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Entries for 'Gray Loon'
Fool Me Once (is Enough)
By Mike Handley
Deer hunters are easier to pattern than deer. It took 18-year-old Cole Tiger of Bellaire, Ohio, the entire 2015 season to realize he was being played by the buck he hoped to shoot. While the enormous whitetail loved to mug for the teenager's trail camera, it never once came out to play when he was sitting in his stand. By the time Cole put two and ... READ MORE
Sweet Spot
By Mike Handley
Drew Miller was glassing a cornfield near Paris, Texas, in mid-August when he spotted a giant buck with drop tines. The deer popped out of a cedar thicket about a half-mile north of his property. Drew, who owns an oil change business, had always assumed the cedars were part of the neighboring dairy farm, where hunting isn't allowed. When looking at... READ MORE
If at First You Don't Succeed
By Mike Handley
Because 7-year-old Ezra Oettel closed his eyes right before squeezing his rifle's trigger, he missed a dandy 8-pointer on opening day of Indiana's 2016 youth season. Twenty minutes later, he and his dad, David, were able to hit the reset button. David and Brittany Oettel introduced both their children to deer hunting as soon as the kids were big en... READ MORE
A Testament to Homework
By Mike Handley
Jacob Lamar of Athens, Alabama, might well be among the best public land deer hunters in the Southeast. After throwing a dart that landed on Kentucky's Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area, he pored over maps and aerial photographs before driving up there with his brother, Adam, to walk a portion of the 171,280-acre tract. LBL, one of th... READ MORE
A Break in the Weather
By Mike Handley
A buck called Andre the Giant twice cheated death in 2014, escaping both a bullet and a broadhead. The whitetail's luck didn't hold the next season. Brandon Hazel of Anthony, Kansas, nicknamed the buck not because it wore a tremendous rack, but due to its body size. "He seemed a foot taller at the back and much longer than any other deer I had ever... READ MORE
Charmed
By Mike Handley
Thirteen-year-old Tyler Fewell of Esmont, Virginia, wishes his grandfather were still alive to see the buck he shot on Sept. 25, 2016. It was just the kind of deer the man mentioned in his stories. Peter Britton, Tyler's granddad, died last January. The man didn't hunt, but he encouraged his grandson to do it. He spoke constantly of the big-racked ... READ MORE
Always Look for the Deer Behind the Deer
By Mike Handley
Chris Baldock was a half-hour away from leaving the woods on Nov. 15, 2015, when he saw movement in the distance. He soon realized he was looking at a doe, which didn't quicken his pulse. He was far less calm when he spotted the buck ghosting her backtrail. Chris hunts 700 acres of family ground in one of Kentucky's most revered deer hunting counti... READ MORE
Unencumbered by Experience
By Mike Handley
Brandon Hazel of Anthony, Kansas, knows when to say yes and close his mouth. While most dads would've listened to the voices in their own heads rather than the words of their 8-year-old kid, he allowed his daughter Joscelyn to choose where they should hunt on a cold Dec. 4, 2015. He had zero confidence in the blind she chose, since that's where she... READ MORE
Good Things Come
By Mike Handley
Travis Stites of Phillipsburg, Kansas, knew the family ground he was hunting was home to at least one great buck. He'd seen it once on the hoof and in trail camera photographs. "At the beginning of October, I was checking new spots on some family land and walked over a creek bank. This deer stood up and headed straight away from me," he said. Follo... READ MORE
Kansas Anime
By Mike Handley
William Cantillon hadn't been in his deer stand an hour on Dec. 5, 2015, when he saw a peculiar buck that gave him brain-freeze. "I'd hunted that same spot in Jackson County, Kansas, for at least 15 years, and I'd never seen anything like it," said the 31-year-old from St. Marys. "When the deer came out, I was thinking Why does it look like that? W... READ MORE
Deer-palooza
By Mike Handley
In 46 years of hunting deer, I've had exactly three days – once in Nebraska and twice in Kansas – when I was in the middle of a deer-palooza, when I saw so many deer I dared not blink. Garry Ward of Crowville, Louisiana, found himself in such a situation while hunting public ground on Dec. 18, 2015. He might not have seen as many as I d... READ MORE
Throwback
By Mike Handley
Mark Lunsford's wife, Teresa, was the first to see it. It was Sept. 9, 2015. He was behind the wheel, and she was in the passenger's seat when the wide-racked whitetail stepped out of some soybeans and into an alfalfa field. "Oh, my Lord, look what a deer," she exclaimed. Mark slammed on the brakes and quickly backed up to get a better look at the ... READ MORE
Antlered Hand-warmer
By Mike Handley
Freezing in a deer stand was pretty low on the list of things Dalton Hunter wanted to do during Indiana's 2015 gun opener. The high school football player would've happily stayed in the bed on Nov. 15, but his Uncle Andrew called and rousted him at 4:45. His uncle couldn't join him, but he wanted to make sure Dalton was in a stand before sunup. Bec... READ MORE
Lightning and Kansas
By Mike Handley
In the world of second lightning strikes, it might happen a little more frequently among deer hunters who live and play in Kansas. If you shoot one good one, chances are pretty good you'll get another. Lightning WILL strike the same spot twice, as they say. David Wagler won't argue. Not only did he arrow a gorgeous centerfold-caliber buck in 2013, ... READ MORE
Boy's Call Ends with Trophy for Dad
By Mike Handley
A Mt. Gilead, Ohio, man might've set out on Dec. 6, 2015, to help his 9-year-old son shoot his first deer, but he wound up burning the tag when the boy found the distance daunting. Brody Young started retrieving trail camera photographs of a Morrow County buck in 2013 that held a lot of potential. The buck just needed a few more years to reach it. ... READ MORE