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Rack Magazine
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Trip Wire
By Ed Waite
If the llama’s looking, you’d better have more than a hammer in hand. After three years of playing cat and mouse with a warhorse of a buck, ’twas Gary Hornbeck who wore the Cheshire grin in 2012. Had it not been for an old wire fence, however, the normally surefooted whitetail might have won the day. At the very least, the deer hu... READ MORE
From the Land of She-Deer …
By Ed Waite
Unlike the monsters under beds and in closets, this Ohio buck is the real deal. When the McGuires go hunting, it’s more like grocery shopping. Ohio might be home to the country’s most prosperous taxidermists, and Mahoning might be one of the few counties even nonresident hunters are able to cite. But the public and neighboring ground th... READ MORE
Blame it on the Corn
By Mike Handley
If a ‘big tater’ is an astonishingly huge whitetail, is a ‘little tater’ a spike? State wildlife managers have long known that, for hunters, seeing deer is just as important — perhaps more — than tying a tag on one. As long as hunters know the animals are out there, they’re content with spending money for l... READ MORE
‘Bad Day’ a Good Day to be in a Stand
By Jill J. Easton
This Missouri bowhunter is more accustomed to buying condiments than paying for taxidermy. Bill Testerman of Belton, Mo., considers himself more meat hunter than antler guy. But his affinity for venison aside, that might change now. Okay, so maybe Bill doesn’t see only backstrap when he’s looking at a deer. A buck has always been cause ... READ MORE
Creature from the Green Lagoon
By Kenny (and Bryce) Fulton
How to cure, or at least forget about, a sore throat. The drive home was surreal. I kept checking and double-checking my rearview mirror to make sure it was still back there. I called my son when I pulled onto Interstate 35 just south of Salina, Kan., and told him the news. “The antlers are sticking up over the tool box,” I said. &ldquo... READ MORE
Off the Beaten Path
By Dale Weddle
Why does a buck cross the road? To get shot, of course … which is why it might be best to hunt deep within the woods on one side or the other. The large snowflakes fell silently to earth, brushing Ricky Roy in his deer stand tucked among the limbs of the skinny little tree he’d climbed. Twenty-five feet below, the ground was already wh... READ MORE
Eh, Y’all Check This Out!
By Mike Handley
From Alabama to British Columbia is a long way to go to hug someone who doesn’t want to be hugged. Brett Winford doesn’t make a habit of wrapping his arms around men he barely knows, but he admits he did it — once — in 2007. That was the third and last year the Shelby County, Ala., homebuilder traveled to British Columbia to... READ MORE
Listen to the Locals
By Dale Weddle
The man told them all the big deer were shot during rainy-nasty weather … After waiting an hour at his truck, Wayne Jordan returned to where he’d launched an arrow at the huge drop-tined buck. Everything had happened so quickly, he wasn’t sure if he’d even connected. “I saw the deer wobble a little bit as it ran off,&... READ MORE
Four Shots, One Buck and a Very Dead Phone
By Ed Waite
Jeff Sims killed his cell phone on Nov. 24, 2012, but not before the entire civilized world — or at least much of Franklin County, Ind. — knew what else he’d killed. The deer hunter from West Harrison called and texted so many people, he fried his cell phone’s innards. It took only four shotgun slugs to do the same to the bu... READ MORE
Footlongs for Four
By Dale Weddle
Half of this Kentucky Stud’s Uprights are At Least 12 Inches Long! Setting out and monitoring trail cameras can be almost as satisfying as squeezing a trigger, especially if photographs reveal a world-class buck. Danny Smith of Monticello, Ky., can attest to that. “I started using trail cams about 10 years ago,” he said. “I ... READ MORE
Almost Fooled by a Black Cap and Forks
By Adam Maucieri
I will never forget Nov. 20, 2011. My hunting season began in early September. Each year, I try to get out for some bowhunting with family and friends, particularly my best friend, Joey, co-owner of Jim Bows Archery in Calgary, Alberta. We usually set up trail cameras to pattern the deer and determine where to place stands prior to the season. Alth... READ MORE
Anticlimactic Defined
By Lisa Price
For this Kansan, hunting is far more fun than gathering. To begin with, Don pursued this same Kansas whitetail for three seasons before he arrowed it in 2011. And prior to his sealing the deal, two friends, knowing they’d break his heart if they shot it, let the deer continue on its merry way. On the December afternoon Don got his chance at t... READ MORE
Almost Too Easy
By Gita M. Smith
If David Bertsch had any doubts that the buck in the back of his truck was worthy of being converted into a pricey piece of wall art, they evaporated soon after he pulled into taxidermist Rick Busse’s driveway.“I’ve been doing this for 31 years, and I thought I’d seen everything,” Busse told him. “But I’ve ... READ MORE
Clay Commander Trades Pellets for Slug
By Mike Handley
Having a Gould point a shotgun at you, if you’re a deer or a clay target, is a good way to get dead. This is abundantly clear to fans and followers of brothers Aaron and Steve from Alexandria, Minn., who travel the country with their Winchesters to wow audiences with their reflexive marksmanship. Aaron, capable of busting clays between one-ar... READ MORE
Mighty Weren’t the Preparations
By Ed Waite
Taking note of the comings and goings of whitetails on a mere five acres should be as easy as pulling a can of green beans out of the cupboard. Cody Gwinner and his father, Ted, know their little patch of woods like it was a pantry. And they’d normally have pinpointed the freshest and most often used deer trails long before the season opened,... READ MORE
Eau De Buck
By Dale Weddle
Testosterone Can Be a Buck’s Undoing. Gazes locked with the biggest buck he’d ever seen, Tim Gosser froze in place, his rifle halfway between the shooting rail of his ladder stand and his shoulder. During those five minutes, the borrowed firearm went from weighing 7 to 70 pounds. The unbelievably big 10-pointer was so close that Tim co... READ MORE
Like Clockwork, Almost
By Mike Handley
Aubrey Man’s First Deer by Bow Shatters Texas Record! Robert and Jerry Taylor don’t need deer telemetry data to convince them that whitetails are creatures of habit. For four years, they merely had to look at the calendar to know approximately when a freakishly big buck was going to wander onto their little piece of Grayson County, Texa... READ MORE
Joshua Unglued
By Mike Handley
Fainting dead away might’ve been the only thing Joshua Bruce didn’t do during the last day of his 2012 hunt at Giles Island. He shook, probably squeaked, banged his rifle on the shooting house window, lost the use of his fingers and fell down twice. If he’d had any nerve pills, he might’ve chipmunked a handful. He was as rat... READ MORE
So THIS is What All the Fuss is About!
By Mike Handley
It took only a few seconds last fall for Calvin Gustus to decide he both loves and loathes bowhunting. The 2012 archery season was the 55-year-old volunteer fireman’s first, though he actually paid $50 for a bow in the mid-1980s. After shooting it a few times, he hung it up, forgot about it and, eventually, loaned it to his wife’s broth... READ MORE
Br’er Will and the Oak Patch
By Ed Waite
Disciplining an employee who lives and breathes deer hunting by giving him a day off in mid-November, even without pay, is a bit like sending a child to his room with a game-laden laptop and a Popsicle. After what happened to Will Durstine last year, his coworkers might be lining up for DLOs (disciplinary layoffs) in 2013. During deer season, Will ... READ MORE