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Bookends
By John E. Phillips
This bowhunter’s 2015 buck is a quarter-inch bigger than the one he arrowed in 2013. David Wagler never thought he’d top the buck he arrowed in 2013. But it took only two seasons for him to find the bookend to his previous best whitetail. “My heart was broken when the landowner sold the 60-acre tract where I took my big CRP buck (... READ MORE
Who Needs More Than Five Hours Sleep Anyway?
By John E. Phillips
Arkansas gains a new No. 5 Typical in the BTR’s rifle category, and it’s the largest ever recorded from Jefferson County. Then-16-year-old Kristian Vargas hadn’t planned to go deer hunting on Sunday, Nov. 22, 2015. “I’d gone to one of my school friends’ Sweet 16 party Saturday night and didn’t get home unti... READ MORE
No Fair-weather Hunter
By Mike Handley
A repurposed turkey blind becomes the perfect stand for a rainy Sunday. The likelihood of hunting in wet clothes in 33-degree weather wasn’t enough to keep Corey Urban indoors on Dec. 13, 2015, the last day of the Kansas rifle season. The Dodge City hunter might have planned to spend the afternoon inside a pop-up blind, safe from the elements... READ MORE
East Carroll Giant
By John E. Phillips
Public tracts along Louisiana’s eastern border are known for producing jaw-dropping bucks. Thirty-year-old Dusty Myers of Oak Grove, Louisiana, donned his hip waders last January to hike to a stand deep within a wildlife management area. With a rifle in one hand and a climbing stand in the other, Dusty traveled 3/4 mile through flooded timber... READ MORE
Do-over
By Dale Weddle
Two years after his arrow shaved hairs off an impressive whitetail’s belly, this Kentuckian tasted déjà vu. Dave Morgan might dine regularly on venison, but that doesn’t mean he hasn’t heard the scrape of a fork across an empty plate or the soft non-thud of an arrow hitting nothing but ground. The last time the Kentu... READ MORE
Throwback
By Dale Weddle
The rain in Woodford County, Kentucky, falls mainly on the mane, or it once did. Whitetail aficionados often speak of trophy-sized bucks as being different animals altogether. Their primary reasoning is: A mature white-tailed buck, having survived multiple hunting seasons, is much more wary and harder to hunt than the average doe or young buck. A s... READ MORE
Tagged Out in Two
By Mike Handley
How long does it take for deer to forget a boom? Two hours, apparently. The morning prior to Kentucky’s 2015 rifle season, Alvin Hoover made himself a ground blind by stacking hay bales just inside the tree line next to a field frequented by deer. The setup was maybe 500 yards from his Todd County home. He chose a spot allowing the best view ... READ MORE
Whoop, There He Is!
By Brandon Hazel
Andre the Giant twice cheated death in 2014, escaping both a bullet and a broadhead. His luck didn’t hold the next season. He called this buck Andre the Giant not because he wore a tremendous rack, but due to his body size. From the trail camera photographs we retrieved, he seemed a foot taller at the back and much longer than any other deer ... READ MORE
The Turkey Can Wait
By Ed Waite
Uneventful season ends abruptly during holiday hunt. A Thanksgiving morning hunt has long been a family tradition for Kevin Brooks, his father Jerry, Uncle Bobby and a good friend, Troy. They often go after small game on Troy’s 125-acre farm in south-central Indiana, but they switched to deer in 2015 because they all still held buck tags. Do... READ MORE
Meanwhile, in the Land of Fewer Deer
By Dale Weddle
Kentuckian longs for the good old days when deer were more plentiful … but not necessarily bigger. Chris Baldock had all the pieces of the puzzle in place to collect a trophy-sized whitetail in 2015. His family owns 700 acres of farmland in arguably Kentucky’s hottest big buck county. Food for the deer is plentiful. There is a good mix... READ MORE
Unencumbered by Experience
By Mike Handley
A little girl’s intuition puts her on the other side of the crosshairs from her first big buck. Brandon Hazel of Anthony, Kansas, knows when to say yes and close his mouth. While most dads would’ve listened to the voices in their own heads rather than the words of their 8-year-old kid, he allowed his daughter Joscelyn to choose where th... READ MORE
A Bow by Choice
By John E. Phillips
This Kansan is making a name for himself in the record book. Here’s the 2013 buck that stole his heart. “I could have shot this buck several different times with a rifle, but I was determined to take him with my bow,” said Kansan David Wagler. David’s heart’s desire spent most of its time in thick CRP, emerging only oc... READ MORE
Domino Effect
By Lisa Price
The toppling of this public land Hoosier buck began with a terrible 2014 deer season. David Fischer of Georgetown, Indiana, is a devoted hunter, the type of person who rises in the wee hours, drives 60 minutes, and stays in a tree all day. But despite his dogged determination, he didn’t get a chance at a deer in 2014. “Fifteen days duri... READ MORE
Have Daylight, Will Hunt
By Ed Waite
A 9-year-old had the first right of refusal for a poke at this ‘big ugly’ buck. Had the deer been closer, the mount might’ve wound up in the boy’s room. Brody Young of Mount Gilead, Ohio, devoted much of the 2015 firearms deer season to helping his 9-year-old son, Cooper, tag his first. The boy didn’t want to take just... READ MORE
A Reason to be Thankful
By Lisa Price
This 24-pointer’s super powers vanish when Lady Luck switches sides. There stood the buck, its antlers unmistakable. Ben Zuk’s heart sank. The deer his family and neighbors had been pursuing for four years was out in a field in broad daylight, but the massive whitetail was almost 2 miles from the Republic County, Kansas, farms they hunt... READ MORE