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A Legendary Deer Gets Its Due
By Mark Melotik
For those of us who count chasing mature trophy whitetails as more a year-round lifestyle than simple hobby, a question often arises: Do the record books hold all the best heads ever taken? The easy answer is “not possible” — especially considering how long whitetails have been hunted across their remarkably wide and diverse range... READ MORE
Iowa Pickup Turns Heads at 2024 Deer Classic
By Patrick Dunning
We’ll never convince die-hard anti-hunters that regulated hunting seasons are the best way to help wildlife, but we should strive to educate those who don’t hunt (but aren’t opposed to it) about nature and pecking orders in the animal kingdom. Nature is beautiful, but it’s often brutal and unforgiving, too.
Anti-hunters p... READ MORE
First buck hits Top 10 in Hoosier State
By Patrick Dunning
Gregory George grew up in a family of hunters in the western part of Michigan’s lower peninsula, where he says folks gun hunt for meat in sweatpants, and buck-skinning poles give locals a chance to showcase trophies during deer season.
Throughout his childhood in the Great Lakes State, Gregory harvested three does, mostly as a rite o... READ MORE
190” Texas Tank
By Patrick Dunning
A fine example that giant free-range whitetails reside in northeast Texas can be found in Cody Nicholson’s pre-rut success last year on a new permission piece.
In the short history Cody had with this farm, he identified the 20-pointer through trail cam photos and one distant on-the-hoof encounter during bow season.
... READ MORE
Mom Expires Massive Backyard Buck
By Patrick Dunning
As a mother of five small children, Morgan Witek was too busy juggling babies to even entertain the thought of harvesting her first deer last season, let alone a buck of this caliber.
She'd been practicing with her Husband Chris' crossbow in the backyard for a few years, and the plan was to hunt together for the first time next season ... READ MORE
Youth Hunter Fells 200” in Michigan
By Patrick Dunning
On the second morning of Michigan’s 2023 youth weekend, 15-year-old Dylan Meyer harvested the state’s third largest whitetail in BTR’s shotgun category on a parcel of land behind his father’s auto repair shop in Ottawa County.
The mainframe 9-pointer tipped BTR scales at 211 6/8 inches with 20 scorable points and a ... READ MORE
MS Long Bow Buck
By Patrick Dunning
There aren’t many teenagers in the world that can say they harvested their target buck with the long bow they custom built from start to finish, but 17-year-old Case Chacon isn’t like most kids his age.
Case is a junior at Bayou Academy in Boliver County, Mississippi, and plays centerfield for the high school baseball tea... READ MORE
XBow buck #2 typical in IL
By Patrick Dunning
Deer hunting, like baseball, is a game of failure. Major-league hitters who strikeout 70% of their trips to the plate still bat .300 and enjoy hall-of-fame worthy careers.
Northern Illinois’ Brent Dykstra knows the weight of failure all too well. He was a relief pitcher at Northern Illinois University in the late 90s for a team tha... READ MORE
VA Swamp Buck Recovered Via Drone
By Patrick Dunning
Micky Bracey’s Virginia swamp buck from December 2023 is the state’s fourth largest typical in BTR’s shotgun category. With a two-inch irregular point coming directly off its base, the 10-pointer from Southampton County measured 171 7/8 inches for Buckmasters Trophy Records.
“This year I bow hunted him all season bu... READ MORE
One Last Siesta For This KS Giant
By Patrick Dunning
The last time Anthony Callihan posed for a photo with a buck alongside his grandfather, he was a mere six years old with wide eyes for his family’s tradition. Fast forward nearly four decades to December 2023, the 42-year-old harvested a 270-class buck he’d never seen on opening day of Kansas’ rifle season and got to celebrate the... READ MORE
250+ Inch Okie Buck New Bow Record
By Patrick Dunning
Ethan Kile’s 27-point hammer from October 2023 is our new compound bow record in the Sooner State, posting 237 total inches of antler and a BTR score of 256 5/8 inches.
The Oklahoman works full time at an oil refinery and cuts and bales hay in the summer on his off days. Last year Ethan’s uncle asked him to come b... READ MORE
Still on the Hoof!
By Patrick Dunning
Jim Lauchard’s son found matching sheds of a suspected 230-class phantom buck while scouting a field before planting season last spring in the Buckeye State.
He told his dad he wasn’t interested in keeping the antlers and gave the set to Jim, who forwarded photos to his taxidermist and later had the sheds mounted.
&ldq... READ MORE
190” felled in Scioto County
By Patrick Dunning
Meghan Hill was beginning to believe harvesting a mature buck wasn’t in the cards for 2023. She passed on three 130-class bucks with her compound bow earlier in the season and had a couple shooters on camera for a stint, but they disappeared once the rut commenced.
The 24-year-old still held a tag after Ohio’s initial rut phase but h... READ MORE
Freak Buck in Okie
By Patrick Dunning
Al Shene sent a bolt through this 31-pointer, nicknamed Stickers, on opening day of Oklahoma’s 2023 rifle season in Pottawatomie County. The 61-year-old had a four-year history with this irregular bruiser on his 82-acre slice of Sooner State heaven, and doubled-lunged the specimen with a crossbow his first sit of the season.
“I... READ MORE
Bow Buck Top 10 in Buckeye State
By Patrick Dunning
Corey Myers broke Ohio’s top 10 in BTR’s perfect category for compound bow with his early October harvest in Columbiana County. His personal best buck measured 188 4/8 inches as a 13-pointer and is #8 in the state.
“We played cat and mouse for three years; I think he hunted me just as hard as I hunted him,” Corey to... READ MORE