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Tracking Clubber Nine
By Derrick S. Schreiber
Finally, after 81 hours in the stand, I arrowed a buck I’d named Clubber Nine on Dec. 3, 2011. I’d seen him on my trail camera since October. He was distinctive with an impressive body and a right rear foot that apparently had been broken at some time. I have the good fortune of having sole access to the ground I hunt, which made it pos... READ MORE
Study, Hunt, Repeat
By Ben Englert
College student’s first archery harvest gets a 4.0 in Bowhunting 101. It was Nov. 15, and the 2018 Indiana shotgun season would begin two days later. I was logging as many hours as I could with my bow, hoping to tag out before the gun-toting army arrived on opening morning. I had put in countless hunts since bow season started on Oct. 1, but ... READ MORE
Forged in Fire
By Tim Kamats
Hunting bonds between father and child can never be broken. In life we are allotted just so many opportunities to create bonds that stand the test of time. Hunting with my daughter Xaura proved to be one such opportunity. At the tender age of 10, Xaura and I started talking about her accompanying me through the woods in search of the ever-elusive P... READ MORE
Ghosts of Christmas Past
By Burnell Simmons
Far too many of us take hunting and Christmases for granted.
Thirteen years — that’s how long it’s been since I fell 25 feet from my treestand. I survived the fall and the hospital stay and made it home for that Christmas in 2001.
It happened at 8:20 a.m. on Dec. 16. I had to walk home from the swamp I was hunting because I had ... READ MORE
How To End a Season
By Miranda Cheatham
Every hunting season since I was 2 years old, my dad and I have traveled from our home in Niceville, Fla., to Macon County, Alabama. It had been four years since I was able to take a nice buck worthy of mounting.
This year I had a new gun handed down to me, a 1980s Browning BAR .270. I had been letting small bucks walk until the rut hit. Then, on ... READ MORE
Turkey for Two
By Krissy Jean Zimmer
I love it when a plan ... falls apart. It just makes it that much sweeter when you make a new plan, get busted twice and still manage to bloody up the tailgate. As planned, we started the morning on the ground in front of a long narrow food plot. We knew the sun was going to be highlighting us so we brushed in, settled down and waited for daybreak.... READ MORE
Lessons in the Wild
By James Oliver
Young bowhunter doesn’t make the same mistake twice! I have been hunting for as long as I can remember. It was a tradition passed down by my father, and I have passed it on to my two boys. My youngest, Hunter, has been at home in the wild since the age of 3 when I took him hunting for turkeys for the first time. When he was 4, Hunter took his... READ MORE
Big Ten in the Buckeye State
By Jon Miller
After watching a big 10-pointer for two seasons, I finally got my shot at it on the evening of October 25, 2013.
I discovered this buck on my trail camera last year on my family’s 200-acre farm in Licking County, Ohio.
After capturing several photos, my cousin and I estimated the buck would push 140 inches. I knew if I ever saw this buck un... READ MORE
Whose Best Day?
By Marti Young
The only division in this family is when debating who had the best time. While every day spent hunting is a good day, some are better than others. For James Whetzel Sr. and 11-year-old Starr Young, their best day ever started at 3:30 a.m. on Sept. 30, 2017. The adventure started with a softly whispered “Wake up, Starr. It’s almost time ... READ MORE
One Old Buck
By Tim Angel
Not all the best Bucks in the woods have antlers.
I was born in Peoria, Ill., where hunting mainly consisted of rabbits, squirrels and pheasants. I now live in the Northwest, where I hunt everything from elk, deer, bears and even cougars.
I am sending this letter to share one of the most memorable moments in my life. It involves my grandmother, N... READ MORE