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Joy in Mudville
By Dale Weddle
Kentucky bowhunter avoids strikeout by whacking a home run on his third and final pitch. David Howard had a small window, the last three days in October, to bowhunt his lease in Todd County. He couldn't have chosen a better time. Not only were bucks chasing does, but they were also fighting for the privilege. It wasn't until David had reluctantly d... READ MORE
Driver’s Seat
By John E. Phillips
If you pay attention to deer tracks on dirt roads, you might see their makers. Bobby Cook’s days of shedding boot leather to look for buck sign are long gone, but that doesn’t seem to have hindered the 66-year-old deer hunter from Carbon Hill, Ala. Ever since he and his motorcycle were struck by a hit-and-run driver in 1974, Bobby - par... READ MORE
Sure Thing
By Dale Weddle
There’s a reason “location-location-location” has become a cliché among deer hunters. Unless they happen to stumble through when the brushed-in pop-up blind is in place, most deer hunters would walk right on past Greg Reinhardt’s honey hole, forfeiting what the man from Alexandria, Ky., says is a sure shot at a deer. ... READ MORE
The I-Can’t-Sing-The-Blues BLUES
By Billy Arnold
How a Tennessee giant stole the cry out of this country singer’s voice … I began putting out minerals and corn and set up a few trail cameras on the small piece of property I hunt in Tennessee in May 2013. In July, I collected images of two very nice bucks, followed by another photo that made me forget them. As soon as I saw that third... READ MORE
From WOW to BLAM in Two Minutes
By Dale Weddle
Kyle Robertson’s rushed quarter-mile hike was a lot faster going than coming. Kyle Robertson now knows what all the fuss is about. His best friend, James Boley, already knew, which is why Kyle took up hunting a couple of years ago. “Before that, I’d hunted a little bit, but nothing serious,” said the 23-year-old. “Jame... READ MORE
Third Time’s the Charm
By Bill Robinson
They say you’re supposed to stay out of a buck’s bedroom, but this tale defies all logic. Back in October 2012, a friend who works for me at the Clay Center, Kan., Police Department (I’m the chief) sent me a text message, saying he’d arrowed a moose of a whitetail. The word moose wasn’t an adjective; it was a nickname,... READ MORE
Under the Cover of Snowness
By Darren Warner
Mother Nature Photoshopped this Michigan hunter’s “doe.” Jeff Toy of Dowagiac, Mich., sat motionless on a red bucket near the edge of a cut cornfield. Snow blew across the field from left to right, not quite a whiteout, but far from snow-globe calm. Spindrift pelted his face, while white powder collected on his snow camouflage jac... READ MORE
Misnomer in Missouri
By Jeff Lampe
Being wrong isn’t always a bad thing. Maybe it’s a good thing that Michael Schumann and his sons, Dillon and Matthew, thought they were hunting a 180-inch buck on their ground in Randolph County, Mo., in 2013. Had they known the whitetail would actually gross more than 200, life away from a deer stand would’ve been even more unbea... READ MORE
One Good Turn …
By Ed Waite
Dibs for Ohio dropper might be the best tip ever given for services rendered. 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 custom... READ MORE
The Coffee-stained Buck
By Darren Warner
Sometimes you feel like a nut. Sometimes you don’t. The moment Tony Losey looked out of his popup blind’s window and saw something other than raindrops, he forgot he was holding a bag of pistachios. Or maybe he just lost his grip. One moment, the Belleville, Mich., hunter was sitting in his dry dome, enjoying his snack. The next, ... READ MORE
How to Beat the No-stand Blues
By Ed Waite
To the person who stole Mike Flanigan’s treestand: Thank you. A not-so-funny thing happened to Mike Flanigan of Conneaut, Ohio, on the way to his deer stand last Oct. 27. When he arrived at his tree, the stand wasn’t there. Understandably upset, he could’ve walked back to his truck to stew in his own juices for a few hours while h... READ MORE
A Series of Fortunate Events
By Mark Sharp
Sometimes the calendar tells you it's time to be in a tree. Sometimes it's brothers-in-law, or maybe the neighbor's combining. After a long day at the job site on Nov. 8, 2013, I wasn’t sure I wanted to go bowhunting. Although early November is usually a good time to be in a deer stand, there hadn’t been much activity to that point. Whi... READ MORE
Buck of Steel
By Mike Handley
Not all deer leap tall buildings when hit by a speeding bullet. One reason even veteran deer hunters fail to get more than one shot at a fleeing deer is because they’re shocked when the animal doesn’t falter or collapse after the first boom. All too often, those who manage a follow-up shot are too rattled to make it count. That might've... READ MORE
Because the Wind Was Wrong
By Dale Weddle
Not for nothing: If Larry Price tells you a turkey dips snuff, you’ll find the can under the bird's wing. Aside from accompanying his stepfather a few times in his youth, hunting never interested James Irvine until he moved his family from an urban to a rural setting almost a decade ago. “It was just seven or eight years ago that I boug... READ MORE
Fooling Moses
By Mike Handley
Trash talk and some eau-de-deer combine to cook this buck’s grits. When Josh Stephenson saw the tsunami rolling through the yellowed stalks, he stood and grabbed his bow. Whether the parting corn represented a Biblical shift or the opening of a new fault line near Danville, Ind., whether a robed and bearded man, a herd of deer or geology was ... READ MORE