Big Buck Tales

Tom Hamel Buck

Tom Hamel Buck

By Mike Handley

It might be impossible to determine the extent of one deer’s effect upon the economy in Republic County, Kan., a couple of years ago, but there’s no doubt a substantial amount of cash changed hands when photographs of the animal hit the Internet. An influx of nonresidents hungry to lease hunting ground is never appreciated by those who... READ MORE

Cole Foglesong Buck

Cole Foglesong Buck

By Ed Waite

Nineteen-year-old Cole Foglesong of Astoria, Ill., a freshman biology student at McMurry College, has already made an impressive mark in the deer hunting world – thanks to an incredible 13-point buck he took during the Land of Lincoln’s 2003 season. While hunting on his family’s property in Fulton County in 2001, Cole found an inc... READ MORE

Travis Cockburn Buck

Travis Cockburn Buck

By Jason Hoffard

Travis Cockburn winced whenever he heard a gunshot during last November’s firearms season in Illinois. He, his brother and father weren’t the only hunters in Williamson County who knew a very large buck was hanging around their 80-acre hunting spot near Johnston City. The Cockburns knew because Trent, Travis’ brother, had decided... READ MORE

Wayne Schumacher Buck

Wayne Schumacher Buck

By Duncan Dobie

As Wayne Schumacher sat in his stand watching the late afternoon shadows steadily darken, he briefly daydreamed about a huge 24-point buck that had been photographed near the property he was hunting. The thoughts that went through his head were not unlike those that go through the minds of many hunters who hope for a one-of-a-kind encounter with a ... READ MORE

Pat Bates Buck

Pat Bates Buck

By Mike Handley

Pheromones and estrous doe scents might be akin to Cupid’s arrow, but whatever Pat Bates pours on bushes is more like Thor’s hammer. One whiff of the concoction will turn bucks into white-eyed defoliators, or, if they’re big and stupid enough to do battle with flora in front of Pat, into wall art. The retired firefighter from Al... READ MORE

Michael Rothman Buck

Michael Rothman Buck

By Mike Handley

Michael Rothman knows cold. So convinced that, no matter how early his arrival, he was spooking deer out of a cornfield en route to his shooting house, the deer hunter from Bonnieville, Ky., decided to just spend the night in the box blind. It wasn’t as if there were a Scotty, a Samantha or a Jeannie who could beam, nose-wrinkle or head-bob h... READ MORE

Shawn Sears Buck

Shawn Sears Buck

By Ted Rose

On opening day of the 1990 firearms deer season, Shawn Sears was up early enough to get to his favorite treestand before daylight. He had no idea that this foggy, cool morning would produce a lifelong memory and a prominent place in the deer hunting record books. Shawn explained that he had been hunting for a number of years with a bow. He had bee... READ MORE

Troy Henderson Buck

Troy Henderson Buck

By Troy Henderson

I’d intended to spend opening day of Kansas’ 2009 firearms season babysitting the south end of a heavily wooded draw where I’d been seeing a very nice, tall and wide 14-pointer. The buck with the striking white rack usually left the area in the early morning and returned an hour or so before sunset. The temperature plummeted the n... READ MORE

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Copyright 2020 by Buckmasters, Ltd