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Entries for 'Gray Loon'
Same Deer, Different Day
By Mike Handley
When Tommy Sears of Lily, Kentucky, went to his father’s house in Clay County to help look for the buck the elder had shot at the previous day, he opted to first spend a few hours in a ladder stand. His dad, Thomas, had fired at the running buck while hunting his neighbor’s 50-acre cornfield on opening day of rifle season. The field is ... READ MORE
No More Deer Drought
By Mike Handley
David Fischer of Georgetown, Indiana, is accustomed to seeing deer hunters roaming the public lands he hunts. But that's all he saw during the 2014 season. He didn't see a single deer in 30 outings. "Fifteen days during gun season, 15 days during muzzleloader, and nothing," David told Lisa Price, who is writing his story for Rack magazine. That's w... READ MORE
The Banshee and the Buck
By Mike Handley
How long does it take for the woods to settle after a banshee-doe alerts the entire state to the presence of a suspicious lump in a tree? About 30 minutes, says Logan Howell, who successfully fought the urge to return to his Kentucky home after being busted by one such public service-minded doe in 2015. If he'd listened to his gut and left, he migh... READ MORE
What are the Odds?
By Mike Handley
It's probably easier to become president than it is to legally shoot a buck - small or large - inside the Lone Star State's Granger Wildlife Management Area. James Henderson of Taylor, Texas, knows how many hurdles lie in the latter path. The 40-year-old deer hunter brought in a buck to the WMA check station last year that drew nearly six dozen gaw... READ MORE
Playing Hooky
By Mike Handley
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 mom. His reason - and she wanted one - was because the whitetail rut was peaking. It helped that his Uncle Shane Carver was eager to g... READ MORE
Mother Lode
By Mike Handley
West Virginia coal miner Brandon Duncan found the mother lode of antler last December, more than a year after he first tried to kill the then-smaller buck. In 2014, despite what should've been a 20-yard chip shot, Brandon's arrow barely penetrated the Logan County whitetail. "As I was squeezing the release, a doe spooked and caused the buck to jerk... READ MORE
That Smell
By Mike Handley
Tim Davis was 50 yards into a sad story on Dec. 6, 2015, when his nostrils suddenly filled with rutting buck. Downwind of a happy ending, he resumed walking. At that point, the 50-year-old deer hunter was scanning the woods in front of him instead of focusing on the ground at his feet. Fortunately for him, the dead buck's antlers were in stark cont... READ MORE
A Christmas Story
By Mike Handley
Cheri Hillebrandt's 2015 Christmas present might not have been wrapped in pretty paper and ribbons of blue, but it wore a very big bow. The gift from her husband, Brad, was actually a deer hunt at Giles Island near Natchez. It's nearer the Louisiana side of the Mississippi River, but it's considered Mississippi. Brad had hunted there 15 times befor... READ MORE
When Stars and Buzzards Align
By Mike Handley
A grouping of crows is called a murder. Geese (on the ground) are a gaggle. Deer herd, ducks flock and fish school. Do you know what a group of buzzards is called? A wake. It's only because a man saw a wake of buzzards that Matthew Colvin's 2015 buck didn't become food for fishes, alligators and turtles. If the dead deer had remained undiscovered f... READ MORE
Tagged Out in Two Hours
By Mike Handley
The day before Kentucky's 2015 rifle season opened, Alvin Hoover made himself a ground blind by stacking hay bales inside the tree line next to a field frequented by deer. The setup was only 500 yards from his Todd County home. He chose a spot allowing the best view of the 160-yard-long field, meaning his longest shot would be 80 yards in any direc... READ MORE
One Hour in November
By Mike Handley
When Jacob Antley, his father Skipper and a buddy, Jake Gerhards, drove to southern Missouri last November, they'd planned on a long weekend of bowhunting. But they spent only one day afield. Their hunt began on Friday, Nov. 13, the day before the state's regular firearms season opened. Regardless of the timing, they carried only their bows. "The t... READ MORE
A Rare Twofer in Kentucky
By Mike Handley
You can shoot and tag only one buck a year in Kentucky, except when you can shoot and tag two. Jeffrey Byrd was among the latter in 2015. He shot his first buck on opening day of the state's rifle season, while hunting his father-in-law's 109 gnarly acres in Hart County. He's hunted that brush-choked farm for 14 years. Jeffrey saw a lot of action f... READ MORE
Plan B
By Mike Handley
Logan Wilson of Decatur, Texas, had never hunted with a muzzleloader before 2015. And he might not have tried it then if he'd drawn the nonresident rifle tag he wanted. He and brothers David, Rick and Randy usually drive up to Kansas in December to take advantage of rifle season. They've hunted the same half section - 320 acres - for five years. Wh... READ MORE
Cody and the Double Pitchfork Buck
By Mike Handley
With an unfavorable wind and forecast of 65 degrees, Cody Cutler hadn't planned to spend any part of Nov. 14, 2015, in his favorite deer stand. But when he and a friend began clicking through trail camera images from cards they pulled that morning, they came across a daytime photo of an A-list buck, along with what appeared to be a hot doe. It was,... READ MORE
Tennessee has a New No. 3 Blackpowder Buck
By Mike Handley
Chris Fowler apparently knows how to keep his powder dry. He hadn't planned on doing it; ordinarily wouldn't consider it. But when the veteran deer hunter headed out on opening day of Tennessee's 2015 muzzleloader season, his rifle was still stoked with the two pellets and .45-caliber sabot he'd stuffed down the barrel in 2014. Chris had originally... READ MORE