customers don’t call him Tom. To them, he’s B... READ MORE
Field Goal
By Mike Handley
Sometimes the best nickname for a buck is staring you in the face. Strong brow tines (or eye guards) are the exception rather than the rule on the 100 acres William Bidwell owns and hunts in northern Cherokee County, Oklahoma. So it was a big deal when, in June 2014, he retrieved trail camera photographs of a buck wearing twin P1s that looked every... READ MORE
Out of the Mist
By Ken Kastely
Nonresident’s nearly 400-inch bull one of two that scramble Pennsylvania’s elk records in 2011. After seven years of throwing my name in the hat, I finally drew one of 18 coveted Pennsylvania bull elk tags in 2011. Almost 19,000 people had put in for it. In their attempt to notify me, wildlife officials found my father Bela’s tele... READ MORE
One Man’s Trash
By Lisa Price
A $65 pawnshop bow, a determined nephew and a missed shot at an 8-pointer combine for a life-changing buck.
It’s said that one man’s trash is another man’s treasure, and this old adage was never truer than it’s been for Jim Hohensee of Abilene, Kansas.
One man’s trash was an old compound bow.
“I work for a big... READ MORE
Extra Tines
By Ed Waite
Now here’s a buck that’ll make anyone phone home. Bob Sisler obtained permission to hunt a central Ohio farm in the late summer of 2012. As soon as practical, he and his brother, Roger, scouted the property to learn the lay of the land and to look for deer sign and potential ambush points. They also put out trail cameras. Of all the pho... READ MORE
Rain Deer
By Ed Waite
Sometimes you curse the weather. Sometimes you thank it. Gunnar Petry of Macksburg spent much of Ohio’s 2013 deer season hoping for a shot at a big nocturnal whitetail photographed by a trail camera. He wound up settling for a really nice 10-pointer in the 140s. During the late muzzleloader season that year, he took his younger brother huntin... READ MORE
Kismet for Kimmi
By John E. Phillips
Borrowed stand and grounded son combine to pit Kansas rifleman against the buck of his dreams. Forty-four-year-old Gene Kimmi of Lancaster, Kansas, and his cousin, Jason, have 400 timbered acres adjacent to a quarter-mile-wide and mile-long strip of CRP. The property also has a small pond, and both corn and soybean fields are nearby. The whitetails... READ MORE
Fish Hook
By John E. Phillips
A buck with a name pays the ultimate price for feeling a little too cozy. Where’s Colton?” Brad Geren of Windom, Kansas, asked his wife, Shari. “Downstairs, I guess,” she replied. When he didn’t find Colton there, Brad continued searching until he realized his son’s truck wasn’t outside. He deduced that if ... READ MORE
Poster Buck
By Dale Weddle
Kentucky outfitter hopes velvet giant will help put his new operation on the map. An aspiring outfitter can’t buy enough advertising to get the same kind of attention one dead buck can bring, if the deer’s really special. When Luke Carswell, a former deer guide, decided to be his own boss and open 7 Bar Outfitters in eastern Kentucky, h... READ MORE
The Taxidermy Yardstick
By John E. Phillips
Illinois hunter waits more than four decades to spring for a mount, and spring he did! It took only 42 years for Neil Best of Edwardsville, Illinois, to seek the services of a taxidermist. And the veteran deer hunter darkened the shop’s door twice in 2014. His first trip followed his harvesting a 7-pointer with his bow on Nov. 12. It had wand... READ MORE
Heavy D
By Darren Warner
The deer with a rapper’s name gets 187ed on its way to a Happy Meal. Adam Hupf knew a southerly breeze could wreck his hunt, and he wondered if sitting in his bow stand would do more harm than good. The wind wasn’t exactly bad, but it wasn’t ideal. Figuring he wouldn’t get many opportunities at the buck locals had nicknamed ... READ MORE
Heads You Win
By Duncan Dobie
Getting first choice of stands and choosing the most likely is no guarantee for a deer hunter. What if you could flip a coin for the opportunity to hunt a giant buck, win the toss, and be guaranteed a chance at that very buck? Sounds simple, but it’s a little more complicated than that. As the Downs brothers learned a few years ago, you can l... READ MORE
Buck Bartering
By Dale Weddle
Trading a warm bed for a deer stand is a small price to pay for a dream buck. The big buck ran about 30 yards, stopped, and then slowly disappeared into the fog. Trey Hutchison thought his arrow might have struck it low, but he wasn’t sure. Either way, he called his dad. When Jim Hutchison arrived shortly thereafter, he listened to his 16-yea... READ MORE
Stick & String
By Greg Hicks
Kansas gets a new king for one of its hills. Lynn Beaty, a “semi-retired” logger from Haughton, Louisiana, discovered the perfect bow setup nearly 50 years ago, and he still sees no reason to switch to curved limbs or cams. Lynn and four buddies from northwest Louisiana spend a fair amount of time bowhunting deer in Kansas. They have ac... READ MORE