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Rack Magazine
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Deery Detour
By Mike Handley
A funny thing happened on the way to the doctor... Justin Hogan was wearing a fresh set of duds when he strolled into the doctor’s office two minutes late on Sept. 24, 2010, but they weren’t the clothes he’d donned when he left the house the first time. Rather than show up looking like a man who’d spent the night on the floo... READ MORE
When the Going Gets Tough...
By Jesse Maruschak
Search for uncrowded parking lot puts author across hollow from taxidermy bill. My 2010 season began as a comedy of errors, though I wasn’t laughing. At first light on opening day of Missouri’s archery season, I drilled the biggest buck I’d ever seen. But after 12 hours of trailing in the rain, I reluctantly gave up the search, wh... READ MORE
Hand-Me-Down Bow, Calm-Me-Down Buck
By Duncan Dobie
Second-year bowhunter learns what all the fuss is about! Anthony Partington of DeGraff, Ohio, started hunting for squirrels and groundhogs with his grandfather when he was 12 or 13. It wasn’t long before he graduated to hunting big Ohio whitetails with a shotgun and, occasionally, a crossbow. As he grew older and married, family obligations a... READ MORE
Never Doubt Your Gut
By Lisa L. Price
Instinct can be a deer hunter’s greatest asset! Kent Toney’s preseason hunch didn’t make sense to any of his hunting buddies, but they’ll now think twice before dismissing his instincts. Louisiana’s rifle season usually opens on the last Saturday in October. It ends in the middle of January, and that’s when the s... READ MORE
Ohio Bowdom’s Best Typical from 2010
By Rob Meade
Another one of those first-time-to-hunt-a-stand stories … For a number of reasons, this deer should still be alive. Matt Ward and his buddy, Randy Sexton, had hung new stands earlier that day, leaving plenty of human scent in their noisy wakes. And while many hunters would’ve chosen not to return and hunt in them just a few hours later... READ MORE
Making the Best of a Bad Situation
By Jill J. Easton
Sometimes bad events bring good results. It happened that way for Jake Landon in 2008 when he shot one of the biggest deer taken in Illinois that season. The dire news came in September, only a month before the archery opener. Jake and his dad found out that the ground they’d hunted for 20 years had been leased by an outfitter. Finding a plac... READ MORE
No Sweet Tooth
By Lisa L. Price
Even when he was young enough to appreciate a bag full of candy, Dewey Kendrick IV had no qualms about wearing camo instead of a Halloween costume and going to the woods instead of knocking on doors. He was 6 years old the first time he begged his father, Dewey III, to take him hunting when the rest of the kids his age were trick-or-treating. And i... READ MORE
Just When You Think It’s Futile
By Craig Bell
It was a typical November morning in my taxidermy shop in Waveland, Ind. Friends were arriving to drain the coffee pot, and I was putting the finishing touches on a deer mount when the telephone rang. I washed the muck off my hands, picked up the receiver and a very excited voice greeted me. “Hello, Ed, how’s your morning?” ... READ MORE
Not a Mirage
By Lisa L. Price
If Mark Lueder hadn’t been accompanied by a friend on those summer nights back in 2008, he might’ve convinced himself the drop-tined buck had been a mirage. Because when Indiana’s bow season opened that year, the whitetail vanished like the last Lay’s potato chip. “Me and a hunting buddy, Bobby Simpson, like spotlighti... READ MORE
Murphy’s Law Buck
By Tim Beaumont
Anything that could have gone wrong, went wrong … ALMOST. Jeff Gordon of Montpelier, Ind., would have been satisfied with a beautiful 9-pointer that was roaming the area. But after checking his trail camera in early September 2009, he thought otherwise. “I played back the video and saw a giant on there,” Jeff said. “The buc... READ MORE
When All Things Conspire to Keep a Man Awake
By Gita M. Smith
The story behind Arkansas’ State Record Typical by rifle. Sean Longnecker wanted to make a few things clear, up front. “I am not a deer hunter, so I usually hunt about an hour a year, and I don’t keep up with anything new,” he said. “I don’t go out and scout for sign, and it doesn’t matter to me what kind o... READ MORE
Woods Less Traveled
By Jill J. Easton
Testament to the first-time-in-a-stand proverb
The 80-acre Jackson family farm in McDonough County, Ill., is a whitetail magnet. It attracts and holds deer because it has the only substantial stand of timber in the area. Fingers of woods run out into the surrounding bean fields, offering cover right next to the groceries.
Andy Jackson of Colchest... READ MORE
If Not for the Bark’s Bite
By Caley Ediger
Least desirable stand yields most desirable buck! I raced out of school, where I teach physical education, on Nov. 8, 2010, and drove to one of mine and Dad’s old deer hunting places in the sand hills of Harvey County, Kan. I wanted to take down one of my treestands and re-hang it above some fresh scrapes on more promising ground. The s... READ MORE
Fourteen-Pointer Runs Out of Luck
By Ed Waite
Following the 2009 season, Spencer Forsythe was a perfect four-for-four in filling his tag on opening day. The first three deer were a bit easier on his nerves than this bull of the woods was. “I can’t believe you missed it,” Kyle Forsythe told his son, Spencer. “I’m sorry,” the boy replied. “I just can&rsq... READ MORE
No. 5 Topped Them All
By Richard P. Smith
Mark Hanna of Vulcan, Mich., passed up seven bulls before filling his tag with this 210-inch Manitoba bruiser, which had a 54-inch spread. The 1,600-pound animal was aged at 14 years old. Mark Hanna of Faithorn, Mich., a small community in the Upper Peninsula, bagged a huge bull moose in Manitoba in October 2010 that he was told has the highest sco... READ MORE
Smell of Success
By Ed Waite
Adam Wireman’s Pike County, Ohio, buck is a mainframe 5x5 with six irregular points, enough to push it into the semi-irregular category. Had it not been for Adam Wireman’s mother, Dianne, his 2011 deer season would’ve ended very differently. Not only did she make it possible for him to scale his favorite ladder stand on Oct. 12, b... READ MORE
What a Way to Break-in a New Bow!
By Lisa L. Price
Proof that BOW FEVER is contagious! Mark Woller has his son, Eric, to thank for rekindling his interest in bowhunting. Eric’s newfound enthusiasm for archery was not only contagious, but it also led to Mark’s replacing his 20-year-old bow. “I’d been too busy with other obligations to do any bowhunting for a few years,”... READ MORE
Potts Was Right!
By Greg Wood
I’m 51 years old, a mill electrician who has been bowhunting for 34 years. To say that I have a passion for big bucks is an understatement. On Nov. 8, 2011, in Brown County, Kan., rain (4 inches) kept us from hunting all day, also keeping deer movement to a minimum. That night, we went to bed with rain still falling. We awoke at 4:30 a.m. to ... READ MORE
A Slug With Moose’s Name On It
By Rob Meade
Sixteen-year-old blind in Ohio finally produces! In 1994, Butch Follick built an elevated box blind on his 80-acre Preble County, Ohio, property. The purpose of this blind was to help introduce his son, Jake, to the wonderful world of whitetail hunting. “The Condo,” as the stand became known, was the go-to place for the father-son team ... READ MORE
Nothing Ventured
By Ed Waite
Sometimes, gaining access is as simple as rolling down the window and asking.
He’d been told the landowners never allowed hunting on their property, and that was all Dave Shanabarger of Canton, Ohio, needed to hear to deep-six his desire to hunt there. Continually taunted, however, by a buck wearing 200 or more inches of antler, he exhumed h... READ MORE