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Entries for October 2014
Crossing Guard
By Mike Handley | April 06, 2014
Despite a few outings with his stepfather when James Irvine was a little boy, he didn't become interested in hunting deer until about eight years ago, when he bought his first shotgun. Five years later, when he missed a deer with it, he decided an upgrade was in order and bought a rifle and second-hand muzzleloader.
He finally shot his first deer,... READ MORE
Buck Got Your Tongue?
By Mike Handley | March 30, 2014
Shawn Evangelista almost forgot how to form words last year. Even his three-word sentences, repeated for emphasis, were more a series of emitted vowel sounds, punctuated by gulps of air.
You'd think that seeing - and indeed arrowing - a deer he'd seen hundreds of times in trail camera photographs would've been easy-breezy. But looking at jpegs isn... READ MORE
This Figment’s for Real
By Mike Handley | March 23, 2014
It took only one night for Brad Southwood to substantiate the existence of a bodacious buck with towering brow tines in his corner of Wayne County, Ky. He'd heard reports from three people. Fueled by curiosity, even though he'd tagged out for the 2012 season, Brad obtained permission to set out a trail camera on a friend's property. He checked it t... READ MORE
When It’s Okay to be Late for Work
By Mike Handley | March 16, 2014
Because Darren Schrock of Elkhart, Ind., had one clear weekend to hunt his state's 15-day firearms season in 2013, he was devastated to learn that rain was in the forecast. Determined not to miss his chance altogether - even though he bowhunts, too, and the bow season extends into January - he arranged with his employer to hunt Thursday morning, No... READ MORE
A Series of Fortunate Events
By Mike Handley | March 09, 2014
Imagine the patience required NOT to go to the very place you believe the buck of your dreams, the one you've skewered, has taken its last breath. Imagine setting an arbitrary 24-hour, chill-out period on the off-chance your chip shot wasn't as lethal as it should've been. Then imagine logging into Facebook and seeing someone else's smiling face be... READ MORE
Pleasantly Surprised
By Mike Handley | March 02, 2014
It's a pretty safe bet that he wasn't thinking about deer hunters when George Will, the Pulitzer-winning newspaper and magazine columnist, once said "The nice part about being a pessimist is that you are constantly being either proven right or pleasantly surprised."
Dave Shedron, a 61-year-old volunteer firefighter and bowyer in Walton, Ind., won'... READ MORE
Déjà vu
By Mike Handley | February 23, 2014
Stoked by trail camera photographs of an enormous Ohio buck, Lear McCoy spent a lot of time in a treestand in 2012, hoping to put his sight pin on the whitetail with sweeping main beams and gnarly bases.
He got his wish in November of that year.
Right at dusk one evening, the very buck he'd been hoping to see strolled to within 20 yards. A second... READ MORE
Sure Thing
By Mike Handley | February 16, 2014
Greg Reinhardt of Alexandria, Ky., isn't into scouting. He already knows exactly where he'll see the sunrise on opening morning of the Bluegrass State's rifle season.
He and his brother, Randy, refer to the honey hole as "the killing tree," although there aren't any trees there suitable for climbing. That's why it's his rifle setup. When carrying ... READ MORE
Lemonade from Lemons
By Mike Handley | February 09, 2014
If a relative shoots the buck you've been pining to arrow with your bow, and then saw-wielding, human bush hogs interfere with Plan B, would you hang up your spurs for the season?
Jeff Osborne didn't.
Nothing short of a natural disaster could keep the hunter from Owenton, Ky., indoors during his state's 2013 rifle season.
On the Monday after ope... READ MORE
Facebook Surprise
By Mike Handley | February 02, 2014
Imagine the patience required NOT to go to the very place you believe the buck of your dreams, the one you've skewered, has taken its last breath. Imagine setting an arbitrary 24-hour, chill-out period on the off-chance your chip shot wasn't as lethal as it should've been.
Then imagine logging into Facebook and seeing someone else's smiling face b... READ MORE
One Good Turn
By Mike Handley | January 26, 2014
When Mark Owen decided to help a fellow deer hunter get back in the game, he expected nothing in return for his kindnesses.
He certainly didn't expect to be handed the Holy Grail.
Mark sells bull semen for the artificial insemination of dairy cows, and he has customers throughout northern Ohio. While visiting with a client in June 2013, they disc... READ MORE
Why Randy Brown Wants His Stand Back
By Mike Handley | January 19, 2014
Nick Brown thought he'd caught a break when the buck passed behind a tree, which allowed him to draw his Mathews Drenalin. But that was before the animal stopped, forcing the 28-year-old bowhunter to hold both string and breath.
Nick wanted that deer like Democrats wanted a regime change throughout the Bush years, like the Republicans have wanted ... READ MORE
Squirrel’s-Eye View
By Mike Handley | January 13, 2014
Unlike the dinosaurs in the "Jurassic Park" movies, unlike the great white shark in "Jaws," and unlike the brawls between TV's professional wrestlers (with apologies to believers), the buck whose photograph appeared on Shawn and Nikki Bechtel's trail camera in 2011 was very real. Husband and wife - it was she who taught him how to hunt - were insta... READ MORE