|
|
Entries for December 2019
She Got Heads, He Got Tails
By Mike Handley
Iowa’s tag lottery determined whether Taylor Byers or her husband, Caleb, would be behind the trigger when the 2019 muzzleloader season opened on Oct. 12. Both applied for tags, but only she drew one. That meant he would be filming her in their quest for a buck they’d nicknamed Dakota. “We’d gotten trail camera photos of thi... READ MORE
Goofy Comes of Age
By Mike Handley
Quaker Boy Calls’ pro-staffer Greg Gershon shot a buck in 2019 that had been on his radar for four years. He and the others who are part of the 1,400-acre lease near San Saba, Texas, couldn’t decide how old the deer was, and age is their No. 1 factor in choosing which whitetails they’ll shoot. The lease isn’t a fenced prope... READ MORE
Worth the Hike, Even in the Dark
By Mike Handley
Less than a year away from a college degree in land surveying and mapping sciences, Leo Van Beck learned one of his most useful lessons off campus last fall. Literally and figuratively speaking: A map is pretty useless if you can’t see it. The bowhunter from Sauk Centre, Minnesota, might not have possessed a road atlas when he struck ou... READ MORE
Ice Bucket Challenge
By Mike Handley
Amie Wade’s right foot didn’t suffer long on Nov. 25, despite her boot being full of cold creek water. In order to reach her public land stand site that Monday, the 25-year-old huntress from Choctaw, Oklahoma, had to hike in and cross two rain-swollen creeks. In the process, water went over the top of her right boot, which she’d s... READ MORE
All’s Well that Ends Well
By Mike Handley
Allison Rauscher’s self-confidence plummeted in 2018, when she shot and didn’t recover a great Wisconsin whitetail. “That season was brutal,” said the 28-year-old bowhunter from Lake Mills. “That would’ve been my biggest deer ever.” Compounding her misery, she also lost access to the property that yielded ... READ MORE
After-School Special
By Mike Handley
A.J. Post’s story could be called The Case of the Disappearing Bullet, since nobody could find the .50-caliber chunk of lead responsible for the hole in his buck’s heart. There was an entry, but not an exit hole. The lack of blood explains why the 16-year-old and his father, Michael, had to search for hours before they stumbled across i... READ MORE