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Entries for July 2021
Chewiness is a Small Price to Pay
By Mike Handley
Phillip Pless has always considered himself a meat hunter. Last season, however, he opted for a little more gristle in his venison. The mindset of the 42-year-old, medically-retired Navy man from Newfane, New York, changed after he retrieved a summertime trail camera image of an unbelievably huge buck in velvet. He was so bewitched by the animal th... READ MORE
Son of Buckzilla
By Mike Handley
Wildlife officials at the Fort Campbell military base believe a deer shot in 2019 is the offspring of a giant whitetail hit by a truck there a couple of years earlier. The former, which was still in velvet when it met its demise, scored 254 inches and was Buckmasters’ Deer of the Year for 2018. The latter, which tallies 224, is the new Tennes... READ MORE
Halloween Treat
By Mike Handley
Halloween has long been one of the Buckeye State’s biggest yielders of bodacious whitetails, but that’s not why Levi Lease chose to go hunting last Oct. 31. The hunter from St. Louis, Ohio, had planned to spend much of his day sitting inside a dirt track racecar rather than a deer stand. He changed his mind only because he and his crew ... READ MORE
Two Seasons and 45 Inches Later
By Mike Handley
Doug Hampton passed up a 170-inch whitetail in 2018, only because his outfitter promised he could return to Iowa and hunt it after it had “grown up.” Doug’s hosts speculated the deer was only 3 1/2 years old when they and he first became acquainted with it. In his eyes, it was already a world-class trophy. In theirs, it was merely... READ MORE
Public Land Bruiser
By Mike Handley
Landin Hall doesn’t have to hunt public land. Neither does he have to cross state lines to find bucks that’ll blow his taxidermy budget. In 2020, however, the 25-year-old from Kendallville, Indiana, did both, all because he was tired of looking at the same old seemingly deer-less property. He’d collected plenty of trail camera pho... READ MORE