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The Buck with the Jekyll & Hyde Rack
By Ed Waite
Powerless to do anything but gawk, Jeff Yelton’s gaze shifted back and forth from the deer with the strange rack to his watch. Always one to follow the rules, the hunter from Chesterton, Ind., knew it wasn’t yet light enough to legally squeeze his muzzleloader’s trigger. He was almost convinced something was wrong with his too-slo... READ MORE
Reminiscent of MOSSY HORNS
By Terry Rethman and Mike Handley
When the tale behind Del Austin’s world-record (P&Y) Nebraska whitetail was first told back in 1963, the hunter was more footnote than protagonist. Del might’ve been the one to let the air out of the buck called “Mossy Horns,” but he had no history with the buck. Instead, perhaps because it made for a better yarn, writer... READ MORE
Ohio Holdem
By Ed Waite
When it comes to deer hunting, brothers Steve and Scott Esker are “all in,” both figuratively and literally. The twins from Ohio have put more than 2,310 inches of antler in the record book during the last decade — 11 kills, two pickups and a pair of shed antlers, several of which have appeared within these pages, if not on the ma... READ MORE
Doppelganger Gets ‘Er Done
By Mike Handley
Sometimes it pays to stop and smell the hay — words to live by, according to an Arkansas tree trimmer who counts friends like a banker counts money. During a break from chasing turkeys in Kansas in the spring of 2010, Robert Weaver decided to cool his heels and watch someone cutting hay. The big John Deere looked like a house on wheels, and h... READ MORE
But Can I Hunt?
By Dale Weddle
It’ll take more than broken bones and bruises to keep Ken Carnes indoors during deer season. On Sept. 9, 2012, Ken and his brother, Troy, walked into the woods to do some scouting, pruning and to move at least one ladder stand. Only Troy walked out of there. Ken was on the 28-foot-tall ladder stand. He had just stepped down two steps when the... READ MORE
When Dylin Calls …
By Tim Beaumont and Mike Handley
Brecken Kennedy hates déjà vu. Dylin, his younger brother, loves it. Even before Brecken read the text message from Dylin on Nov. 25, 2011, he knew what it was going to say. The same thing happened in 2010, when he’d hunted hard —every day for two weeks — only to have his brother step in and shoot a wallhanger from t... READ MORE
Eeny, Meeny, Miny, Moe …
By Dale Weddle
If only Josh Prewitt had been in the right stand, his 2012 season could’ve ended a whole lot sooner. Two days into Kentucky’s 2012 modern firearms season, the bull of the woods stood in front of Josh’s empty ladder stand about half an hour after sunrise. The hunter from Brodhead was 400 yards away, watching another ridge, when the... READ MORE
Bottom of the Ninth
By Mike Handley
Jeremy Schmeidler might no longer play baseball, but that doesn’t mean he’s incapable of hitting a wicked curve ball out of the park. Nine days into the Sunflower State’s 2012 bow season, the 33-year-old from Hays, Kan., decided to ditch the game plan he’d so carefully crafted in favor of a whim. Rather than play it safe wit... READ MORE
An Alarm Clock Named Jake
By Bob Weber
I have hunted deer for most of my life and have had my share of exciting hunts. Last January’s outing with my stepson, Jake, ranks among the best. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed teaching Jake, now 13, how to hunt and what it means to be a hunter. We’ve been going together for five years. Jan. 19 was the last weekend to hunt the 2012-13 s... READ MORE
Double Take
By Mike Handley
Brian Miller knew a shooter buck was among the many deer gallivanting inside the little pine thicket. At least three bucks, in fact (the other two were forkhorns), and 10 does had entered the copse during the two hours he’d been aloft in his ladder stand on Nov. 29, 2012. Soon after the last trio wafted into the trees, all the deer began shuf... READ MORE
Four Bangs for the Buck
By Ed Waite
Jason Hardin’s first racked buck was faster than a speeding bullet. Three of them, to be precise. Had Superbuck kept on flying in the same direction instead of thrice looping around like a scared rabbit, it might still be in Jason’s head instead of on his wall. You just don’t give a determined deer hunter that many tugs on your ca... READ MORE
Ready to Shoot the Messenger
By Ed Waite
No deer is despised more than a tattle-tale. Had it not been opening day of Ohio’s 2012 bow season, Brant McKenzie might’ve quit barely 15 or 20 minutes after sunrise. If he’d had a hand grenade, he might’ve hurled it at the small buck clearing its sinuses about 35 yards from the tree in which he was hiding. The bowhunter wa... READ MORE
Lights, Action and NO CAMERA
By Jeff Morrison
Once they saw a coworker’s photograph of a giant whitetail near Kenora, Ontario, friends Dennis Chevalier and Chris Savage devoted the next six weeks to becoming the smiling backdrops for the next picture. Dennis and Chris drooled over the photo in early October 2012, and they nicknamed the buck Kong. Absolutely smitten with the deer, the duo... READ MORE
Ol’ Two Rows
By Tim Forret
I first encountered this giant whitetail while harvesting soybeans in mid-October 2011. When I slowed the combine to go around a patch of 3-foot-tall foxtail grass, the buck exploded out of the weeds, jumped a nearby fence and ran down a waterway. It stopped for a second to look back at me, and then it disappeared into the neighbor’s standing... READ MORE
Bowled Over in Kentucky
By Dale Weddle
Justin Yeary might have grown accustomed to flipping through trail camera photographs in 2011, but he wasn’t prepared to come across a buck capable of toppling furniture. The hunter from Shelbyville, Ky., had been running half a dozen trail cameras since the first of July. He always looked forward to seeing what had stepped in front of the le... READ MORE
On a Whim
By Ed Waite
And to think he had no intention of hunting that day! After spending most of Oct. 7, 2012, cutting up fallen trees, dragging the debris to the woods and decommissioning a storm-damaged stand, most hunters would’ve been happy to spend the remains of the day in a recliner. Jim Twiggs might’ve done just that, too, if his buddy hadn’t... READ MORE
Arkansas’ New Bow Record
By Rusty Johnson
Long hours in the stand and a can-do attitude can yield remarkable rewards. Just ask Phillip Carter and his brother-in-law, Roger Hill. These two Arkansas guys live to hunt white-tailed deer, and after what happened to Phillip on Dec. 30, 2012, their dedication to the sport isn’t about to wither. Phillip and Roger live next to each other on 8... READ MORE
Here’s Looking ACHOO!
By Dale Weddle
Larry Finley moved from Clay to neighboring Laurel County, Ky., in 1978. Four years later, he decided to spring for some major upgrades to his home. “Little did I realize that a decision to remodel my house in 1982 would result in friendships that would forever affect my hunting and fishing,” Larry said. “The guys I chose to do th... READ MORE
Spur of the Moment
By Mike Handley
Had Bill Ullrich stuck to his original plan on Oct. 26, someone else’s deer would be on this page. Had his son, Matt, also been able to leave work early that day, his might be the grin behind this fabulous Illinois buck. But Bill was bowhunting alone that afternoon, and he chose to head to a different spot almost as soon as he parked his truc... READ MORE
Cupid’s Arrow Struck First
By Jill J. Easton
Halloween 2010 was a hug-the-heater kind of day. The wind was blowing at 30 mph, the temperature was 29 degrees, and Bill Elza endured it all in his treestand, hoping to see rib bones. Sort of. That was the fifth year Bill had been gunning (or bowing) for a buck he’d nicknamed Ribcage, which is what came to mind when he first saw the row of t... READ MORE