Big Buck Tales

Jeff McCulley Buck

Jeff McCulley Buck

By Ed Waite

Jeff McCulley would’ve been elated to burn his 2009 buck tag on the wide and tall-tined 8-pointer that had given him the slip all season. It was the biggest he’d seen on the 25 acres for which he’d gained permission to hunt through a fishing buddy who knew the landowners. The 41-year-old hunter from Stow, Ohio, lived just 10 or 15... READ MORE

Pat Bates Buck

Pat Bates Buck

By Mike Handley

Pheromones and estrous doe scents might be akin to Cupid’s arrow, but whatever Pat Bates pours on bushes is more like Thor’s hammer. One whiff of the concoction will turn bucks into white-eyed defoliators, or, if they’re big and stupid enough to do battle with flora in front of Pat, into wall art. The retired firefighter from Al... READ MORE

Joseph Shields Buck

Joseph Shields Buck

By Mike Handley

If five antler scorers were to lay their tapes on the antlers of a buck hanging over the late Logan Sewell's mantel in Vidalia, La., they might very well come up with five different tallies. That's because the non-typical rack carries what many would consider as multiple main beams, and the choice of a typical mainframe will affect spread, symmetry... READ MORE

Stuart Everett Buck

Stuart Everett Buck

By Rusty Johnson

Stuart Everett almost quit deer in 2014. After three seasons of pursuing a photogenic whitetail with a rack that seemed to double in points each year, he got an eyeblink of an opportunity and never fired a shot. The episode left him keenly aware of how much money he'd spent and how many hours he'd devoted to be able to touch those antlers. His obse... READ MORE

Dave Ross Buck

Dave Ross Buck

By Brady Smith

Soon after he'd gained permission to hunt a vast piece of ground in Greene County, Ohio, Dave Ross set out to do some preseason scouting. The area was full of promising deer sign, so he wasted no time in setting up an automatic game feeder about 20 yards from the edge of a soybean field. He also erected a ladder stand a few yards away from it. The... READ MORE

Ricky Caldwell Buck

Ricky Caldwell Buck

By Greg Hicks

“There’s no place like home.” Dorothy said it in “The Wizard of Oz” in 1939. Louisiana’s Ricky Caldwell spoke those same words on the Tensas River National Wildlife Refuge in 2012. Ricky was born and raised not far from what would eventually become one of the best public hunting tracts in North America. Under his... READ MORE

Green Campbell Buck

Green Campbell Buck

By Mike Handley

If 14-year-old Green Campbell had been given a choice on Oct. 20, 2007, he would’ve gladly given up his ringside seat to one of the most dramatic college football games of the year. When he retrieved the 200 images from his first-ever trail camera that Saturday morning, which was exciting enough, he came across three shots of an unbelievable... READ MORE

Brian Stephens Buck

Brian Stephens Buck

By Tony Seals

On Nov. 30, opening day of Ohio’s 2009 firearms season, Brian Stephens harvested a brutish buck while hunting his 180-acre family farm in the southwestern portion of the state. The 40-year-old software developer has enjoyed spending quality time with friends and family while hunting for whitetails and small game on the farm since he was 12. ... READ MORE

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