Smalltown Bucks

My First Deer

My First Deer

By Trentin Meyer

Video games can’t provide life-changing experiences like a first youth hunt can. It was Nov. 8, 2014, opening day of Vermont’s youth weekend. It was my first official youth weekend deer hunt. My dad and I decided to start our hunt in Wilmington and work our way toward Stamford. When we got to Wilmington, I was excited and couldn&rsquo... READ MORE

Thanksgiving Surprise

Thanksgiving Surprise

By Sawyer Johnson

Some of the best hunts don’t end with a filled tag. One of the greatest things about hunting is going out and not knowing what you’ll see or experience. This sense of wonderment is what keeps me out in the mountains, because I might experience something incredible at any moment. On Thanksgiving morning in western Montana, having already... READ MORE

Cactus Ugly

Cactus Ugly

By Mary Bostwick

When I climbed into my treestand in Screven County, Ga., on Nov. 17, 2012, I couldn’t have predicted my hunt would end by taking a buck with one of the most unusual set of antlers I’ve ever seen. I’d been sitting in my stand about 30 minutes when a young spike appeared. Ten minutes later, I saw what appeared to be a deer disappear... READ MORE

Cow Mountain’s First-Timers

Cow Mountain’s First-Timers

By Bill Hanson

A first deer is a memory of a lifetime for more than the young hunter. As first appeared in The Community Voice of Sonoma County, California. From the highway the north end of Cow Mountain is the only green zone east of the 101, save the flat lands of the Ukiah Valley. The recent Mendocino Complex Fires which includes Hopland’s ‘River F... READ MORE

The Journey

The Journey

By Richard Benton

My quest to shoot a big buck began when I first hunted in Kansas in 2001. I harvested an 8-pointer that scored 148 inches, and I was hooked. I like hunting in my home state of Virginia, but it’s nothing like the Midwest. I have always had a passion for hunting whitetails. I have been so drawn to and obsessed with it that I pursued an educati... READ MORE

The 165-Inch Spike

The 165-Inch Spike

By Tony Crowder

Every time my daughter Alexis and I had been out hunting, she was determined that would be the time she would get a deer. She’d put in the work, helped build a box blind, and she’d been out there every chance she had regardless of weather. She was ready and hungry for her first deer. We’d planned to go hunting early Monday, Nov. ... READ MORE

A Little Help from His Friends

A Little Help from His Friends

By Craig Pondish

Garden State deer drive results in three deer, including a dandy buck. The New Jersey deer season has an extended permit season that continues from the regular six-day firearm season until January 31. The bag limit is one antlered and unlimited antlerless deer. On Saturday, Jan. 19, on private farmland in Burlington County, seven members of our sma... READ MORE

Long Live Maxximus

Long Live Maxximus

By Carla Schartz

For 423 days, my husband Lance and I observed a whitetail buck we'd nicknamed Maxximus. Before our eyes, it transformed from a velvet-antlered buck with potential into a true Kansas giant. This beast of a buck had over 230 inches of massive bone atop its head and too many points to count. Lance and I are avid bowhunters and anticipated the epic ... READ MORE

Heart of the Hunt

Heart of the Hunt

By Christopher Jecker

Shortened season doesn’t stop concerned son from taking his best buck ever. While I live in Louisville, Kentucky, I hunt in Crawford County, Indiana. Two weeks before gun season, my work and hunting partner, my dad, had a massive heart attack. We rushed him to the ER, where the doctor informed us that he needed to have open heart surgery. A... READ MORE

Countdown to Kansas

Countdown to Kansas

By Carlo Longobardo

I’m a NYC fireman, and I’ve hunted since I was a kid. I’ve made a lot of memories with my father and family members. Now I’m proudly passing on the tradition to my son and daughter. This past fall was the second time I headed to Kansas to bowhunt the rut, and I’d literally been in a countdown for a year. On my first ... READ MORE

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Copyright 2020 by Buckmasters, Ltd