North American Whitetail » Deer of the Day

Huge bucks are taken each year by New York hunters using a variety of gear. But for decades deer hunting in this diverse state has been synonymous with “firearms season.” For most here, nothing gets the blood flowing like the approach of “opening day,” with cars lined up along country roads, kids absent from school and “sick days” at an annual high at local businesses.

Even for those hunters who enjoy time in the woods with their bows or muzzleloaders, the most poignant memories often involve opening day of firearms season. In New York, more trophy bucks are shot on this day than any other. Last year, the state’s largest gross-scoring buck was killed on the opener! Eleven days later an equally impressive buck fell. Let’s take a look at the best bucks taken by this state’s firearms hunters in 2012.

I should note that these “best of the season” articles are always dangerous to write because inevitably great bucks surface after the article is written. But for purposes of this article I am going to feature the largest gross-scoring bucks from the 2012 firearms season registered with the Northeast Big Buck Club. Of course, it is likely that other outstanding bucks were taken but not registered with the NBBC.

The No. 1 Non-Typical Buck of 2012
Last Nov. 17, Dick Sheflin was in the woods of Livingston County for his 46th consecutive opening day of the New York firearms season. Opening day had always been a special day for Dick, but this one would be like none before.

This experienced deer hunter loves to hunt with his bow, muzzleloader and shotgun in his home state. He hunted Pennsylvania a few times in the 1980s, but most of hunting skills were honed in the woods of New York. Most areas Dick hunts include tillable land with mixed hardwoods. His favorite spots are a mix of open woods, thick cover, swampy tangles and plenty of food.

While archery has been Dick’s favorite method of hunting for many years, for him nothing matches the excitement of opening day of gun season. His shotgun had produced nearly half of his 100 deer kills over the years, and most of his 62 bucks.

Until recently, most of those bucks were pretty small. After all, Dick grew up in the ’60s, when shooting any buck was quite an accomplishment. It took him a long time to break those old habits. But recently his sons—Joe (30), Tom (28) and Jim (24)—who have killed a nice group of bucks in the range of 120-130 inches—chided him into passing on those small bucks so he could focus on a wall-hanger.

This new approach seemed to be working. Over the past several years Dick has shot fewer bucks, but bigger ones. And he now finds great enjoyment in letting the “little guys” pass. So he set his goal of shooting a buck worth mounting: by his definition, one of 140 inches or better. And Dick had access to a property that might be able to produce such a buck.

Dick had been hunting a very good property for several years prior to the 2012 season, and he and his sons had shot some decent bucks there. In late summer of 2011, another hunter spotted a giant buck with “at least 14 points” on the farm. Then opening day of the 2011 gun season on the property produced two good bucks for Dick’s sons.

Going into the 2012 season the team had a camera that had picked up some photos of really good bucks, so hopes were high for the firearms opener. They wondered if that big one was still hanging around.

The day before the opener last year was Dec. 16: Dick’s 61st birthday. But it was bittersweet, because on that date three years earlier, his mom passed away. He had spoken with her that morning, and in addition to wishing him a happy birthday, she reminded him that every day is a blessing. About 15 minutes later she had a stroke and passed away the next day.

As Dick prepared for last opening day, his mom’s words came back to him. He also recalled that she had knitted him an orange hat. So in her honor, he found the hat and decided he would wear it. Who knows? Dick said to himself. Maybe it will bring me good luck. He could not have known just how good.

Dick says he never sleeps well the night before the gun opener. To make matters worse he had a cup of coffee late in the evening. He went to bed at 10 but then woke up at 11 and could not get back to sleep. He kept himself busy all night, then cooked breakfast for sons Joe and Tom, who would be hunting with him that morning.

After breakfast, they headed out and got into their stands about an hour before first light. The temperature was in the low 20s. Dick was hunting a stand between two thick areas, though he was in open hardwoods. Around him was a swampy area with plenty of frozen water on this morning. That would make it easy to hear deer moving.

Ray Swope (left) shows off his buck with David Blanton and Dick Sheflin (right).

At 8:30, Dick saw eight does and fawns with a 5-pointer behind them. After that things quieted down again, and Dick had something to eat. By 9:30 the sun had warmed him up, and having had so little sleep the night before, the hunter decided it might be time for a little nap.

Dick looked around and saw a tree that looked like a good one to take a snooze under. So at around 10:00 he decided to do just that. But as he started down from his own tree, he happened to see movement in one of the thick areas.

Sure enough, here came some does and fawns, so Dick quietly got back into the stand. Soon afterwards he heard ice breaking, and moments later a tall-racked 6-pointer came out to chase does.

Before long, one of the does started looking behind Dick’s stand. She stamped her feet and was extremely alert, so Dick slowly looked over his shoulder. All he saw was a rack! He tried to grab his gun and it clanked against the metal hanger. Thankfully the buck did not notice the noise and Dick was able to get the gun into position. He looked ahead of the big buck, picked a clear spot and was able to follow the deer with the gun and wait till he hit the opening.

When the shot presented itself, Dick pulled the trigger. In short order the buck went down . . . kicked a few times . . . and that was that. Dick thought he had shot a “decent buck,” but he really had never taken a good look at the rack. He called Joe from his stand and said just that. Then he climbed down and walked over to the dead deer.

As the hunter got closer, it seemed to him that the buck just kept getting bigger and bigger. When Dick bent over and picked up the buck’s head, he could not believe what he was seeing. He still did not completely understand how big the buck was. “I sure hope he scores at least 140!” Dick remembers thinking. He called Joe and updated his previous story. The rack had 18 points!

Joe had a hard time believing his dad’s new version of events. But when asked if he planned to get it mounted, Dick responded, “Oh, yeah!” That was enough to convince the boys to head right over.

They were not disappointed when they got there. In fact, they were shocked! It was a great family experience as the boys enjoyed the moment with their dad. Dick thought about how fortunate he was that his boys had chided him into waiting for a “wall-hanger.” And of course, he also thought of his mom as he looked at the “lucky” orange hat she had knitted him. Taking this great whitetail was all about family.

The boys told their dad they knew his buck would indeed go “better than 140,” but the men still had no idea this would be New York’s highest-gross-score buck of 2012.

Joe took some photos with his new iPhone (the only camera they had) and immediately sent them to a few friends. Dick was amazed how quickly so many people saw that photo. By noon people all over the state were receiving the photo, and it had created quite a stir. Many people came over to see this buck and celebrate with Dick.

The next day, Bob Estes of the New York State Big Buck Club and Boone and Crockett “green” scored the deer. Now, for the first time, Dick realized just how special his buck was. He really enjoyed his time with Bob and the “hubbub” the buck created over the coming months.

After the 60-day drying period, the great buck was panel scored by Bob and Bill Estes of B&C and Robert Terol of NYSBBC. The final panel score of this buck is 195 5/8 inches gross and 188 6/8 net B&C as an 18-point non-typical. The typical frame is a 6×5 with three abnormal points on the right and four on the left.

The G-2 and G-3 tines are the strength of the rack, with the G-2s checking in at 12 5/8 and 13 2/8 and each G-3 exceeding 10. The mass is excellent, with base circumferences over 5 inches each. According to the Northeast Big Buck Club, this buck ranks No. 12 for gun non-typicals from the state all time and is the largest-gross-scoring non-typical from the state in 2012.

For more information on the NBBC, or to buy its hardcover Record Book—Northeast Trophy Whitetails VI, visit their website. For more on the New York State Big Buck Club, visit their website.

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NAW's Best Bucks of 2012

If you enjoy a good story about a kid and his very first buck, you’re sure to love the true tale behind the bruiser whitetail Texas archer Robert Taylor brought down in Grayson County during the waning days of the state’s 2012-13 deer season.

Now, Robert is by no means a kid. But the 50-year-old construction worker from Aubrey, north of Dallas, certainly felt like one on the fateful afternoon of Dec. 29, 2012, when he brought down his first buck with bow and arrow. And understandably so. This isn’t just some run-of-the-mill whitetail with a decent rack. The trophy up for discussion here is truly one for the ages.

Just How Big is He?
While the rack hasn’t yet been panel-scored by the Pope & Young Club, Eric Stanosheck and Jennifer Barrow spent nearly five hours laboring over the freakish 44-pointer to score him for Boone & Crockett. They ended up with a net entry score of 254 4/8.

More than half of that total is attributed to the 129 6/8 inches of abnormal growth the deer stacked onto his basic 8-point frame, which nets 124 6/8. He’s a freak and freakishly big.

It’s worth nothing that the net entry score took a quantum leap over the “green” net score of 249 2/8. The reason? Eric and Jennifer took a different route when evaluating one of the main beams and a G-3 tine.

Surprisingly, perhaps, the Taylor buck also gained two scorable points after drying. But Eric says that’s easy to explain. A pair of webbed/palmated protrusions didn’t qualify as scorable points when the rack was measured green, because their length wasn’t in excess of their width. After drying, however, the webbing shrank enough that the measurers were able to squeeze two more scorable points out of the rack. One of these is 1 3/8 inches long, the other 1 1/8.

If the Taylor buck’s score holds through P&Y panel judging (next held in 2015), the deer could rank among the Top 10 bow non-typicals of all time. Of course, that’s based on the rankings as they exist today; more new giants could have come along by then.

As huge as this buck is, Robert claims the rack had as many as four more non-typical tines of legal length broken off, whether from rubbing or tangling with other bucks. Had those tines still been in place, the bowhunter thinks the deer would have scored in the 260s. But who’s complaining?

“I don’t guess that’s too bad for a first buck with bow,” Robert chuckles. “He was definitely one of a kind. I doubt there will ever be another one like that around here. But you never know. He was aged at 7 1/2, so he definitely had plenty of time to spread his genes around the neighborhood.”

Land of Giants
While word of such a bruiser being arrowed on open range is sure to grab the ears of whitetails junkies nationwide, it probably didn’t come as much shock to those who are familiar with Grayson County. Located northeast of Dallas on the Oklahoma border, Grayson has a rich history of producing bucks with high-scoring headgear. Perhaps not coincidentally, it’s the only county in Texas with a full deer season limited to vertical bows and crossbows.

Each year, hunters in these parts hold their breath when archery season gets under way, in anticipation that some lucky Grayson County bowhunter will cross paths with a B&C-caliber whitetail. Not many seasons go by that it doesn’t happen—sometimes more than once.

Prior to last fall, perhaps the most famous of all Grayson County monarchs was Jeff Duncan’s. Known to local hunters as “Big Boy,” this huge non-typical was taken at 11,300-acre Hagerman National Wildlife Refuge in 2001. The 26-point rack nets 225 7/8 and ranked as the P&Y state record non-typical until 2010, when South Texas bowhunter Thomas Friedkin got a 19-pointer netting 229 6/8.

As featured in last month’s issue, the state record changed hands again in Sept. 2012, when A.J. Downs of Conroe bagged an East Texas 28-pointer that nets a whopping 256 4/8, according to B&C panel measuring completed several months ago.

The Taylor buck won’t be subject to the same P&Y scrutiny as the Downs buck until 2015. But regardless of how the antlers ultimately are scored, this is clearly one of the very biggest bow bucks ever from Texas.

Tiny Tract, Huge Buck
One ribbon Robert just might wear to his grave is for killing the biggest buck off the smallest acreage. If there’s ever been a bigger one taken by an archer off a tract of open range smaller than this, I certainly haven’t heard of it. Amazingly, this honeyhole totals a meager 4.7 acres!

The land is near Tioga, not far from Robert’s home. He bought the property about eight years ago, originally with the idea of using it to store equipment he uses in his construction business. Soon thereafter, though, he started noticing quite a few deer there. That prompted him to put up a corn feeder and sow supplemental crops. Robert also erected several tripod stands and put some trail cameras around the property to monitor the movements and growth of the deer.

Clearly, the plan worked. It doesn’t hurt that the tract borders thousands of acres of Corps of Engineers property surrounding Lake Ray Roberts.

“It’s a pretty sweet setup,” Robert notes. “The land is kind of at a pinch point on the lake. We have quite a few deer filter through there: good numbers of does and quite a few different bucks. We didn’t take the first deer off the place until last season.”

Robert has been on hunting leases in other parts of the state and in Oklahoma, but last year he decided to devote his efforts to the tiny piece of property he and his 29-year-old son, Jerry, have been grooming since 2004.

Jerry drew first blood in November, when he collected a mature 9-pointer that sported double main beams. The big buck scored in the mid-160s. But while that’s a great deer in anybody’s book, it was a dwarf compared to the non-typical that had begun showing up on their game cameras in 2010.

Mr. Evasive
Robert admittedly isn’t a master at judging deer on the hoof, but he could tell from that first scouting camera picture that he was onto something special. If the buck wasn’t 200 inches, Robert felt he was really close to it.

”He was bigger than anything I’ve ever seen, for sure,” the bowhunter says. “Best I could tell, he probably had 30 points back then, and several of his tines were longer. We got several more pictures of him that season, but just about all of them were at night.”

The Taylors spent considerable time in their deer stands in 2010, but neither was successful at connecting with the monster. Jerry was the only one to come close, sending an arrow beneath the huge deer after Thanksgiving.

”After that, we never laid eyes on him again until last season,” Robert notes. “He showed up again around Thanksgiving in 2011, but we only saw him in pictures, and always at night. He was very elusive. He didn’t show up every night, and he never made the same mistake twice. He might come in at midnight one time and at 3 a.m. the next.”

The Taylors’ 3-year game of cat and mouse with the giant continued right on into the fall of 2012. Only this time, the buck’s annual appearance came a few weeks later than normal. He first showed up on trail camera on Dec. 11. When he did, it was plain to see he’d stacked on some serious growth.

”He was missing the big drop tine he’d had (in 2011), but he gained a whole bunch of points and really blossomed out,” Robert says. “That’s when I decided I was really going to get serious about hunting him. My son was already tagged out (the Taylors each limit themselves to one buck per year), so I pretty much had the place to myself. He (Jerry) kept prodding me, telling me there was no way I was going to kill that deer. I just told him, ‘Step out of the way, son, and let the old man handle it.’”

Making it Happen
Robert handled the situation, all right. It just took him some time—and nerves of steel—to close the deal.

Killing the buck that had come to be known to the Taylors as “Big Daddy” be came Robert’s primary focus. He arranged his work schedule so he could be in a deer blind most mornings and afternoons during the waning weeks of the season.

On the typical weekday Robert was in the stand from 5 a.m. to mid-morning, then off to work until 2 p.m., then back in his stand for the afternoon. He always made a point of staying in the stand until every deer left the area.

It was during this period that Robert witnessed a noticeable change in the way Big Daddy conducted his business. Rather than being his same old nocturnal self, the deer became less wary about moving during the daylight hours. He also began visiting the goodie stations on the property more frequently than ever, probably because his body was so run down from the rut.

”Instead of every six or seven days, he started coming back every three or four days,” Robert says. “And he usually showed up late in the day.”

Amazingly, Robert ended up seeing the buck six times in 15 hunts before he felt confident enough bring his bow to full draw. On only one of those occasions was the buck extremely close. That day, the deer walked below the tall platform stand, which was next to a bois d’ arc (Osage orange) tree. But no shot was possible, because a limb blocked the archer’s view.

“I actually had him in range several times over 2 1/2 weeks, but he wasn’t in what I consider to be my range,” Robert explains. I wasn’t about to take a risky shot on this deer. I’d made up my mind a long time ago that if I ever took a shot at this guy, it was going to be the shot I wanted.”

Robert says he missed a grand opportunity to kill the buck one afternoon shortly before Christmas. Jerry went to the property to pick up some hay out of the barn, and he saw the massive deer milling around right beneath Robert’s stand. Problem was, instead of being in that stand, Robert was off singing Christmas carols with his church group.

“When my son called and told me he saw the buck, and where he was at, I was kicking myself,” Robert admits.

But persistence finally paid off when the big buck came calling again—this time, just before dark on Dec. 29. The bowhunter was watching seven does and a 10-pointer at the corn feeder beneath his stand when he spotted Big Daddy on the opposite side of the food plot.

The non-typical hopped the fence and made his way to another feeder about 80 yards away. He then nosed around in the corn for a few seconds before starting on a beeline toward the stand. Robert’s heart began to thump so wildly he could almost hear it. Then his body started to shake uncontrollably.

”Every time this buck stuck its head out, the exact same thing happened,” the bowhunter recalls. “I’d start shaking like a leaf on a tree—then I’d get cold all over. It felt almost like I had the flu.”

But then, something weird happened as the buck closed to within good bow range: That bad case of buck fever suddenly changed to a peaceful calm. To this day, Robert can’t explain it.

”All nervousness just went away,” he says. “I knew this thing was about to unfold—that I was about to get the chance I’d been waiting for. Somehow I got my breathing under control and managed to tend to business.”

Despite having nine sets of eyes within 15 yards of him, Robert somehow brought his trusty PSE to full draw without blowing his cover. He waited patiently for the shot he wanted, and when the buck turned broadside, Robert drilled him. The giant ran about 100 yards before he piled up.

”I really feel like it was by the grace of God that I was able to get drawn on him with all those other deer around,” Robert says. “I guess it was just my time. I’ve waited all my life to kill a deer like this. To be able to pull it off with a bow and arrow made it even more special.”

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NAW's Best Bucks

Hunter: Daylan Howard
State/County: Kentucky/Hardin County
Score: Estimated 130 inches
Gear: .30-06

Patience is a virtue, and nobody knows it better than Daylan Howard.

This impressive Kentucky buck was bagged by Howard this year after a nine-month wait. In late February, as Howard and his father were at the farm they lease, they spotted a group of deer coming out from the woods. But one deer in particular caught their attention. He was quite obviously what they called “the king of those woods,” and Howard set out on a mission to harvest the buck this season.

From the end of late spring through summer, Howard remained determined to nab his coveted buck. Howard eagerly watched night after night as the buck he named “Chocolate Face” strolled through the soybean field on the farm and was caught several times on the trail camera they placed.

Howard could hardly bare the anticipation of the upcoming season. He watched excitedly as his sister bagged her first deer, but he had yet to see “Chocolate Face”—or any deer for that matter—during his hunts. Rather than become discouraged, Howard remained positive.

Finally, as October ended, while Howard and his father were in their treestand when they noticed a deer enter the opening. “It’s him! It’s him!” his father exclaimed. Howard readied his .30-06, visibly shaking as buck fever was getting the better of him. Moments later, Howard held his breath, squeezed the trigger and bagged his buck.

Howard may have waited nearly a year, but it was all worth it after he killed the buck of a lifetime.

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NAW's Best Bucks

Hunter: Drew Henriksen
State/County: Western Iowa
Gear: Bow

Talk about being in the right place at the right time. This amazing giant non-typical Iowa buck was bagged by Drew Henriksen during a November 2012 hunt in western Iowa.

After capturing images from July until mid-October of the buck on his cousins’ trail camera, which was setup on a property adjacent from the farm he was hunting, the photos of the buck suddenly stopped. But Henrisken remained confident in the spot he had chosen for his stand.

Henriksen received a welcome surprise after an uneventful morning hunt on November 3rd. As he left his treestand, Henriksen grabbed the SD card from his trail camera. To Henriksen’s amazement, the camera caught a daytime photo of the giant non-typical near his stand.

Henriksen excitedly went back out later that day, and this time it was more rewarding. Just as it was getting dark, he saw the non-typical pass no more than 40 yards from his stand but conditions for a clean shot were unfavorable.

Returning to the spot three days later, Henriksen saw the non-typical again in almost the exact location as before. But this time the buck took a different path and gave Henriksen a clean shot at 35 yards. The buck made it about 60 yards before going down, netting Henriksen his once-in-a-lifetime buck.

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NAW's Best Bucks

Hunter: Jason Erb
State/County: Ohio/Columbiana County
Score: 193 3/8 gross
Gear: Bear Attack compound bow

With daylight quickly fading on a mid-November evening, Jason Erb closed the deal on his “buck of a lifetime.” From his treestand on a friend’s serene plot of land in northeast Ohio, Erb nabbed this Buckeye monster buck from 18 yards.

It was around 5:30 p.m. on a quiet evening when “not even a leaf was moving in the woods,” Erb recalled.

Erb recounted the story in his own words:

A good friend of mine gave me permission to hunt his property in central Columbiana County in northeast Ohio. The property is absolutely picturesque, with rolling hills covered in a mixture of woods, crops and grassy fields. I was excited to hunt there because of the large deer population and known shooters in the area.

Prior to opening day, I looked over the property and decided to hunt a nice, hidden field not far-off the beaten path. This field was about 40 yards wide by 80 yards long with several apple trees around the perimeter. I secured a Sniper 16-foot Avenger Ladder Stand and a permanent safety strap/carabiner for my Hunter Safety System harness to a 10-inch diameter wild cherry tree in the northwest corner of this hidden field. I chose this corner because I thought the majority of the deer would be coming from the bottom of the draw in the northwest/southwest corners.

Excited for the upcoming season, I got my gear ready and my wife washed all of my hunting clothes. I have tried attractant scents over the years and have not been successful. Therefore, I do not use them. I do everything I can to eliminate human odor and let nature take its course. I do use the Dead Down Wind odor eliminator, however.

I started my archery season on Sep. 29, the second day of the season. I was in my stand almost daily. Most of my relaxing evenings were filled with noisy chipmunks, squirrels, blue jays and pileated woodpeckers. I was visited almost every evening by wandering does, fawns or immature bucks looking for a girlfriend.

Sunday, Nov. 3, was my 17th day in the woods. This was the first day of the time change. Therefore, daylight was reduced by an hour and legal daylight ended at 5:47 p.m. The evening was very still and not even a leaf was moving in the woods. About 5:35 p.m., a doe with two fawns came out in the small field I was hunting. They grazed around the field awhile until the doe started to get leery. She then tucked her tail and walked away. I have been in the woods long enough to know that it means a buck is not far behind.

I always sit with my Bear Attack compound bow across my lap with my left hand in the wrist sling and my right hand on my T- handle TRU-Ball release. Within a minute I saw another deer walking toward a scrape that was about 35 yards from me. At that time I could not tell it was even a buck. The deer walked over to the scrape that was located in the corner of the field, stretched out his neck and started licking the branch.

At that point I could see it was a buck, but I did not yet know if it was a shooter. The buck started walking toward me and the yearlings. As it came closer I turned my bow vertical and drew while still seated. The buck got within 18 yards and I knew he was a shooter, but again, I did not know he was as large as he was. I was focused on the shot and not looking at the size of his rack. I knew I was within minutes of legal time, and trust me, it was getting pretty dark.

As I focused on the vitals, I squeezed my trigger on my release and my Gold Tip arrow fitted with a 2-Blade Rage broadhead hit its mark.

He ran in the same direction he came from. After a few minutes I got down and went to where I shot. I found two-thirds of my arrow with blood on it. I walked a few feet and found blood. I walked back to my truck and sat for 45 minutes. If you are a hunter, you know how those 45 minutes can feel like hours!

After 45 minutes, I walked down to the impact site and started following the blood trail. He backtracked on the same trail that he came in on. I followed the blood about 80 yards and found a white belly staring right at me. As I walked up to the deer, I knew he was a shooter but I was still in shock. I called a friend to tell him I shot a nice deer, and he asked me how big the deer was. I was quick to reply that it was probably a 140- to 150-inch deer. I had a lot of work to do.

As I knelt over him and closely examined his rack, I almost cried. I knew this deer was a lot larger than I’d originally thought. After I gutted the deer, a friend of mine helped me drag the massive buck from where he expired. Luckily, I only had to drag him about 30 yards before we manhandled him into the back of a Kawasaki Mule. I assumed this deer was close to 250 pounds.

After a full evening of show and tell, I took him home and hung him in the garage. I wanted to sleep beside him with a gun to ensure no one stole him! The next morning I took him to the taxidermist, who was even impressed. Jeff measured the rack at 193 3/8 (gross) and aged him at 4 ½ years old. He has 16 scorable points and his inside spread was 25 5/8 inches.

As you can see by the photos and the smile on my face, I had a great archery season! To be honest, I think my wife was glad to see my season come to an end. I believe the novelty of my deer hunting was wearing-off. God blessed me with a once in a lifetime buck!

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Jason Erb 193-Inch Ohio Trophy Buck

As Ty Schaefer and his grandfather rode in the back of the pickup truck, staring in amazement at Ty’s first archery kill, the young hunter thought back to a nearly identical scene two years earlier.

Back then, Ty had just shot a big 16-pointer in gun season, and he and his grandfather had shared a similar ride in the back of Ty’s father’s truck.

“He told me that day that I’d never kill another buck this big for the rest of my life,” Ty recalls his grandfather saying.

It took him just two years to prove his grandfather wrong—thanks to a massive buck that would rank as one of the finest ever taken by a Pennsylvania bowhunter.

A SCOUTING TOOL
Even at only 23 years old, Ty doesn’t lack in hunting experience. He killed his first deer with a gun at 15, then took five in the span of six years. His 16-pointer, which was estimated to be 5 1/2 years old, was shot during a drive in 2010.

Before the 2012 season, though, Ty began seriously considering archery hunting. A number of his friends from work bowhunted, and it would give him an excuse to spend more time in the woods to scout for gun season. Ty did some quick research and bought a used bow from another hunter.

“I literally bought it a week before the season,” Ty says.

Armed with extensive knowledge of the land and access to several properties around his Fayette County home, the new bowhunter hit the woods. But other than a brief, far-off sighting of what looked to be a mature buck, his bow career got off to an inauspicious start. October came and went with Ty seeing only limited deer activity.

Although he knew the area had potential to produce quality bucks, Ty didn’t know that after the end of the 2011 season, at least two other local hunters had captured trail camera pictures of a buck whose headgear would push 150 inches.

“I had no idea at all about the buck,” Ty notes. “Including my uncles, we have four cameras out, but we hunt a little bit of a different location than where my house is.”

A New Stand
On Nov. 8, Ty got off work early and prepared to hit the woods. Some of his recent bowhunts had been busts, due in part to the effects of Superstorm Sandy sweeping through the area. He considered heading to a stand he’d frequently hunted, but with time running short that afternoon, he wondered if he’d have enough time to hike the 30 minutes to the stand.

Ty gave his mother a call, and she reminded him that a nearby neighbor had granted him hunting access. With that property only five minutes or so from his front door, the bowhunter decided to give it a try.

He found his way to the spot around 3:15 p.m., only to discover what barely amounted to a platform stand. But set up in a staging area between a grass field and a nearly impenetrable thicket, it appeared to be in a prime location. Ty decided to try hunting right there.

There was deer movement within minutes. Around 4:30 p.m., Ty saw a buck chasing. A grunt to gauge the deer’s reaction brought no response, so Ty grunted again. But the deer disappeared.Shortly after that, a doe stepped out of the thicket behind the stand. She then fed within shooting distance for more than 20 minutes. Then Ty heard a buck grunt in the same direction from which the doe had appeared.

“When he stepped out, he was already 25 yards away,” the bowhunter recalls. “I knew he was big. I just didn’t know how big.”

The buck began walking to Ty’s left. As the archer turned and drew, the buck stopped. Ty settled the 20-yard pin a bit high and released.

“He kicked a little bit, but I had never shot a deer with a bow, so I didn’t know how well I’d hit him,” Ty recalls. “I watched him run, and he hit a downed tree about 40 yards away and went down.”

After a brief search, Ty and his dad found the brute. And that’s when the animal’s true size became obvious.

“We were in shock,” Ty says.

A Ghost Buck
As Ty texted photos of the deer and friends from around town came to visit, word spread about the nearly perfect 10-pointer. After seeing the buck, a local hunter knew it was the same one that had appeared on his trail camera in late winter 2012 after already dropping one antler.

Another hunter also told Ty he’d captured the buck on camera between the 2011 and 2012 seasons. Others said they had spotted him in fields at night. But one common theme was that no one reportedly had ever seen the buck during legal shooting hours.

“It’s pretty mountainous here, but there’s a good bit of farms with corn fields around the area,” Ty says. “Plus, the area he came from, even though it’s only 100 yards or so from a road, is so thick you can’t crawl on your hands and knees through it.”

Ty had the buck scored by Boone & Crockett and Pope & Young official measurers, and the results exceeded his highest expectations. With four tines longer than 10 inches and only 3 3/8 total inches of deductions, the buck would officially net 172 4/8.

Bob D’Angelo, Pennsylvania Game Commission’s Big Game Scoring Program Coordinator, confirmed it will be the state’s No. 4 all-time archery typical when the record book is updated for 2013.

What’s Next?
On the evening of the kill, Ty and his grandfather took nearly the same ride in the back of the truck as they had two years prior, when the elder hunter had offered what at the time had seemed infallible words of wisdom.

“He said, ‘Ty, you need to understand that you’ll never kill another buck this big in your life,” the young bowhunter remembers with a laugh. “I told him ‘Pappy, that’s the same thing you said two years ago.’

“He was speechless.”

With the same bow he began with in 2012, Ty went into the 2013 season in hopes of topping his personal best yet again. The young whitetailer of course has many who doubt he’ll ever do it, but the hunter himself isn’t one of them.

“I’m a complete believer in Pennsylvania’s antler restrictions,” he says. “I see bigger and bigger deer every year. A lot of people say that I’m lucky. I say, if you spend a lot of time in the woods, something good will happen.”

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NAW's Best Bucks

You’ve often heard the saying, “Big bucks don’t get that way by being stupid.” Well, Illinois deer hunter Jason Buss can vouch for it.

He encountered one of those big and not-so-stupid bucks in the fall of 2011, while bowhunting 200 acres of his father-in-law’s land in Logan County. Buss slowly turned his head to scan the area, and to his amazement, that slight motion resulted in his being pegged by a giant typical. The massive deer already had locked onto Buss’s position in the tree; before the hunter even could get his bow in hand, the giant was gone.

Two weeks later, basically the same frustrating scenario was repeated. This time Buss was in a different stand, but the outcome was the same: The buck saw him and left in a flash. And he didn’t reappear at all for the remainder of the season.

In spring 2012, Buss found a matched set of sheds from a very large typical in the general area where he’d encountered the buck in bow season. With high hopes the giant was still alive, he started the 2012 bow season determined to not repeat his mistakes of the previous year.

One of the questions frequently posed to successful trophy hunters is, “How do you kill big bucks?” The most immediate and obvious response often is, “You have to hunt where they live.” This might sound like a snide remark, but it isn’t. You can hunt hard all season—but if a big buck doesn’t ever travel that area, you simply aren’t going to kill him.

As best he could, Buss had eliminated that concern. Because of the sheds he’d found and general knowledge of the property, he was sure a big buck lived in the vicinity. At least, as far as it was possible to be sure. It was a bad year for EHD-related deer deaths in the region, and Buss had no scouting camera photos of the deer to reassure him he was still around.

In late October 2012, Buss was again bowhunting the property when he saw what looked like a good buck. Picking up his binoculars to get a closer look, he was thrilled to see huge antlers. Of course, that led to the problem of holding the binoculars steady. It rapidly became obvious that this was the giant typical Buss had encountered the year before.

The good news was the buck didn’t know anyone was around. The bad news? He was 200 yards from the tree stand, more than a little out of bow range.

Buss continued to bowhunt the buck, but without luck. Then, on the evening of Nov. 15, he drove to the property to do a little looking around. Buss planned to hunt there on the first day of gun season, which would open the next morning.

The hunter pulled up to a spot where he could glass a large CRP field from an elevated vantage point. He had a tripod stand located between the CRP and a finger of timber that connected to adjacent fields.

Just before dark, Buss caught movement going across the CRP field into an adjacent timber. With his binoculars he was able to see a couple of does crossing the CRP—and they were being followed by that monster buck.

I’m not going to the tripod stand tomorrow, Buss told himself. I’m just going to set up on the ground next to the creek that borders the CRP field.

The first morning of gun season was clear, with a perfect wind blowing from the CRP field toward the creek. Buss got started a little later than he’d planned and had just got set up near a cluster of trees with the creek to his back as daylight approached.

As the hunter got settled in with his back to a big tree, he saw five does headed right toward him. He slunk as low to the ground as possible, hiding in the tall grass in front of the trees. Buss was literally lying on his stomach with a doe feeding only three yards away. Fortunately, though, none of the deer could smell him, and somehow none saw him, either. After several minutes they moved off through the CRP toward the adjacent bean field.

When the does were about 100 yards away, they suddenly became alert and started looking behind them. A small buck came out of the cover and started checking them. But he soon started acting nervous and quickly moved away from the does. What was going on?

The next thing Buss saw was a lone doe entering the bean field. Except she wasn’t really alone. Following closely behind was the giant typical!

Buss watched as all of the does and the big buck fed in the bean field. The hunter had his Mossberg 500 Slugster sighted in with Winchester Supreme Elite slugs (375 grains) for 100 yards. He guessed the distance to the buck at a little over 100 yards.

At first Buss hesitated, thinking the shot was too far. But then he thought, I can make that shot. And if I don’t try it, I may never see the buck again.

Still undetected by the deer, Buss took his time and set up his shooting sticks while trying to remain calm. After placing the crosshairs of his 4×32 scope on the buck’s kill zone, he slowly squeezed the trigger.

“He jumped up with all four feet off the ground, then hit the ground running,” Buss remembers. Within moments, the great buck and all of the other deer were out of sight.

After the shot, Buss called a friend he knew was hunting the adjacent property. He talked with him about the shot and how the buck had reacted. They decided it would be best to not go after the deer immediately. So Buss quietly left the area and met another friend, Rob Deters, who had volunteered to help him look for the buck.

At about 2:30 p.m. Buss and Rob started looking for the deer in the direction he had gone. Buss stepped off the distance and found the shot had been taken at 133 yards.

After several tense minutes with no luck finding the buck, Rob took off in another direction. Moments later Rob yelled, “I found him!”

When Buss walked up to the buck and got his first close look, he knew this was indeed a giant. After tagging the buck and taking a few minutes to let the whole scene sink in, he went to his truck and trailer and unloaded his ATV.

Once the hunter got his cape and antlers to Terry Day of Life-Like Taxidermy in Jacksonville, Illinois, the magnitude of the kill really became clear. Terry measured the antlers and came up with a gross “green” typical score approaching 200 inches. That was when Buss decided the massive rack definitely needed to be officially scored after the required 60-day drying period.

The Buss buck is a basic 10-point typical with a single 2-inch sticker. Usually when a big typical gets older he starts putting on abnormal points that reduce the net typical score. But while this buck appeared to be 5 ½ to 6 ½ years old, he was still exceptionally “clean.”

The great main beams measure a perfectly matched 26 1/8 inches each, and the G-2 and G-3 tines are all over 11 inches. The most striking thing about the rack, however, is its palmation. The third circumference measurements on each side are amazing. One is 8 2/8 inches, the other 7 7/8! The exceptional mass and palmation carry all the way out on the beams, with fourth circumference measurements of 5 6/8 and 5 0/8.

My first thought, upon seeing this buck for myself, was that it looks a lot like Wisconsin’s legendary James Jordan buck. That former Boone and Crockett world record from back in 1914 scores 206 1/8 net as a straight 5×5. Buss’s Illinois buck had a gross typical score of 197 0/8, with a net of 190 4/8.

Any typical with a net score of 190 inches or better is in truly elite company, and that’s especially true of basic 5x5s. Buss’s buck is one of the most massive and high-scoring 10-pointers you’ll ever see.

The hunter’s decision to “try something different” and not go to his tripod stand on opening morning made the difference. “Sometimes you have to do something out of the ordinary,” Buss notes.

Oh, by the way, his wife points out, there’s another secret to his success. “He married well,” she says of her husband.

Now, Buss swears he wasn’t a deer hunter when they met, and that before then he didn’t even realize his wife’s father owned 200 acres of some of the best deer ground in North America. At least, that’s his story…and he’s sticking to it!

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NAW's Best Bucks

With a fairly recent move to the countryside and some land under my family’s feet, I was looking forward to seeing which whitetail bucks were roaming our piece of southern Saskatchewan soil for the 2012 hunting season.

Earlier in the year I’d drawn both cow elk and either-sex moose tags and had been successful in filling them. I was hoping my luck would continue during deer season.

In midsummer my friend Steve and I had set up a few stands, cameras and feeding locations in spots where there was a lot of deer sign. As summer faded and a ton of practice arrows were flung, I was ready to bowhunt. But while a few deer were seen and a couple fruitlessly stalked, early season ended without success.

I live in a wildlife management zone that has no centerfire rifle season, so my next goal was to get within muzzleloader range of a good deer. Thanks to a few years of practice and experience, I was pretty comfortable shooting out to 150 yards.

On opening evening of archery season I’d seen a huge buck feeding along the brushy edge of a slough. Because he was moving slowly away from me, I climbed down from my tree to attempt to get closer.

He was near a hay bale blind I’d set up a few years prior for muzzleloading. But despite my best efforts at keeping quiet, it was noisy stalking with the long, uncut hay underneath my boots, and I ultimately spooked him.

Over the next two months, it seemed that every time I went hunting there were a lot of moving deer, grouse, muskrats or coyotes playing. Despite constant action of one kind or another, nothing caught my interest or came close enough to get me to raise the bow or muzzleloader.

The sitting, watching and waiting are what make whitetail hunting so exciting to me. All those days when that huge buck doesn’t appear make that one big moment so special.

Oct. 25 rolled around, and finally the monster that had haunted my dreams showed up! It wasn’t in the flesh, though—rather, I got an image of him on the trail camera. There were a few good bucks showing up by this point, but no others as impressive as him. He truly was a buck of my dreams, and I had all of my attention focused on closing the deal.

All of the photos had been taken in the middle of the night, and they were sporadic. He is way too smart, I told myself. It will be tough to even get a look at him in the daylight. As the season continued the trail camera showed the buck was becoming more active and traveling more, but I still didn’t have a single photo or sighting of him in shooting light.

It definitely wasn’t for lack of effort. I’d spent no shortage of time in the field, and it was wearing on me mentally and physically. But I continued on and spent every spare moment hunting, even to the discontent of my wife and kids at times.

The rut seemed to be picking up, and in the field I was beginning to see more movement, with even a few pretty good bucks chasing does past my stand. I tried rattling for the first time with some success. I brought in one really nice buck at freight train speed but held off the trigger; I still had visions of that monster in my head. While I had “shooter’s remorse” afterward for not taking the shot, I’m now really glad I didn’t.

After spending part of Nov. 17 with my wife, Kenzie, and our kids, Tanner and Alexa, I gave in to Kenzie’s encouragement that I hunt that afternoon. But it was a strange sit; nothing was moving. The hours passed and I found myself starting to quietly pack up a bit early.

And I questioned why I was in that spot again. Am I missing something? I asked myself. Did I set up wrong? Where are the deer?

Just then, I glanced off to the side and caught movement in the brush. A quick look with the binoculars and my first instincts told me it was a doe; the body seemed fairly small. But then something caught my eye. The head rose just a bit, and I thought I could make out a rack.

I pulled out my rattling antlers, which were already down in my bag. I figured rattling was worth a try, since legal shooting light was quickly ticking away.

After I’d worked the antlers hard for a few seconds I could see that they were sparking interest; the buck didn’t come in at breakneck speed as the other one had, but he definitely had changed his angle of travel. In fact, he now was heading straight at me.

I kept glassing as the buck came through an opening. He looked big and seemed to be getting bigger as he came in! Seconds turned to agonizing minutes as I watched him slowly move through the thick brush.

Finally, the deer came into the open within my shooting range. And in an instant, I was all but certain it was him! I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. My heart was pounding so hard I could hear it, and my hands began to shake frantically.

I gently lifted my muzzleloader to my shoulder as the buck stood there at 120 yards. I tried to calm myself and breathe as I watched him through the scope. Meanwhile, he stood there with his head up, looking around. I tried to look only at his body and not his antlers.

Focusing hard on the buck’s shoulder, I squeezed the trigger. I heard the “whack” and watched him jump, kick high in the air and spin around. But then he just stood there! I couldn’t believe my eyes!

I reloaded as fast as anyone could have in that situation. My actions were on autopilot, but I was in the deepest state of deer-hunting panic I’d ever experienced.

When I looked up after reloading, I saw the deer had moved about 15 yards closer to me. I took aim again, and this time when I shot he went down instantly. My arms flew into the air, and I jumped around like a kid after hitting his first home run. I’d just shot the monster!

I reloaded again and made my way over to him for the final check. His antlers began to look more and more like pure craziness, better in person than any picture I’d seen. I just stood there in shock, trying to take it all in.

I sent a couple of messages to hunting buddies and snapped a quick photo before starting my long way back to the house to get the Rhino.

As I drove it back to the scene of one of the greatest moments on my life, I began to worry that I might break something off the rack, as there were points going in every direction. But then I realized I wouldn’t be able to load the deer by myself anyway.

I called Steve and asked him to come out and lend me a hand. But he was already excitedly halfway there with his dad in tow. Steve parked, hopped onto his quad and followed my tracks to where I was.

Handshakes and shouting filled the air as we stood around the buck in awe. With careful hands we loaded him up and took the return trip to the farmyard. We winched up the deer and raised a toast to him, to good friends and to the season.

Then we caped him out and headed down the grid road to drop off my trophy with Al at Country Taxidermy.

I’ve thought a lot about the hunt for that deer and how everything came together at the end. I have to say thanks to Heath, Blair and Pat, who measured the buck for the Henry Kelsey Club listings, our provincial record book, as well as all of my other family and friends who supported my effort to take the new Saskatchewan non-typical record.

It definitely was a season I’ll never forget—and as I write this, I can’t wait to hit the bush again.

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NAW's Best Bucks

Hunter: Brett Carman
State/County: Ohio/Adams County
Score: 194 7/8
Gear: Horton Express crossbow

Brett Carman nabbed an astounding non-typical buck on his 154-acre “whitetail paradise” in Adams County, Ohio.

Carman first spotted the 20-point buck on his Moultrie D55 IR game camera a few weeks before he killed it, but he had yet to see the buck while hunting. On Nov. 3, while hunting one of his favorite stands on the edge of a 25-acre wooded sanctuary, he first saw the buck in real time. As the wind picked up out of the southwest, placing him in a compromising position, Carman considered packing up his gear for a different stand. But a feeding doe at the edge of the thicket of woods caught his attention and kept him at bay.

Then entered the huge non-typical. An amazed Carman continued waiting, hoping the doe would lead the buck in his direction without the wind giving up his location. However, luck was not on his side that day, as the buck chased a doe through a bottleneck and into the woods. Fearful he had lost his opportunity, Carman left the stand disappointed and knew it would be days before he had another shot at the buck…if at all.

Four days later, Carman returned to the area for an early morning hunt. Conditions were optimal and Carman’s hopes were high as he saw four small bucks and nearly 25 does before 7:15 am. Less than an hour later, Carman spotted his buck trailing two does and heading his way. Confident that his Scent-Lok suit would continue to mask his smell, Carman readied his Horton Express crossbow and took aim.

At 37 yards the buck stopped and gave Carman his opportunity. He squeezed the trigger, hitting the deer in the chest and sending him about 40 yards before “he went down like a bag of hammers.” After 30 years of deer hunting, Carman finally bagged his giant.

Hunter: Scott Hensley
State: Ohio
Score: 190 1/4 (gross)
Gear: Savage 220

They don’t call it home-field advantage for nothing.

Scott Hensley knows all about it. He has hunted the same Ohio farm for the last 12 years with hopes of bagging an elusive dream buck. It looked to be the same story this time around as his trail camera didn’t catch any photos of a monster buck.

But then all of his persistence and hard work finally paid off though when he landed this bruiser in early December.

Perhaps it was his knowledge of the land, the Savage 220 he purchased the previous summer, or intuition, but Hensley knew there was something special about his treestand location that early December morning.

At first light, all 190-inches of glory emerged into a nearby clearing, which gave Hensley a perfect opportunity. Even then he was unaware of the buck’s size.

With his Savage shouldered, he pulled the trigger and sent the buck reeling. Confident in his shot, the only thing left for him to do was wait.

Two hours passed before Hensley tracked the bruiser into the thick brush, a mere 60 yards from the stand. It was then he realized the sheer size of the buck he had just taken.

Jubilation set in as Hensley and his friend pulled the buck from the brush. The longer they admired, the more they realized how special this buck was.

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NAW's Best Bucks

I know it’s hard to imagine, but the first time I encountered the biggest velvet-racked buck of my life was in January 2011.

When I saw that fresh picture on my scouting camera, my first thought probably was similar to what would have leapt into most other hunters’ heads: What’s going on here? It’s January, and this deer is in velvet! Of course, this question soon was replaced by a burning desire to take this unique whitetail.

I captured images of the buck on my camera a few more times in February 2011, but I neither saw him nor got any more photos until September. In those photos I could tell he was still in full velvet, but he’d grown quite a bit, both in antlers and body.

But then the buck vanished. For the remainder of the 2011-12 deer season he stayed hidden from me—no pictures or sightings. However, another local hunter did get a shot at him in October 2011. That hunter’s arrow went over the deer, apparently due to misjudging the distance.

All I could do after the 2011 season was worry that someone else had killed the deer or that he’d been hit by a vehicle. But I never heard of his demise, so I kept my fingers crossed and hoped to capture him on my camera again.

Those hopes were realized in September 2012. Once again I went to check my trail cam, and I saw I had two really good pictures of the velvet buck. To my surprise, his rack had now exploded in size. The added mass and height were just amazing.

I’d been deer hunting for nearly 30 years and have seen some nice bucks; I’d even harvested a 160s-class deer. But this one was like no other I’d ever seen. I just couldn’t quit thinking of him. I was blown away by the growth and the fact he continued to be in velvet.

I typically don’t hunt until late October. But I knew if I were going to have a chance at this deer, I needed to get after him early. The threat of other hunters or trespassers was on my mind nonstop, as was the fact the deer had disappeared for three months the prior hunting season.

I decided to put in a ground blind a good distance from my normal stand, to give me an option for when the wind wasn’t in my favor at the stand. I went in to set up the blind a couple days before the season in a location I could get into and out of in midday without being detected.

However, it didn’t turn out that way. As I was leaving the blind location on my quad, I physically saw “Velvet” for the first time. While backing up the machine, I caught movement to my right. To my surprise, it was the huge buck. He was only 40 yards away, accompanied by a small 6-pointer.

They were in a bean field. The deer made a couple bounds and then just walked straight away from me onto the adjacent property. Once again I was blown away by the growth the deer had amassed from 2011 to 2012.

On opening day of bow season I was in my stand an hour before daylight, just hoping to get a chance to at least see Velvet. The thought of this deer was constantly on my mind, along with the fear someone else possibly might take him before I got a chance.

That morning was a good hunt. I saw two really nice young bucks feeding in the bean field, along with several does. However, there was no sighting of Velvet. I left to grab some lunch around noon, but I couldn’t wait to get back out for the evening hunt. I was in my stand again by 1 p.m.

Three does entered the beans from their bedding area fairly early, along with a really good 10-pointer that appeared on the far side of the field. All of this activity certainly added to my anticipation of getting to see Velvet. And my excitement and hopes soon became reality.

Velvet was approaching me from a thicket to my north. The wind had been strong from the west all day, meaning it was blowing from me into the field. Velvet worked his way out into the beans, but as he reached a point about 60 yards from my stand I sensed he began to catch my scent. The huge buck became noticeably spooky and then moved back into the woods.

When he stopped, I could see him standing in the wide open about 50 yards from me. The giant was facing straight away. What an awesome look that gave me of his massive velvet rack. And kept giving me. In fact, he tried to figure out my location for nearly an hour before finally getting spooked enough to take a couple of bounds in the direction he’d come from. Then he walked off in the fading daylight.

Will I ever see this deer again? I asked myself. Twice I’d now seen him, and twice I’d somewhat spooked him.

I hunted for the next week and a half with no sightings or additional pictures of this deer. I couldn’t help but think I’d blown it. Not only had I spooked him, the previous year he’d disappeared during the season. He might now be gone again for the rest of 2012. Maybe even forever.

I decided to stay away for a couple of weeks to let things settle down in the woods. And as it turned out, that was a smart move.

I worked the morning of Oct. 28, then went home to watch some football. The wind was blowing hard, as Hurricane Sandy was coming up the East Coast and having a significant effect on our weather in Ohio.

As my son, Devin, and I were watching an early NFL game, I looked over at him and said, “It’s been a couple weeks since I’ve hunted. Things should have settled down in the woods. I should be hunting Velvet, not watching football today. No matter how strong the winds are,” I concluded.

“No doubt!” Devin replied. “You can watch football anytime. Go hunt that deer!”

So that’s what I did. I went back to the same stand from which I’d seen Velvet earlier in the month, getting there around 2 p.m. The weather definitely wasn’t the greatest: not only was it windy, it also was mostly cloudy, with a wind chill in the 30s.

I was rocking and rolling while holding onto the tree for the first couple hours, and a couple times I considered climbing down. But I stuck with it, as early deer movement was encouraging; around 3 o’clock a few does fed out into the bean field (which by now had been cut), and they stayed out there a long time.

As it turned out, those does’ presence was a major factor in how my quest for the huge buck culminated.

Later in the afternoon, Velvet and another really nice buck walked into the far corner of the cut beans. That’s when the three does’ presence began to work in my favor. The other buck started chasing one of them around the field, eventually pushing her into the woods just 20 yards from my tree.

The buck and doe stopped dead downwind from my tree. And Velvet wasn’t far behind them. I thought for sure the deer in the woods would blow and spook out of there as the velvet buck was getting closer, ruining any chance for a shot at him. But luckily, that didn’t happen. I guess my cover scent did its job.

Velvet came over and looked into the woods where the other deer had gone in. But then—fortunately for me—he backed out and walked down the field edge, turning into the woods exactly where my own entrance trail was. He came in heading straight at me at 30 yards.

By now I had my crossbow’s red dot scope right on him, just waiting and hoping to get a clean shot. Velvet stopped for a few minutes, looking to see where that other buck and doe were. He then turned dead broadside, and I squeezed the trigger. He fell instantly, as I hit him a little high at 30 yards. I then reloaded and shot the great buck again as he tried to get back onto his feet.

Amazingly, I didn’t get nervous until the deer hit the ground. That’s when I really started shaking out of my skin. I don’t remember hitting a step coming out of that tree. I just couldn’t wait to get my hands on this deer!

When I reached Velvet, he was just as amazing as I’d thought. I couldn’t believe my eyes: the mass and height of the antlers were incredible. I immediately started calling everyone I could think of, telling them, “I got Velvet! I got Velvet!”

I just feel so lucky and blessed to have taken this amazing animal. Of course, since then some people have asked what my next goal is, now that I’ve taken a 200-plus-inch deer. I tell them that I just love being in the woods. I don’t have to kill a 200-inch deer. I just enjoy being out there and seeing all of the wildlife.

I really don’t consider myself a trophy hunter; I’m more a deer hunter who loves being in the woods and was fortunate to have scouting camera pictures of a monster deer, along with the opportunity to hunt where he lived. I became a trophy hunter for the 2012 season because of him. It all worked out, thanks to luck, some experience, planning and putting in enough time in the woods.

Of course, I had help. First, thanks to the friend who obtained permission for me to hunt that property, as well as to the landowner. And thanks to Devin for pushing me to hunt that windy afternoon. What a day it turned out to be.

What could explain the persistent velvet on the buck’s rack? An Ohio DNR Division of Wildlife deer project leader said he believed the cause for the velvet antlers so late in the season was a lack of testosterone in the deer’s system. My buck apparently never got the surge needed for the antlers to mineralize (harden). That’s the bottom line.

The biologist noted it’s possible Velvet had an injury to the testicles. In any event, the buck is a true trophy in more ways than one. While bowhunters in Kentucky, just a few miles south of us, have an early bow opener that sees quite a few velvet-racked bucks taken each year, it’s for sure a rarity here in Ohio.

“We get calls all the time from hunters wanting us to open our archery season earlier, because they would love to shoot a buck in velvet,” the state biologist told me.
Fortunately, in my case the season still opened early enough!

EDITOR’S NOTE
If this buck’s ongoing velvet seems odd to you, Dr. James Kroll concurs. But as the director of the Institute for White-tailed Deer Management & Research, “Dr. Deer” claims there’s an interesting reason for this anomaly.

“I think the buck was normal until the year he grew the first rack David photographed,” the biologist notes. “Instead of coming out of velvet as he should have (in late summer 2010), he didn’t produce testosterone to shut off the growth cycle. He probably continued to grow antler very slowly during the fall and winter, then resumed growing rapidly in spring and summer (2011). That fall he once again failed to shed velvet. This continued until the deer was shot.”

Regardless of what caused this Ohio buck to keep growing his antlers all year, one thing’s for sure: He’s among the most impressive basic 8-pointers of all time — with or without the fuzz.

Of course, deer such as this present an interesting quandary for the record books. Even if the velvet were stripped off, should a rack be eligible for entry if the deer took far more than the normal span of time to grow all of it?

In many cases of “stag” bucks, the typical frame is far less well defined, and there’s a far higher percentage of non-typical growth present. But in the case of the Bertsch buck, the only thing really bizarre about the rack (other than its sheer size) is the fact it never came out of velvet.

Regardless of the relatively normal antler configuration, Justin Spring, assistant director of Big Game Records for Boone & Crockett, says all “stag” buck antlers are ineligible for entry into B&C’s record book. Of course, this exclusion in no way detracts from the sheer impressiveness of the Bertsch buck’s stunning typical frame.

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NAW's Best Bucks

During my early years of deer hunting here in Kansas with my dad, Dan, and my older brother, Clint, we all hunted the same 40 acres. And more years than not, we got deer. Eventually Clint began looking for another place, because the tract we hunted was getting too crowded for all of us. But my dad and I kept hunting it.

I’d always dreamed of taking a huge buck. And in June 2013, that dream began to materialize in an unexpected way.

Early that month I put out some Bushnell trail cameras. There were cows around, so I wasn’t sure just how many deer I’d see—if any. Even so, when I pulled the SD cards on June 29, I was excited to check them. And I discovered that on June 22 a special buck had passed in front of one camera. In fact, he was special enough to change my entire summer plan—and maybe even my life.

I showed my dad and brother the photo, and they were as excited as I was. We decided to keep quiet and see what the buck would turn into. I also decided to put up a small fence to keep cows out of my corn pile.

Over the July 4th weekend I put up a fence and purchased a muzzleloader with mixed feelings of what might come of it. I’d never hunted with a muzzleloader; nor had any of my family members. My brother-in- law Ryan Warden had, but he owns Misty Morning Outfitters Guide Service in this area, and we hadn’t told him about the buck.

My mom, looking out for my best interest, asked Ryan if he could teach me to shoot a muzzleloader. A red flag went up for Ryan, and the questions started coming from him. What was I seeing? But I didn’t give away my secret. This was the deer of my dreams, a once-in-a-lifetime buck.

By July 13, the possibility of someone else finding out about the buck had become the least of my problems. The huge deer hadn’t appeared on camera since I’d put up the fence to keep the cows out. I thought I’d made a major mistake and had moved him out of the area.

When I checked the camera again on July 20, the results were the same: no big deer. Now panic was an understatement; my dream deer might have just slid through my hands like water. I spoke with my dad and brother about removing the fence. Clint told me the damage had been done and the buck was probably still in the area. He’d just have to get used to the fence. So I left things as they were.

On July 27, I checked my camera again. This time the monster was on it, and another big one had showed up as well. This second buck, a mainframe 5×5, was inside the fence and eating corn. However, the non-typical my family and I now called “Heartbreaker” wasn’t so eager to enter.

But I had an idea. This time I had with me not only corn but also some C’Mere Deer 3-Day Harvest and Corn Coat. I’d bought these products to try to provide a bit more enticement, just in case the buck was still missing. The good news was that he was back on camera, but while the big 10 fed inside the fence, Heartbreaker just paced back and forth, never coming in. So I placed the C’Mere Deer and Corn Coat inside the fence and hoped for the best.

I’d now become more obsessed with the deer, as I could see what he was developing into. His disappearing for three weeks made my hunger for him even greater. I began to worry that someone else in the area might know of the deer. But if they did, no one was talking about him.

Every Saturday at midday, my dad and I would check our camera. When Aug. 3 came around, we went to see if the new attractant had worked. We arrived with our corn and more C’mere Deer, but as we approached the fence, we found something was out of place: The camera was missing. Someone had stolen it!

My secret was exposed for sure now, and the sinking feeling was enough to make me want to puke. My dad and I went to my brother’s house and borrowed two more cameras. One was to replace the stolen camera; the other we hid nearby to observe the one watching the feed.

After a few nights of no sleep and phone calls looking for my lost camera, I decided it wasn’t coming back. Clint and Ryan had been out of town when it was stolen, and I decided when they returned it was time to fill Ryan in on the secret before he found out from someone else. Ryan listened as my story unfolded and informed me he’d help anyway he could.

Weeks went by, and Heartbreaker continued to show up on camera. Possible bedding locations, movements according to moon phases and travel patterns all were studied and discussed. Hours were spent studying him by photos and glassing.

Then, on Aug. 8, through my Steiner binoculars I saw the great deer for the first time. He was on the edge of a bean field. Heartbreaker looked magnificent, and I was shaking watching him. My addiction to this buck was being fed.

As this surveillance was going on, Ryan contacted Bob Hart with Hart Custom Rifles and made arrangements to take a close look at one of his smokeless muzzleloaders, which have had confirmed kills at over 600 yards. On Aug. 25, Ryan flew to Pennsylvania to attend a long-range shooting school and learn the ins and outs of these muzzleloaders. When he returned, he had good news: Bob himself would be flying out with a muzzleloader for me to use in my quest for Heartbreaker.

Clint, Ryan, my dad and I meanwhile continued to study the deer’s movements. There were a few more sightings and some tweaking of cameras to better determine where he was coming from. Three weeks before the opener, things were looking up.

But then we came to another fork in the road: I checked the cameras and Heartbreaker was gone again. The big 10-pointer was still around and acting as if everything were the same as always. But just as had happened after I put up the fence, the deer I really wanted was missing.

Ryan had mentioned that when bucks come out of velvet they sometimes vanish for a while or even switch bedding areas. Because I had to work all week every week, sometimes sun- up to sundown, I didn’t have the time to track the deer again.

Ryan, on the other hand, had a little more free time. For nine days he watched for the deer, in that time logging three sightings of him. Based on this new info, I tweaked the Bushnells once again—and it paid off. The buck was still in the area, just using a different path and not coming in as regularly as before.

A week before the Sept. 16 season opener, Heartbreaker was bedding just 150 yards from my Maverick ground blind and still walking by it every morning and evening. The trap appeared to be set.

Bob Hart arrived right before the opener, and we checked to make sure the muzzleloader he’d brought was still zeroed. We were flat to 150 yards with a 300-grain Parker bullet flying 200 feet per second faster than a .300 Win. Mag. round. I was ready for the chance of a lifetime.

By this point, rumors of a big deer were being whispered throughout the area. Was it the same buck? I really couldn’t worry about that.

The alarm went off at 4:30 a.m. on the opener. It was time to put everything together. At my parking spot I sprayed down my base layers again and slipped into my ScentBlocker suit I’d activated the day before.

I pulled out my Firefly wind detector to confirm the wind; however, I planned to use my Ozonics unit anyway, just in case the wind shifted or the deer didn’t read the script.

After so much preparation, I entered my stand with confidence that morning. But I didn’t see Heartbreaker. In fact, the same routine repeated itself morning and evening for the entire first week of the season without a sighting.

I saw does, a few small bucks and even the big 10-pointer, but never the deer I was after. By this point I was wondering if what I’d worked for all summer was going to happen after all.

I decided to use my second week of vacation. The routine of meticulous scent elimination and hunting every morning and evening was wearing on me, but I felt I had to keep on.

As the second week unfolded, one thing remained consistent: no sightings of Heartbreaker. But on the positive side, no one else had reported shooting such a huge deer, either.

Approaching the last three days of muzzleloader season with only one encounter with the big 10-pointer and none with Heartbreaker, I felt my chances were pretty bleak. A front was moving in, and I knew this was a good thing.

However, 30 mph winds on Friday made for unproductive, discouraging hunting. It now seemed likely I’d be chasing the buck with a bow during whatever free time I could find in November.

On Saturday, Sept. 28, conditions were much better. Dry-land soybeans were turning yellow, and farmers were cutting corn. The temperature was cool, the moon thin and the wind light. If there ever were a time for Heartbreaker to move, this day looked promising.

While the morning hunt was a flop, that didn’t upset me; Heartbreaker traditionally moved better in the evenings. That afternoon I checked my Firefly and found the wind favorable for my ground blind. Once I got there, I turned on my Ozonics and began to wait.

About 7:10 I noticed movement downwind and saw two does standing about 50 yards out. They seemed alert but weren’t looking at me. Then they blew and scattered into the trees.

My heart exploded with a rush of adrenaline and I thought, What’s going on? Is someone trespassing, or what? As I began to lower another window of my blind, I noticed a coyote trotting around through plum thickets about 40 yards from where the does had been.

I thought, “It’s the perfect time for deer movement, and I have a coyote running around spooking the deer.” Worse yet, he went into the trees Heartbreaker and the big 10-pointer should be coming from.

I glassed anxiously but saw nothing. Well, this hunt is probably over, I said to myself as I glanced down at my watch. It was 7:23, and legal light would end at 7:45.

Then I heard the coyote howl.

I glanced back up and actually pondered getting out of the area before things could get any worse. But within seconds I changed my mind; I could see Heartbreaker coming out through the trees where the coyote had gone in, and the does were standing with him. That coyote was close and obviously causing problems.

The wind was blowing from me right to the deer, but they gave no indication of knowing I was there. Instead, Heartbreaker and the does were looking back, suggesting the coyote wasn’t far behind.

With the deer under 50 yards from me, I reached for my muzzleloader. The deer were all walking away from the blind, but as long as the coyote didn’t come out and spook them, I felt I had time to make a good shot. I lowered another window on my blind and slid the gun out. Heartbreaker was in my crosshairs for the first time at 50 yards and was standing broadside with his head up. I flipped the safety off and squeezed the trigger.

Ka-boom! Thanks to the fact I was using smokeless powder, I could clearly see Heartbreaker jump and mule kick. Then he took off running into heavy cover, back toward his bedding area.

It now was 7:25, and despite the fact light was quickly fading, I knew I needed to wait a bit before taking up the trail. I forced myself to wait a full 15 minutes, which seemed like a week. Then I climbed out and went to check for blood.

I immediately found some and started to follow it. As I approached an opening, I looked ahead and saw Heartbreaker lying on his side, dead. I sprinted over to him, fell to my knees and said out loud, “Thank God I finally got him.”

I sat there admiring the deer for a few minutes, then reached for my phone to call my dad. Clint was out of town and couldn’t be reached, but I called my mom, sister and Ryan and told them the news.

While awaiting my dad’s arrival, I tagged my buck and called Sean Beck of Beck’s Taxidermy. My brother and Ryan had done business with Sean and had told him he might be getting Heartbreaker if we got him killed. So when I asked Sean if he had room for the deer to come stay with him a few weeks, I could almost see the smile on his face.

As that conversation ended, I saw my dad come through the brush, grinning from ear to ear. We soon had recovered Heartbreaker, just as we had so many other deer together.

The next morning Ian Sparks shot photos of me with Heartbreaker. I’ll never forget how good it felt to have my hands on that animal: a 21-pointer the size of which I never thought I’d ever even see on the hoof, much less have a chance to harvest.

I don’t have much land to hunt, and like many of you, I work from sunup to sundown most days. Hunting is just a hobby. I’m a believer, though. And I was reminded of that when things seemed as if they couldn’t get any worse. A coyote was chasing the deer around on what I’d felt was the perfect evening. I was watching what seemed a disaster unfolding in front of me. In the end, though, what seemed a worst-case scenario was a best-case scenario instead.

Some might say that coyote showing up when he did was a blessing in disguise. But to me, it was more a blessing from the skies!

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NAW's Best Bucks

“Lucky” is the nickname I received after I harvested this great buck in November 2012, but its relevance predates its usage. A few years earlier, I was known to carry in my back pocket a horseshoe that I’d found in the woods.

Even so, I believe successful hunting has less to do with luck and more to do with patience, choosing the right time to shoot, pre-season scouting and listening to other hunters. Perhaps more importantly, I think a successful hunter spends as much time in the woods as possible, no matter what the weather conditions. I once heard a hunter say, “I never know what will happen when I head to the woods, but I know nothing will happen if I stay home,” and I couldn’t agree more. I believe in working hard and hunting hard.

I am the public works director for a small city in southeastern Minnesota, and I’ve worked fulltime there for 39 years. I’m 59 years old and have lived in this part of Minnesota all my life. I’ve been married for 34 years, and my wife and I have raised a son and a daughter. I didn’t begin hunting deer until I was 20 years old, when a very detail-oriented friend, Mark Ihrke, helped me get started. At that time the deer population in Minnesota was very low, and the state had closed the season in the early 1970s.

In 1984 I began hunting bucks only, for the added challenge. I hunted with a friend, Ed Jacobs, who taught me a lot about the local area and the behavior of deer here. Early on, if we encountered a buck we’d shoot it simply for the meat it would provide our families, in addition to the challenge of hunting only bucks.

Later, we started to focus on trophy quality. In the 1990s, to provide hunters with more impressive deer, “quality” management was implemented on private land in our area, but since most of our hunting was done on public ground, it didn’t directly benefit us. Ed and I would pass up young bucks, only to watch — or hear — other hunters harvest them minutes later. Being selective brought its frustrations.

That said, there was a situation that helped us find mature bucks. There were three nearby parcels of refuge land that couldn’t be hunted for deer. In fact, several videos produced in the area featured impressive deer. These videos were called “Monarch Valley,” Monster Alley” and “Legend Lane,” and they were produced by Tom Indrebo of Bluff Country Outfitters. If you’ve heard of or seen these videos, I probably just got your attention.

Seven miles east of our hunting area is Minnesota’s Whitewater Management Area, which encompasses approximately 27,000 acres of public land in Olmsted, Wabasha, and Winona counties. It’s surrounded by state forest and private land and is bordered by the Mississippi River.

Whitewater MMA is characterized by streams, valleys, limestone bluffs and hills. There are thick sumac patches, red and white oaks, white pines and cottonwoods so large it takes the armspans of three men to encircle some of them. The surrounding private lands offer corn, soybeans and alfalfa, all of which provide the deer with nourishment during different times of year.

The 2012 gun season opened on Nov. 3 with a temperature of 37 degrees and calm winds. The high temperature for the day was 41. I sat in my stand all day and saw only a couple of does and a young buck.

My usual hunting partners were able to hunt only on opening weekend. After Sunday I hunted essentially alone all week, sitting 4-5 hours at a time and then moving to a different area. I was able to sit all day on a few days, as the temperatures were above freezing in the morning, warming to the low 40s by mid-afternoon. The winds were light and out of the southeast or southwest.

By Nov. 8 the temperature had climbed to 58 degrees; by the 10th it was all the way up to a high of 68. The next morning it was 61 degrees at 6 a.m., with the wind at 9 mph. But change was on its way.

My son, Brent, was able to hunt with me that day. I dropped him off in one area and headed for another spot. By 8:30 it was raining hard, the temperature was dropping, and the wind was changing to the northwest.

Around 10 a.m. I went to pick up Brent. We decided to go to the Mauer Bros. restaurant in Elba for a bowl of soup to warm up. On the way there we noticed a car pulled off to the side of the road, with the driver’s door not shut, and a hunter walking in the tall grass with just his gun and no jacket.

Brent and I had lunch and about an hour later took off to hunt again. When we got back to where we’d seen the hunter he was still there, but now wearing his jacket. We were convinced he’d seen something.

After I dropped Brent off at his spot, I went to get a weather update from my friend Mark Standinger. He was about two hours west of where I was hunting. Fronts in Minnesota generally come from the west and move to the east. Mark told me the rain had moved out of his area at around 1 p.m. “Good,” I said. “It will get better later in the day.”

Around 2 p.m. I headed back out to hunt what was left of the last day of gun season. As I got to the area where we’d seen the other hunter on two occasions, no one was there. I decided to grab my chair and find a place to sit. Just as I was about to head out, Brent and his friend Katie came along and asked what I was doing. I told them I was going to go watch that location until the end of the day.

Brent offered to walk the area, leaving Katie and me on watch. We had hunted this area a few years before and knew where to sit to observe two escape routes. I took my chair and got situated in a broken-down tree about 70 yards off the road, and Katie set up in her assigned place. Brent went back up the road some distance and started to walk the area.

After about 10 minutes I spotted a doe coming my way. Then, in a few seconds, I noticed movement behind her. I saw a large rack with many points. The doe approached but stopped about 55 yards away. She’d picked up my scent and was in the process of going back toward Brent. The buck had stopped under an extremely large cottonwood, unaware of my presence. At this moment, there was nothing between us.

I decided to take this quartering-to shot at 70 yards. I pulled up my Remington 1100 shotgun, put the crosshairs of my scope just inside his right shoulder and pulled the trigger, launching a slug down the barrel.

The Hornady hit its mark, and the buck collapsed on the spot. I got up and took a few steps and saw him thrashing around under the cottonwood. Suddenly he got to his feet and started to run. I fired a second shot but missed. He stopped after going 40 yards, and as I was about to shoot again, he fell over for good.

When I walked up to the buck, I couldn’t believe my eyes. I whistled to Brent, and he responded.

“What are you doing here?” Brent asked. “You don’t ever leave your posted spot.”

I said that I’d shot a 14-pointer.

“Where?” Brent asked.

I pointed to a spot about five feet from where he was standing and said, “Right there.”

Brent looked down and jumped about three feet off the ground.

When Katie got there, she couldn’t believe the size of the buck. She said some other people had been driving up and down the road when the buck had come out and had watched me shoot him.

We field-dressed the deer and went to hunt out the afternoon. Then, after dark, we went back to Mauer Bros., where we’d had lunch earlier in the day. Word had spread quickly, and everyone came out to look. There was a quick and unofficial measurement 198 inches, and the buck weighed a fraction over 187 pounds.

In late January we had the buck officially measured. The gross score was 202 3/8 inches, with a net score of 193 1/8. As suggested by the total deduction of 9 2/8, the rack is remarkably symmetrical. His two sticker points account for 6 1/8 inches of the total deductions.

My buck ranks No. 8 all-time among typicals taken in Minnesota. He also ranks No. 69 on the all-time Boone and Crocket list of typicals. Prior to this, my largest whitetail was an 8-pointer that netted 148 4/8.

As the winter went on, we learned two people in the area had possibly seen this deer. We also were able to look at a shed from 2010. It was clearly this deer’s right side.

Stay safe, scout hard and hunt hard. And maybe one day you’ll also be in the right place at the right time to become “lucky.”

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NAW's Best Bucks

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A.J. Downs

Over his years of chasing whitetails, A.J. Downs of Conroe, Texas, has taken a number of big bucks with his bow. But none of the other mounts in his trophy room can match the size, or the meaning, of the freak whitetail that fell to his arrow shortly after daylight on opening day of the 2012 archery season.

To read more about this freak whitetail, check out NAW's Deer of the Day entry.

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Bill Ulrich

Thirty-five years of bowhunting have taught Bill Ullrich a few things about chasing whitetails.

On October 26, 2012, Bill had made up his mind to take off work early to spend an afternoon in the woods, and he knew exactly which tree he was headed for that afternoon. He was almost to the tree when something told him he needed to turn around and, instead, opt for a tried and true setup he had long-ago named the “good luck tree.”

One hour and ten minutes later, he realized that was the best decision he had ever made, as he watched his arrow bury to the nock in the largest whitetail buck he had ever shot at.

To read more of Bill's story, check out NAW's Deer of the Day entry.

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Bill Winke

Bill Winke has earned himself a spot as one of the best Midwestern whitetail hunters of all time, with a recent buck to prove it. To read more about this massive double G4 Iowa giant, check out NAW's Deer of the Day entry.

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Bo Russell

The huge Iowa non-typical Bo Russell arrowed in the 2012 season is a testimony to the rewards of smart scouting and hard work. Not to mention being adaptable enough to overcome some outside interference—including a crew of archeologists!

Russell's giant had a gross score of 246 4/8 inches and a net of 231 4/8. That made him the second-largest bow kill entered from that season.

To read more about Bo Russell's giant, check out NAW's Deer of the Day entry.

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Brian Herron

Brian Herron fought numerous obstacles and setbacks in 2012 to bag this 184-inch bruiser. Read the full story in NAW's Deer of the Day entry.

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Brian Hollands

After many years of chasing the same buck and coming up empty, Brian Hollands' luck finally turned around. On a fateful morning in 2012, Hollands not only found a lost little girl wandering the back roads of Missouri, he also found the buck of a lifetime. Check out the full story at NAW's Deer of the Day.

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Dale Gertz

Dale Gertz set a new Maryland record with this 208-inch non-typical monster. Read the full story in NAW's Deer of the Day entry.

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Dan Daigle

The 16-point Daigle buck, scored by Boone & Crockett measurer Lonnie Desmarias, grossed a whopping 197 0/8 inches gross and netted 191 0/8 inches as a non-typical, breaking the existing Massachusetts state record by seven inches, according to the Northeast Big Buck Club records.

To read more about Daigle's Booner buck, check out NAW's Deer of the Day entry.

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Dean Partridge

In 2009, Dean Partridge started having encounters and getting trail camera photos of a small 4×4 whose back tines were a little bladed. There was nothing out of the ordinary at the time, so Partridge and crew carried on filming that fall and finished off the season. The next summer, he was back in the woods, checking to see which bucks had made it through the harsh winter. And much to his surprise, the buck that seemed ordinary had grown into an extraordinary buck with a large droptine that he aptly named Droppy.

In the early spring of 2012, Partridge started looking for Droppy again. This time, he found him in May, in the same patch of timber he had frequented in the past. His typical frame was huge, and he carried big, split brows and matching flyers on both sides but his droptine was gone. We decided that this deer would consume my season until we were able to get an encounter with him.

To read more about Dean's Canadian giant, check out NAW's Deer of the Day entry.

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Dylan Beach-Bittner

Have you seen the (almost) Turdy-Point Buck?

Taking a cue from the popular folk rap song, 12-year-old Dylan Beach-Bittner, downed a 27-point Minnesota monster scoring 241 green.

For more info, check out Beach-Bittner's Deer of the Day entry.

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Fred Swihart

You need only skim the pages of the record books to understand why the majority of hunters pick the November rut as the prime time to hunt giant whitetails. Mature bucks are never a pushover, but they are more vulnerable when their nose is glued to the ground trailing an estrus doe. Fred Swihart proved, however, that you can have success outside the rut—sometimes it's just a matter of persistence. Check out the full story at NAW's Deer of the Day.

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Garry Greenwalt

Garry Greenwalt teamed up with North American Whitetail's Gordon Whittington to kill this amazing Washington buck, known to Greenwalt as "The Ghost." Greenwalt spent a good deal of time tracking down the amazing 172-inch Washington giant, but it was all worth it. Read the full story at NAW's Deer of the Day.

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Garry Morris

It was mid-afternoon on Nov. 13, 2009, and Gary Morris of Winslow, Ark., was heading south out of Iowa. Driven by a haze of internal frustration, he was headed back to Arkansas six days early. The last three years of planning, anticipation and excitement for his Midwestern hunt had been stolen by an encounter with a 170-inch behemoth buck and a blown 12-yard “chip-shot.” After his miss, Morris thought about giving up bowhunting altogether. But it's a good thing he didn't. Read about his unlikely comeback—as well as his 221-inch monster—in NAW's Deer of the Day.

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Jason Tuttle

On Nov. 14, 2012, the wind was right for hunting, and Jason decided to sit all day. At about 7:30 a.m., he heard chasing over the steep hill in front of him. Then a doe came running up the hill and went past him. Jason could hear grunting from the cedars below. It was the buck he had named Cyclops.

With the buck at only 70 yards, Jason cranked up his scope and looked at the buck closely. Immediately he saw the glassy eye, and he knew Cyclops was his. It was a chip shot for his accurate .270 Win. After the shot, the huge buck only went about 75 yards before he crashed.

To read more about the Cyclops buck, check out NAW's Deer of the Day entry.

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Jay Price

Like any bowhunter who has chased mature whitetails, Jay Price is proof dedication and tenacity are often factors to success. On a fateful day in Kansas, Price once again went through his scent-masking ritual and headed to a treestand that was positioned in the hedgerow deeper into the property. It hadn't worked until that moment, but things were about to change. Get the full story at NAW's Deer of the Day.

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Jeff Iverson

Earlier this year, Jeff Iverson killed what might be the new non-typical record for a Minnesota whitetail. This is the third season that Iverson hunted this particular buck. Two years ago, when the buck was a six-by-six typical, he missed a shot at it with his bow.

For more, read the rest of the story in NAW's Deer of the Day entry.

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Jeremy Schmeidler

After years of hunting other people’s property, Jeremy finally got his own in 2010, when he purchased a 750-acre property consisting of river bottom cover and cropland. He immediately planted multiple food plots, his favorite crop being milo.

Jeremy didn’t know of the buck’s existence before 2012. Although there is a chance the buck had always been on his property, Jeremy’s numerous trail cameras never revealed the buck’s presence during the previous 2011 season.

Nine straight days of hard, smart hunting paid off big for Jeremy, and sharing that success with a good friend made it even more special.

To read more about Jeremy's giant, check out NAW's Deer of the Day entry.

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Jim Cogar

Despite one of the worst droughts in history, in July 2012 Jim Cogar’s expectations for deer season in central Ohio were as high as ever. Trail cameras were set, mineral sites were established, and other attractants were strategically placed throughout the farm.

After discovering a giant on his trail camera, that he aptly dubbed Conan, Cogar set out on a mission to bag Conan before the end of the season.

It was Super Bowl Sunday before the opportunity presented itself to Cogar. As Conan led two young bucks down a hill, a distraction opened the door for Cogar to bag his buck of a lifetime.

To read more about Jim Cogar's Super Bowl buck, check out NAW's Deer of the Day entry.

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Jim Hill

For bowhunter Jim Hill, of Hebron, Ky., the 2011 season had been somewhat frustrating. Although he had seen numerous deer and taken several does, closing the deal on a mature buck had proved to be a difficult proposition.

“After what seemed like an eternity, the doe slowly turned and began to walk. I immediately drew the bow as the buck stepped forward to follow her. After waiting for just a moment until the deer entered the small opening where the doe had been standing, I softly mouth bleated to stop him, aimed and released.”

To read more about Jim's grapevine giant, check out NAW's Deer of the Day entry.

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Joshua Earp

Joshua Earp's Georgia giant scored 187 inches green, weighing in at 235 pounds, and was a great October surprise.

"“I’ve hunted 25 years for this," Earp said. " I give all thanks to God and my father for teaching me and introducing me to this sport I’m addicted to.”

For more, read the rest of the story in this Deer of the Day entry.

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Lindsay Groom

With the help of her husband, Kevin, Ohio resident Lindsay Groom scouted this buck for two weeks before coming across its path again on Nov. 7. Lindsay shot the buck with her crossbow at about 10 yards, but was unable to locate the buck.

After watching the kill shot again on film, the couple decided to track it the next morning, finding the deer just 30 yards away from where they stopped looking the night before.

For more info, check out Groom's Deer of the Day entry.

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Lucas Cochren

Lucas Cochren killed an amazing 238-inch Kansas trophy, but it all started with a blood trail gone cold. Fortunately, Cochren stuck to it and bagged the trophy of his lifetime. Check out the full story at NAW's Deer of the Day.

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Mike Giarraputo

Mike Giarraputo set a New York state record with this 210-inch non-typical bruiser. Read the full story in NAW's Deer of the Day entry.

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Mike Miller

It was October 7, 2012, and a cold front had pushed through the eastern Arkansas Delta, dropping the temperature into the mid-50s. The low country heat had hovered in the 70s and 80s for the previous weeks, and this was the break that Mike Miller, of Marion, Ark., was waiting for. Just 10 days prior, a familiar old buck had shown up on his trail camera, but, this year, the beast had sprung into an entirely new category of whitetail.

To read more of Mike Miller's captivating story, check out NAW's Deer of the Day entry.

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Mike Moran

Mike Moran's Saskatchewan buck was a dream come true for the hunter who'd spent 27 years looking for a deer of that quality. He finally got his wish on Thanksgiving day, an experience he won't forget. Read the full story in NAW's Deer of the Day entry.

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Paul Keller

Having chased whitetails in Wisconsin since 1978, Marion bowhunter Paul Keller is no stranger to monster bucks, but this year was decidedly different. Keller dropped a 229 2/8-inch buck that will challenge for the top of the record books when all is said and done.

For more, read the rest of the story in this Deer of the Day entry.

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Payton Mireles

Payton Mireles, age 10, of Ind., killed her first buck in 2012, a 154-inch bruiser. Read the full story in NAW's Deer of the Day entry.

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Randy Walk

It's pretty safe to say Randy Walk, president of Hoyt Archery, knows a thing or two about bowhunting.

Nevertheless, the 225-inch Kansas beast shared by Hoyt's Facebook page stands alone as the biggest buck he'd ever seen, he said.

“He is a giant buck. Eighteen points total with nine on each side. He has been green scored at 225 inches and some change and is clearly the largest whitetail deer I have ever seen on the hoof or on the ground for that matter."

For more info, check out Walk's Deer of the Day entry.

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Rhett Butler

Having two years of history with this particular buck, Rhett Butler was able to track where he had taken pictures of Hercules. The deer seemed to be ranging over 1-1.5 square miles revolving around a 100-acre alfalfa field.

When the buck stepped out, Rhett put the crosshairs onto the buck’s left shoulder and squeezed the trigger of his Winchester .270 bolt action. At the crack of the rifle the buck dropped in his tracks and never even kicked. The hunt for Hercules was over.

To read more about the Butler's hunt for Hercules, check out NAW's Deer of the Day entry.

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Robert Taylor

Killing the buck that had come to be known to the Taylors as “Big Daddy” was Robert’s primary focus in the fall of 2012. He arranged his work schedule so he could be in a deer blind most mornings and afternoons during the waning weeks of the season.

To read more about Taylor's massive Texas giant, check out NAW's Deer of the Day entry.

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Ryan Dietsch

After a sleepless night and an unsuccessful afternoon tracking a blood trail, Ryan Dietsch was sure he'd squandered the opportunity of a lifetime. He and friends went back to track the deer he thought he'd hit, but couldn't find so much as a drop of blood. His luck all changed, however, and the rest—along with his 219-inch trophy—is history. Check out the full story at NAW's Deer of the Day.

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Shane Frost

Whitetail fate played its hand for Arkansas’ Shane Frost on January 23, 2012. The setting was in the big-timbered, fertile ground of the Black River Bottoms in Clay County in northeast Arkansas. The ancient oaks and sloughs, in all their years, had likely never witnessed a more epic bowhunting scene. So began Frost's whitetail season, which ended with a 216-inch trophy on his wall. Read more at NAW's Deer of the Day.

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Stanley Suda

Southern Ohio turned in another giant earlier this season when Stanley Suda shot this buck which is estimated between 235 and 240 inches.

"The shot was perfect," he said. "I watched my dream buck run across the field and pile-up about 20 yards inside the wood line. This was definitely my finest moment in the treestand.”

For more, read the rest of the story in this Deer of the Day entry.

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Tim Beck

To read more about Tim Beck's No. 4 all-time B&C buck, check out NAW's Deer of the Day entry.

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Like many other folks, Wisconsin’s Scott Hove is really into big bucks. Over the years I’ve interviewed many other avid hunters, but Scott’s more obsessed with trophy deer than anyone else
I know.

Many obsessive people are successful in part because of the amount of time they put into their chosen activity. That’s definitely the case with Scott. While some other hunters find themselves in the right place at the right time to shoot one big buck, he keeps taking them. He’s consistently in the right place at the right time.

“I have over a thousand game camera flash cards,” he says. “I’m always checking cameras, moving cameras and studying pictures to better understand the bucks I’m chasing.”

Each year, Scott and his son, Nathan, develop a “hit list” of bucks they hope to get a crack at. During the last several years, the bucks on their list have consistently ended up on the wall. Like a private investigator studying a suspect from afar, Scott zeroes in on the bucks he wants without their knowing he’s watching.

Going into the fall of 2013, at the top of the hit list was a buck Scott knew scored over 200 inches.

“A couple years ago, I arrowed a buck that scored 181 5/8,” Scott says. “After I shot that one, this bigger buck moved in. My son almost got him in 2012, but it didn’t happen. After the 2012 season, we had pictures of the monster on a trail camera. He had made it through the season. To say my son and I were excited is an understatement.”

When the buck showed up on camera after the season, he was missing an antler. Over the next 10 days, he reappeared on that camera every day.

“Eventually he showed up missing both antlers, so we set out to find his sheds. We hoped that by finding the sheds we could figure out the buck’s travel pattern,” Scott explains.

After a few hours of shed hunting, the Hoves found the right side of the rack. It scored a whopping 90 2/8 inches. But day and day of looking for the left antler proved frustrating.

“We were hoping to find both sides, because we thought it would help us figure the buck out,” Scott notes. “But eventually we gave up hope that we would find the left side of the rack.”

By July the buck was again showing up on trail camera, giving the Hoves renewed hope. He was hanging around with another buck that was also on the list. Buck No. 1 was the real prize, though: the 200-incher wasn’t just massive but also had tons of character, including a large unicorn point jutting from alongside the base of the left antler! Scott and Nathan nicknamed this unique giant the “lucky draw” buck.

Throughout the summer, the big buck and his buddy showed up on scouting camera repeatedly. “We got dozens of pictures of the buck, and I was really hoping that one of us would tag him early in the bow season,” Scott says. “However, very early the bucks disappeared. They’d become nocturnal.”

For weeks on end, Scott saw no sign of the bucks. So in the middle of October, he started to scout a broader area. He went on long hikes and eventually found several new rubs on another ridge.

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A.J. Downs

To read more about this freak whitetail, check out NAW's Deer of the Day entry.

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Bill Ulrich

Thirty-five years of bowhunting have taught Bill Ullrich a few things about chasing whitetails.

One hour and ten minutes later, he realized that was the best decision he had ever made, as he watched his arrow bury to the nock in the largest whitetail buck he had ever shot at.

To read more of Bill's story, check out NAW's Deer of the Day entry.

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Bill Winke

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Bo Russell

Russell's giant had a gross score of 246 4/8 inches and a net of 231 4/8. That made him the second-largest bow kill entered from that season.

To read more about Bo Russell's giant, check out NAW's Deer of the Day entry.

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Brian Herron

Brian Herron fought numerous obstacles and setbacks in 2012 to bag this 184-inch bruiser. Read the full story in NAW's Deer of the Day entry.

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Brian Hollands

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Dale Gertz

Dale Gertz set a new Maryland record with this 208-inch non-typical monster. Read the full story in NAW's Deer of the Day entry.

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Dan Daigle

To read more about Daigle's Booner buck, check out NAW's Deer of the Day entry.

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Dean Partridge

To read more about Dean's Canadian giant, check out NAW's Deer of the Day entry.

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Dylan Beach-Bittner

Have you seen the (almost) Turdy-Point Buck?

Taking a cue from the popular folk rap song, 12-year-old Dylan Beach-Bittner, downed a 27-point Minnesota monster scoring 241 green.

For more info, check out Beach-Bittner's Deer of the Day entry.

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Fred Swihart

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Garry Greenwalt

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Garry Morris

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Jason Tuttle

To read more about the Cyclops buck, check out NAW's Deer of the Day entry.

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Jay Price

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Jeff Iverson

For more, read the rest of the story in NAW's Deer of the Day entry.

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Jeremy Schmeidler

Nine straight days of hard, smart hunting paid off big for Jeremy, and sharing that success with a good friend made it even more special.

To read more about Jeremy's giant, check out NAW's Deer of the Day entry.

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Jim Cogar

After discovering a giant on his trail camera, that he aptly dubbed Conan, Cogar set out on a mission to bag Conan before the end of the season.

It was Super Bowl Sunday before the opportunity presented itself to Cogar. As Conan led two young bucks down a hill, a distraction opened the door for Cogar to bag his buck of a lifetime.

To read more about Jim Cogar's Super Bowl buck, check out NAW's Deer of the Day entry.

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Jim Hill

To read more about Jim's grapevine giant, check out NAW's Deer of the Day entry.

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Joshua Earp

Joshua Earp's Georgia giant scored 187 inches green, weighing in at 235 pounds, and was a great October surprise.

"“I’ve hunted 25 years for this," Earp said. " I give all thanks to God and my father for teaching me and introducing me to this sport I’m addicted to.”

For more, read the rest of the story in this Deer of the Day entry.

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Lindsay Groom

After watching the kill shot again on film, the couple decided to track it the next morning, finding the deer just 30 yards away from where they stopped looking the night before.

For more info, check out Groom's Deer of the Day entry.

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Lucas Cochren

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Mike Giarraputo

Mike Giarraputo set a New York state record with this 210-inch non-typical bruiser. Read the full story in NAW's Deer of the Day entry.

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Mike Miller

To read more of Mike Miller's captivating story, check out NAW's Deer of the Day entry.

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Mike Moran

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Paul Keller

For more, read the rest of the story in this Deer of the Day entry.

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Payton Mireles

Payton Mireles, age 10, of Ind., killed her first buck in 2012, a 154-inch bruiser. Read the full story in NAW's Deer of the Day entry.

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Randy Walk

It's pretty safe to say Randy Walk, president of Hoyt Archery, knows a thing or two about bowhunting.

Nevertheless, the 225-inch Kansas beast shared by Hoyt's Facebook page stands alone as the biggest buck he'd ever seen, he said.

For more info, check out Walk's Deer of the Day entry.

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Rhett Butler

To read more about the Butler's hunt for Hercules, check out NAW's Deer of the Day entry.

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Robert Taylor

To read more about Taylor's massive Texas giant, check out NAW's Deer of the Day entry.

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Ryan Dietsch

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Shane Frost

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Stanley Suda

Southern Ohio turned in another giant earlier this season when Stanley Suda shot this buck which is estimated between 235 and 240 inches.

"The shot was perfect," he said. "I watched my dream buck run across the field and pile-up about 20 yards inside the wood line. This was definitely my finest moment in the treestand.”

For more, read the rest of the story in this Deer of the Day entry.

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Tim Beck

To read more about Tim Beck's No. 4 all-time B&C buck, check out NAW's Deer of the Day entry.

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While observing the rubs, Scott looked down and saw something he’d been looking for: the missing shed from the “lucky draw” buck. After 10 months of looking, there it was!

“It was a little chewed up, but not all that bad,” Scott says. Putting it with the other shed, the Hoves now knew for sure the buck had been over 200 inches.

Finding this second antler and fresh rubs helped the hunters finally start making sense of the puzzle. “My son and I spent a couple hours on the phone after I found the second shed,” Scott recalls. “We put our heads together to really figure out this buck. When all was said and done, we thought we had him figured out and we put a plan together.”

Scott and Nathan decided to hang a new stand setup, and they found a perfect location. The problem would be one of access. To get there quietly would require getting permission to cross a neighbor’s land.

“Many hunters were chasing this buck, and several hunters were hunting the same land my son and I were,” Scott says. “ One of the people hunting the buck was my neighbor I needed permission from to get to my stand quietly. He said I couldn’t use his land to access the parcel I was hunting. So the only choice I had was to walk across a large corn field.

“The corn was up, and it was very noisy,” Scott says. “I knew the only way I was going to get to my stand quietly was by cutting the leaves off a row of corn.”

Scott asked the farmer who owned the field if he could clip all of the leaves from an entire row of corn, to allow him to access the stand without making a lot of noise. The farmer said he could.

“It was an enormous amount of work,” Scott remembers. “I had to clip the leaves off every stalk the entire length of a field which was over 100 acres. I left all the corn on the stalks and just cut the leaves. By doing so, I could slip through the standing corn without making a sound.”

And it worked. On Nov. 3, Nathan was able to slip down that cleared lane, get into the stand and shoot the 160-incher that had been hanging out with the “lucky draw” buck. Scott had hoped his son would tag the bigger deer, but since he’d shot the other one, the elder Hove decided to focus his efforts on killing the monster himself.

“My son told me to go get the big buck,” Scott notes. “That was all I needed to hear.”

While hunting in the new stand, Nathan had discovered that the deer seemed to be walking a new trail they hadn’t used before. “There have always been a couple trails in this area, and we knew they were 20 and 25 yards away from our stand,” Scott says. “The new trail was 35 yards from the stand. That bit of information really helped me.”

Scott felt hunting pressure had altered the buck’s normal pattern a bit. “The stand was located right in a doe bedding area. It was a good thing we trimmed the corn, so I could sneak in without any noise,” he says.

A Special Challenge
Scott has Type 1 diabetes, so he must take insulin. And not just a little: seven shots daily! The condition causes all kinds of problems. He’s often in pain and can’t sleep for more than a few minutes at a time. It’s safe to say sitting in a tree stand all day is an extremely tall task. But Scott knew that if he wanted the “lucky draw” buck, he might have to do just that.

“On Nov. 7, 2013, I decided to hunt all day,” he says. “The weather and the wind were right, so I settled in.” He arrived at his spot at 5:30 a.m.

“Early in the sit I saw a few deer, but not many. Most of the day was very quiet, which can make hunting difficult. At 4 p.m., the ‘lucky draw’ buck showed up on the 20-yard trail. We call that the Lucky Buck mineral trail, because that’s where we often keep deer mineral on the ground.

“As quickly as he came to the trail, he started moving away. I thought to myself, ‘I’m not going to get a shot at him!’ Instead of leaving, he moved to the 35-yard trail my son had talked about. Knowing he was on that trail, I put my 35-yard pin on him and let the arrow fly. I made a good hit, and I killed the ‘lucky draw’ buck.”

The 7 1/2-year-old monster’s rack is indeed unique. It ended up with a great net score of 212 5/8 non-typical, thanks to 40 inches of mass, 27 6/8-inch main beams, split brow tines and that 12 6/8-inch “unicorn” point.

“I always thought the 181-inch buck I killed a couple years ago was a buck of a lifetime, but this one truly is a buck of a lifetime,” Scott says. “It’s special because of his size and because killing him truly was a team effort. My son Nathan helped every step of the way.”

The chances of father and son killing both bucks on their hit list were low. And had the big non-typical not been taking in ’13, he might not have been around next season.

“The buck had lost a ton of weight during the rut, maybe as much as 40 pounds,” Scott notes. “He only had four teeth in his mouth. It doesn’t appear he could eat any more. I don’t think the buck could have made it through winter.”

The Hoves live in a great state for trophy bucks, and luck perhaps played a role in last year’s success. But at the end of the day, you have to give credit where credit is due. Scott has limited finances, a fair number of physical issues and no land of his own. The odds are against him. Only his obsession with big bucks helps swing them back the other way.

Scott scouts throughout the year. And he does everything he can to help the deer, including using Lucky Buck mineral. With landowner permission, in winter he drives through fields and food plots to break the snow’s crust, so deer can more easily reach the food underneath. He’s even raked a path down to bare dirt over a full mile to one of his stands, just so his walk in will be silent. The man goes the extra mile — literally.

In an age in which the guy with the deepest pockets and most land often kills the biggest buck, it’s refreshing to see an average Joe come out on top by using extra elbow grease, spending more time in the woods and embracing old-fashioned teamwork.

Caught on Camera
Amazingly, when Scott shot his 181 5/8-inch Wisconsin buck back in 2011, he captured the kill on trail camera video.

And Scott didn’t even know the camera was recording. “I’d placed a scouting camera over a Lucky Buck mineral site, and when the buck came to eat the mineral, I shot him,” he says. “The camera started recording video as the buck approached the mineral site. It couldn’t have been timed any better even if I’d tried.”

This might be the largest buck kill ever recorded on trail camera video. Check it out:

Early last October, following an uneventful bowhunt in our new hunting spot in southeastern Indiana, my sons Brad and Brandon and I gathered the SD cards from our trail cameras and headed home. We hadn’t seen a big buck show up since we’d leased the promising property from Base Camp Leasing during the summer.

As Brandon drove, Brad checked the cards on his laptop. Suddenly he shouted, “Oh, my God!”

Brandon leaned over to check out what all the excitement was about. From the back I yelled, “Watch the road!” even as I was looking over Brad’s shoulder at the computer screen myself.

On it was a photo of a monster buck, a deer we’d come to call “Mega Tine.” The image was of him walking broadside in front of the camera, and it was clear he was a super trophy.

After the next two hunts we again pulled the cards. There were zero pictures of Mega Tine. Finally, photos from Oct. 22 confirmed what we’d hoped for. He wasn’t just passing through — this was his home territory. There were pictures on multiple cameras: 25 images in all.

The buck was showing his dominance, making twigs out of overhead branches seven feet off the ground in front of a scrape. Three nice bucks visited the scrape afterwards, sniffed the damage and moved on. The monster was No. 1 on our hit list, and we dreamed of the day we could text close friends with the news, ”MTD” (“Mega Tine Down”).

To this point, we’d hunted the property only three times. Even so, we decided to stay away until November. Our thought was simple: If the buck didn’t feel hunting pressure from us, he’d be more likely to stick around until the breeding urge lowered his guard to our advantage.

I hunted my stand only once in October, having spent the other two trips running the video camera for my sons. My setup faced west toward a horseshoe bend in the creek, making a natural pinch point. The creek bottom was flat for 30 yards before ascending to a thick bedding area. To the north and west were corn and soybean fields. My stand placement for a morning hunt should be good, whether the prevailing wind was blowing or there were thermals without a breeze. I’d be facing the creek, and deer between me and the creek looking in my direction on a clear morning would be staring into the sun. To top it off, I had a fairly quiet approach, using an old ATV path for most of my walk there.

On the night of Nov. 6, the three of us shared a room at the local Holiday Inn. I’d taken off work that entire week and had spent the past several days bowhunting an Ohio property I’m very familiar with. But the Nov. 7 hunt in Indiana was the one I was excited about.

I arrived in town about 4:30 p.m., and it was pouring rain. Under such conditions, I felt I could safely visit my stand and do some trimming of existing shooting lanes, as well as clear one desperately needed to my right. I believed that’s where I was most likely to see Mega Tine if we got the northwesterly wind predicted for the next morning.

The heavy rain would cover the noise I made and quickly wash away any human scent left behind. So I went up the tree, did my trimming and left the camera mount and bow hanger in place for the morning. Quick in, quick out.

Many things run through my mind the night before a hunt I’ve been looking forward to. Same for my sons. They’d put in a full day’s work before arriving at the hotel. Brandon was adamant in his belief that one of us would score the next day.

Waking two minutes before the alarm, I grabbed the unscented soap and shampoo and jumped into the shower. At 5:20 I told the boys I was going downstairs to see if breakfast was out and advised them to quit arguing over which of them was getting into the shower next. Before long we were on our way to the woods, hoping Brandon’s premonition about our success was on target.

The high temperature for the day was supposed to be in the 40s, making it the coldest day of the season to that point. As we put on our Scent-Lok clothing at the parking spot, there already were signs of the approaching sunrise.

I had the shortest walk, Brad the longest. He’d claimed bragging rights with the biggest bucks the two previous years, and I’m sure he thought he’d be the one to text, “MTD.”

The first deer movement I saw was around 8 a.m., when an 8-pointer with good mass passed me at a steady walk, moving right to left along the creek. The rut was starting.

At around 8:45 a doe ran through the creek in front of me, her tail held straight up, and worked her way around to my right. She ended up bedding about 30 yards out, over my right shoulder. I adjusted the camera to her location, though it was so thick I couldn’t see her in her bed.

I’d already ranged my single shooting lane on that side and knew I could shoot up to 43 yards. Thinking a buck had to follow her eventually, I remained on the alert.

At 9:05, a single coyote went into the creek at the point the doe had crossed, but it backed out and went to my left, down the creek. I was disappointed that it wasn’t a buck chasing the doe but instead a coyote. I texted the boys, saying it still was nice to have a doe bedded near me: better than any decoy.

Brandon texted back, “Don’t screw up.” Oh, ye of little faith.

About 9:30, I saw five coyotes across the creek. They were chasing each other, playing and making all kinds of noise. This went on for a while. Are they ever going to leave? I asked myself. No deer is going to come close while this is going on.

That’s when I heard a noise to my right. The doe had hopped up and was trotting away from me. But she wasn’t getting away from the coyotes.

Something else had bumped her.

Through the brush, I saw the head of a big buck low to the ground, smelling the doe’s bed. I turned the camera on and hit “record.” The buck paused, then started walking toward my shooting lane. I pointed the camera at it and hoped the wide-angle view would catch the action. As I drew, he paused for about five seconds. When he started walking again, I picked my 40-yard pin . . . and as his shoulder passed it, I let the arrow go.

At the sound of the release, the buck crouched to wheel and run. But the arrow still caught him, hitting the spine. He dropped to the ground.

While this was going on, the video camera sounded a tone, and a message appeared on the screen: “DISC FULL…RECORDING ENDED.”

As the buck lay on the ground in my shooting lane, I could see it was Mega Tine. I sent one text, “Hey, Brandon: I didn’t screw up.” But then, as I got ready to text Brad, my phone battery died.

I tagged the huge 11-pointer, gathered my stuff and headed to the truck, where I put my phone on the charger. I then went back to the buck and started dragging. I pulled him only 30 yards or so before realizing I couldn’t get him out of the woods.

When I went back to the truck and pulled my phone off the charger, it had several messages from my sons. But instead of texting back at that point, I returned to the buck and snapped a photo of the deer. Then I sent it to each of them with a text: I think I have it on video, too.

Brandon was the first to arrive at the truck, smiling as he came into view. We met with high fives and fist bumps. He shed his camo and gear and we went to see the buck. Brandon was speechless for a bit and then simply said, “That’s a giant.”

We dragged Mega Tine up the path to a stand hung by our friend Joe, the fourth member on the lease. We left the buck there and went to the truck for reinforcements. As we did, Brad approached and gave me a bear hug. “That’s MT!” he shouted.

In town, our first stop wasn’t at the check station, but at the Dollar General, so we could get a tape measure. As Brad was measuring and reading out the numbers in the parking lot, people drove in just to check it out.

When Brad had finished the last measurement, we hopped into the truck and headed for the check station. My sons weren’t exactly patient as I added the numbers. Brad didn’t believe the total I came up with, so he added the numbers himself — then double-checked and even triple-checked them. But the gross total always came out the same: 198 1/8!

Hearing that, we began screaming in the truck while going down the road. Then it dawned on me that we hadn’t even checked the video.

“Well, check the camera,” Brad said. “Never mind, give it to me.”

As Brandon began telling me I didn’t realize what I’d done in taking this deer, Brad started screaming. “He’s got it! He’s got it! It’s perfect! All in frame!”

We all screamed in unison. “I can’t believe it,” Brad shouted. “Look! Look!” We all screamed again, and there were more fist bumps.

Brandon said, “You’re the luckiest . . .”

At that moment, a thought hit me: In search of extra luck that morning, I’d put on my late dad’s RedHead t-shirt with whitetail artwork on it. I lifted my outer shirt to show the boys I had it on. Dad had been instrumental in getting my sons hooked on hunting at an early age, just as he had me. A picture of him, Brandon and Brad came to my mind, all of them in camo, the boys toting guns as long as they were, Dad smiling ear to ear. He had to be smiling at us now, carrying on the way we were. Thanks, Dad, for teaching us all to hunt.

After the 60-day drying period, Mega Tine netted 183 1/8 typical for Pope & Young, making him the biggest ever killed with a bow in Jennings County. He’s also No. 3 for the state among archery typicals.

I don’t think you take bucks like this with luck alone. Learn from your mistakes, make the required effort, hunt where big ones live and be ready for a short window of opportunity. It might well be all you get.

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NAW's Best Bucks

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A.J. Downs

To read more about this freak whitetail, check out NAW's Deer of the Day entry.

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Bill Ulrich

Thirty-five years of bowhunting have taught Bill Ullrich a few things about chasing whitetails.

One hour and ten minutes later, he realized that was the best decision he had ever made, as he watched his arrow bury to the nock in the largest whitetail buck he had ever shot at.

To read more of Bill's story, check out NAW's Deer of the Day entry.

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Bill Winke

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Bo Russell

Russell's giant had a gross score of 246 4/8 inches and a net of 231 4/8. That made him the second-largest bow kill entered from that season.

To read more about Bo Russell's giant, check out NAW's Deer of the Day entry.

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Brian Herron

Brian Herron fought numerous obstacles and setbacks in 2012 to bag this 184-inch bruiser. Read the full story in NAW's Deer of the Day entry.

Post a Reply

Brian Hollands

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Dale Gertz

Dale Gertz set a new Maryland record with this 208-inch non-typical monster. Read the full story in NAW's Deer of the Day entry.

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Dan Daigle

To read more about Daigle's Booner buck, check out NAW's Deer of the Day entry.

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Dean Partridge

To read more about Dean's Canadian giant, check out NAW's Deer of the Day entry.

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Dylan Beach-Bittner

Have you seen the (almost) Turdy-Point Buck?

Taking a cue from the popular folk rap song, 12-year-old Dylan Beach-Bittner, downed a 27-point Minnesota monster scoring 241 green.

For more info, check out Beach-Bittner's Deer of the Day entry.

Post a Reply

Fred Swihart

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Garry Greenwalt

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Garry Morris

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Jason Tuttle

To read more about the Cyclops buck, check out NAW's Deer of the Day entry.

Post a Reply

Jay Price

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Jeff Iverson

For more, read the rest of the story in NAW's Deer of the Day entry.

Post a Reply

Jeremy Schmeidler

Nine straight days of hard, smart hunting paid off big for Jeremy, and sharing that success with a good friend made it even more special.

To read more about Jeremy's giant, check out NAW's Deer of the Day entry.

Post a Reply

Jim Cogar

After discovering a giant on his trail camera, that he aptly dubbed Conan, Cogar set out on a mission to bag Conan before the end of the season.

It was Super Bowl Sunday before the opportunity presented itself to Cogar. As Conan led two young bucks down a hill, a distraction opened the door for Cogar to bag his buck of a lifetime.

To read more about Jim Cogar's Super Bowl buck, check out NAW's Deer of the Day entry.

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Jim Hill

To read more about Jim's grapevine giant, check out NAW's Deer of the Day entry.

Post a Reply

Joshua Earp

Joshua Earp's Georgia giant scored 187 inches green, weighing in at 235 pounds, and was a great October surprise.

"“I’ve hunted 25 years for this," Earp said. " I give all thanks to God and my father for teaching me and introducing me to this sport I’m addicted to.”

For more, read the rest of the story in this Deer of the Day entry.

Post a Reply

Lindsay Groom

After watching the kill shot again on film, the couple decided to track it the next morning, finding the deer just 30 yards away from where they stopped looking the night before.

For more info, check out Groom's Deer of the Day entry.

Post a Reply

Lucas Cochren

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Mike Giarraputo

Mike Giarraputo set a New York state record with this 210-inch non-typical bruiser. Read the full story in NAW's Deer of the Day entry.

Post a Reply

Mike Miller

To read more of Mike Miller's captivating story, check out NAW's Deer of the Day entry.

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Mike Moran

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Paul Keller

For more, read the rest of the story in this Deer of the Day entry.

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Payton Mireles

Payton Mireles, age 10, of Ind., killed her first buck in 2012, a 154-inch bruiser. Read the full story in NAW's Deer of the Day entry.

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Randy Walk

It's pretty safe to say Randy Walk, president of Hoyt Archery, knows a thing or two about bowhunting.

Nevertheless, the 225-inch Kansas beast shared by Hoyt's Facebook page stands alone as the biggest buck he'd ever seen, he said.

For more info, check out Walk's Deer of the Day entry.

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Rhett Butler

To read more about the Butler's hunt for Hercules, check out NAW's Deer of the Day entry.

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Robert Taylor

To read more about Taylor's massive Texas giant, check out NAW's Deer of the Day entry.

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Ryan Dietsch

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Shane Frost

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Stanley Suda

Southern Ohio turned in another giant earlier this season when Stanley Suda shot this buck which is estimated between 235 and 240 inches.

"The shot was perfect," he said. "I watched my dream buck run across the field and pile-up about 20 yards inside the wood line. This was definitely my finest moment in the treestand.”

For more, read the rest of the story in this Deer of the Day entry.

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Tim Beck

To read more about Tim Beck's No. 4 all-time B&C buck, check out NAW's Deer of the Day entry.

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Hunter: Nick Drake
Location: Kahoka, Mo.
Equipment: .270
Score: 199 B&C (gross)

Is there a more appropriate way for a young whitetail addict to spend his 16^th birthday than bagging a monster, 199-inch buck?

You’ll be hard pressed to find a deer hunter who thinks there is.

Last November, Nick Drake was hunting with Bradley Benfield of Cherry Tree Outfitters in Kahoka, Mo., for a Sweet 16 that he would never forget after bagging a monster 16-point buck.

Favorable conditions played into Drake’s hunt. First, Kahoka, a small town in northern Missouri’s Clark County, is essentially a stone’s throw from the Iowa state line. Anyone who knows whitetails is well aware of Iowa’s reputation and potential as a big buck state. Another favorable aspect of the hunt was firearm season coinciding with the peak of the rut. This potent mix of location and timing certainly aided Drake, but he still had some work to do.

Drake was posted in a blind overlooking a lush food plot surrounded by a dense cedar thicket. The position was perfect, as it allowed Drake to watch the action unfold while deer funneled in.

The action was fast and furious right from the get-go. At daybreak a doe busted through the cedar thicket with an eight-point suitor following close behind. The doe, however, wanted nothing to do with her pursuer and jumped into a nearby pond in an attempt to flee the buck.

This, however, wasn’t the last of the action. Nick continued to watch several bucks harass does throughout the morning, but chose not to take a shot at them.

Drake was not waiting long, though, before a doe appeared from the thicket, towing a huge buck in pursuit at only 50 yards. At that point it was just a matter of making the shot. Drake calmed his nerves and made an excellent shot with his .270.

Nick texted his father after the buck went down, telling him that he shot a big buck. Of course his father’s response was, “How big?”

“I don’t know but he had a huge drop tine sticking out!” Nick replied.

Just to get an idea of how big the rack was, the drop tine measured in at an impressive 11 inches long.

The impressive Missouri Monarch grossed 199 B&C with 16 scoreable points. Maybe 16 is Drake’s lucky number.

It doesn’t take news long to spread in a small town like Kahoka. Multiple hunters in the area were also hunting Drake’s buck and produced several trail camera photos when they caught wind of the news.

Based on the photos, Drake’s buck was estimated to be about 6½ years old.

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A.J. Downs

To read more about this freak whitetail, check out NAW's Deer of the Day entry.

Post a Reply

Bill Ulrich

Thirty-five years of bowhunting have taught Bill Ullrich a few things about chasing whitetails.

One hour and ten minutes later, he realized that was the best decision he had ever made, as he watched his arrow bury to the nock in the largest whitetail buck he had ever shot at.

To read more of Bill's story, check out NAW's Deer of the Day entry.

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Bill Winke

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Bo Russell

Russell's giant had a gross score of 246 4/8 inches and a net of 231 4/8. That made him the second-largest bow kill entered from that season.

To read more about Bo Russell's giant, check out NAW's Deer of the Day entry.

Post a Reply

Brian Herron

Brian Herron fought numerous obstacles and setbacks in 2012 to bag this 184-inch bruiser. Read the full story in NAW's Deer of the Day entry.

Post a Reply

Brian Hollands

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Dale Gertz

Dale Gertz set a new Maryland record with this 208-inch non-typical monster. Read the full story in NAW's Deer of the Day entry.

Post a Reply

Dan Daigle

To read more about Daigle's Booner buck, check out NAW's Deer of the Day entry.

Post a Reply

Dean Partridge

To read more about Dean's Canadian giant, check out NAW's Deer of the Day entry.

Post a Reply

Dylan Beach-Bittner

Have you seen the (almost) Turdy-Point Buck?

Taking a cue from the popular folk rap song, 12-year-old Dylan Beach-Bittner, downed a 27-point Minnesota monster scoring 241 green.

For more info, check out Beach-Bittner's Deer of the Day entry.

Post a Reply

Fred Swihart

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Garry Greenwalt

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Garry Morris

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Jason Tuttle

To read more about the Cyclops buck, check out NAW's Deer of the Day entry.

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Jay Price

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Jeff Iverson

For more, read the rest of the story in NAW's Deer of the Day entry.

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Jeremy Schmeidler

Nine straight days of hard, smart hunting paid off big for Jeremy, and sharing that success with a good friend made it even more special.

To read more about Jeremy's giant, check out NAW's Deer of the Day entry.

Post a Reply

Jim Cogar

After discovering a giant on his trail camera, that he aptly dubbed Conan, Cogar set out on a mission to bag Conan before the end of the season.

It was Super Bowl Sunday before the opportunity presented itself to Cogar. As Conan led two young bucks down a hill, a distraction opened the door for Cogar to bag his buck of a lifetime.

To read more about Jim Cogar's Super Bowl buck, check out NAW's Deer of the Day entry.

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Jim Hill

To read more about Jim's grapevine giant, check out NAW's Deer of the Day entry.

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Joshua Earp

Joshua Earp's Georgia giant scored 187 inches green, weighing in at 235 pounds, and was a great October surprise.

"“I’ve hunted 25 years for this," Earp said. " I give all thanks to God and my father for teaching me and introducing me to this sport I’m addicted to.”

For more, read the rest of the story in this Deer of the Day entry.

Post a Reply

Lindsay Groom

After watching the kill shot again on film, the couple decided to track it the next morning, finding the deer just 30 yards away from where they stopped looking the night before.

For more info, check out Groom's Deer of the Day entry.

Post a Reply

Lucas Cochren

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Mike Giarraputo

Mike Giarraputo set a New York state record with this 210-inch non-typical bruiser. Read the full story in NAW's Deer of the Day entry.

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Mike Miller

To read more of Mike Miller's captivating story, check out NAW's Deer of the Day entry.

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Mike Moran

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Paul Keller

For more, read the rest of the story in this Deer of the Day entry.

Post a Reply

Payton Mireles

Payton Mireles, age 10, of Ind., killed her first buck in 2012, a 154-inch bruiser. Read the full story in NAW's Deer of the Day entry.

Post a Reply

Randy Walk

It's pretty safe to say Randy Walk, president of Hoyt Archery, knows a thing or two about bowhunting.

Nevertheless, the 225-inch Kansas beast shared by Hoyt's Facebook page stands alone as the biggest buck he'd ever seen, he said.

For more info, check out Walk's Deer of the Day entry.

Post a Reply

Rhett Butler

To read more about the Butler's hunt for Hercules, check out NAW's Deer of the Day entry.

Post a Reply

Robert Taylor

To read more about Taylor's massive Texas giant, check out NAW's Deer of the Day entry.

Post a Reply

Ryan Dietsch

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Shane Frost

Post a Reply

Stanley Suda

Southern Ohio turned in another giant earlier this season when Stanley Suda shot this buck which is estimated between 235 and 240 inches.

"The shot was perfect," he said. "I watched my dream buck run across the field and pile-up about 20 yards inside the wood line. This was definitely my finest moment in the treestand.”

For more, read the rest of the story in this Deer of the Day entry.

Post a Reply

Tim Beck

To read more about Tim Beck's No. 4 all-time B&C buck, check out NAW's Deer of the Day entry.

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Like many other Virginia hunters, I like to watch deer shows on TV and read magazine articles about giant whitetails killed in other parts of North America. Could it happen in my state as well? Virginia traditionally hasn’t been well known for big deer, but we do have some. Maybe we lack the numbers of them found in parts of the Midwest, but there are some impressive deer here.

Pursuing mature bucks has been a personal challenge for the better part of my bowhunting career, which now spans three decades. Over the years I’d taken some very respectable deer by Virginia standards, but going into the 2013 season, a true giant had always eluded me.

My brother, Kevin, has for many years been a member of a hunting lease in Albemarle County, where there are some nice deer and a lot of diverse habitat. I joined the lease myself in 2008 and began the process of learning the property. Kevin’s knowledge of it certainly helped me shorten the learning curve. He even put me in his stand that first year, and I was able to kill my best buck to that point, a 142-inch 10-pointer.

The following year, Kevin had an encounter with a 2 1/2-year-old buck with a split G-2 tine. We captured a few pictures of him that first year and knew that he had potential. The question was, how could we keep tabs on him long enough to see what he might turn into? At the time I didn’t rely on game cameras the way I do today.

On the plus side, I have the good fortune of having a good job and the best wife known to man. Ellie never complains when I go hunting four to five days a week. And that’s critical, because I do believe you have to put in the time in the field.

My other advantage is that I’m passionate about bowhunting. I find myself focusing on places other hunters often overlook or simply consider too far to walk to. I just want to find places where there’s minimal pressure. Of course, that can be hard when you have several good hunters on your lease. Nevertheless, I hunt where they don’t.

I began to acquire more cameras, placing them in strategic locations to help me determine where a certain buck’s core area might be. Then, by process of elimination, I determine where he is not. Using this approach, in 2009 I was unable to get any pictures of the split G-2 buck, so I figured he had moved on or had been killed on an adjoining property. He didn’t show up in 2010, either.

But then, in 2011, I saw him again. On an afternoon hunt in late October, a big buck stood up on the side of a small, brushy ridge. I could see it was the split G-2 buck — and now, at age 4 1/2, he’d exploded. He was locked up with a doe and wouldn’t leave her side despite all efforts I made to persuade him to come my way. I was in awe as I watched him tend that doe the rest of the afternoon.

I never saw that buck again that season, but I also never heard of him being killed elsewhere. So as I prepared for the fall of 2012, the hunt was on. This was the buck I wanted to harvest.

A lot of post-season scouting helped me to identify an area that might be holding the buck. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to hunt there at all in 2012, because the wind never was right for it on the days I could go. The whole season came and went without a single sighting of the buck.

So going into the 2013 season, I hadn’t seen him in two years. But then I got a few more photos of him. He was now a fully mature 6 1/2 years old and easily the biggest buck I’d ever seen alive here in Virginia.

As the season approached, I began some low-impact scouting on foot, trying to see if the deer was still using his old haunts. And that’s when I started finding some really helpful sign. He’d traditionally made rubs on trails he took in the evenings, while going from bed to feed, but I never could figure out from those exactly where he was bedding. Now he’d also begun to rub trees leading from his feeding area back to his bedding spot. And that effectively drew an arrow right to his bedroom.

On Oct. 9 a major storm system was moving up the coast, giving me the wind I needed to hunt near the buck’s bedding location. I wasn’t sure exactly where he bedded, though, so I was determined to be cautious. I’d hunt the fringe of the bedding zone first; if that didn’t pan out, I’d move it in a bit closer.

As I carefully approached the area in which I wanted to hang my stand, a doe jumped up. That caused me to hesitate and rethink my plan; I didn’t want to spook her any farther into the buck’s bedroom. I decided to hang my portable right there instead of going any farther into the cover. I did so as quietly as I could, knowing the buck could be bedded close.

As I settled in, the anticipation was almost more than I could handle. I was overlooking a pine thicket with a small clearing, and figured the buck would approach from that direction. After I’d waited a while without seeing anything, I texted Kevin and lifelong friend Barry Rathbone at 6:30 with a quick “nothing yet.” The rain moving into the area hadn’t yet reached me, but I knew it was on the way. If the buck were to appear on this day, it needed to happen soon.

As I focused my attention on the small clearing, as if out of thin air the buck appeared. He just stood up out of his bed — only 50 yards away from me! Then he slowly stretched and began to walk my way. My plan was coming together!

The shaking didn’t start until I lost sight of the buck behind the canopy of small pines. I was starting to think that this was going to turn out to be just another frustrating sighting. But then, there he was, headed down the trail that would bring him within bow range.

I immediately went into “kill” mode; the nervousness was gone as I started ranging the distance. Before I knew it, the big deer was just 25 yards away. I drew my Hoyt Trykon XL, and as he made it to 20 yards and turned broadside, I settled my pin on his chest. In a flash, the Carbon Express arrow fitted with a Striker Magnum broadhead was off the bow and on its way to the deer.

The hit was perfect behind the shoulder, and instantly the buck mule-kicked and ran out of sight into a thicket. I thought I heard him crash and expire a short distance away.

As I pondered everything that had just happened, doubt began to creep in. Did I really just hear him fall? Suddenly I realized it had begun to rain. If I waited any longer to take up the trail, there would be no blood to follow.

I got down immediately and retrieved my arrow, which was covered with blood. There also was blood on the ground where he’d been standing, and I started to pick up a blood trail 10 yards farther along. But the blood was washing away quickly, as the rain now was coming down harder.

Panic began setting in. Rather than trying to keep working out the blood, I simply began walking in the direction I thought the deer had gone. And suddenly, there he was. I’d finally joined the ranks of guys who chase specific bucks for years and then take them to complete their stories. I now had the buck of a lifetime, with so many great memories of the quest to enjoy.

My buck turned out to be a basic 9-point typical with three abnormal points. His sweeping typical frame totals a gross Pope & Young score of 162 1/8, with a non-typical gross score of 170 6/8. The main beams, which nearly touch in front, match each other at 26 7/8 inches, and each long G-2 is 12 2/8.

The great deer’s three non-typical points total 8 5/8 inches. Of these, the longest is the 5 7/8-inch fork protruding off the back of his right G-2 tine. The antler trait that had made him so identifiable even at age 2 1/2 was still there when I got him, and more prominent than ever. There’s zero doubt this was the same buck I’d been after for several frustrating seasons.

In Conclusion
If I could offer any helpful advice on how to get the buck of your dreams (regardless of where you live or what he scores), it would be to hunt an area with little human intrusion. Don’t put cameras too close to his bedroom, or he might abandon it. And pay attention to what the photos are telling you. Just as it’s a huge help to know where a buck is, it also helps to know where he isn’t.

Also, consider hunting those places others avoid simply because, in their view, no buck should be there. A lot of times, that’s where he’s gone to avoid people. The hunt for this deer is a classic case in point.

In closing, I have to thank Kevin for getting me onto that lease and helping me learn the land. I also want to thank my beautiful wife and kids for allowing me to spend so much time pursuing my passion. And most of all, thanks to my dad for passing along the hunting tradition to his boys.

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A.J. Downs

To read more about this freak whitetail, check out NAW's Deer of the Day entry.

Post a Reply

Bill Ulrich

Thirty-five years of bowhunting have taught Bill Ullrich a few things about chasing whitetails.

One hour and ten minutes later, he realized that was the best decision he had ever made, as he watched his arrow bury to the nock in the largest whitetail buck he had ever shot at.

To read more of Bill's story, check out NAW's Deer of the Day entry.

Post a Reply

Bill Winke

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Bo Russell

Russell's giant had a gross score of 246 4/8 inches and a net of 231 4/8. That made him the second-largest bow kill entered from that season.

To read more about Bo Russell's giant, check out NAW's Deer of the Day entry.

Post a Reply

Brian Herron

Brian Herron fought numerous obstacles and setbacks in 2012 to bag this 184-inch bruiser. Read the full story in NAW's Deer of the Day entry.

Post a Reply

Brian Hollands

Post a Reply

Dale Gertz

Dale Gertz set a new Maryland record with this 208-inch non-typical monster. Read the full story in NAW's Deer of the Day entry.

Post a Reply

Dan Daigle

To read more about Daigle's Booner buck, check out NAW's Deer of the Day entry.

Post a Reply

Dean Partridge

To read more about Dean's Canadian giant, check out NAW's Deer of the Day entry.

Post a Reply

Dylan Beach-Bittner

Have you seen the (almost) Turdy-Point Buck?

Taking a cue from the popular folk rap song, 12-year-old Dylan Beach-Bittner, downed a 27-point Minnesota monster scoring 241 green.

For more info, check out Beach-Bittner's Deer of the Day entry.

Post a Reply

Fred Swihart

Post a Reply

Garry Greenwalt

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Garry Morris

Post a Reply

Jason Tuttle

To read more about the Cyclops buck, check out NAW's Deer of the Day entry.

Post a Reply

Jay Price

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Jeff Iverson

For more, read the rest of the story in NAW's Deer of the Day entry.

Post a Reply

Jeremy Schmeidler

Nine straight days of hard, smart hunting paid off big for Jeremy, and sharing that success with a good friend made it even more special.

To read more about Jeremy's giant, check out NAW's Deer of the Day entry.

Post a Reply

Jim Cogar

After discovering a giant on his trail camera, that he aptly dubbed Conan, Cogar set out on a mission to bag Conan before the end of the season.

It was Super Bowl Sunday before the opportunity presented itself to Cogar. As Conan led two young bucks down a hill, a distraction opened the door for Cogar to bag his buck of a lifetime.

To read more about Jim Cogar's Super Bowl buck, check out NAW's Deer of the Day entry.

Post a Reply

Jim Hill

To read more about Jim's grapevine giant, check out NAW's Deer of the Day entry.

Post a Reply

Joshua Earp

Joshua Earp's Georgia giant scored 187 inches green, weighing in at 235 pounds, and was a great October surprise.

"“I’ve hunted 25 years for this," Earp said. " I give all thanks to God and my father for teaching me and introducing me to this sport I’m addicted to.”

For more, read the rest of the story in this Deer of the Day entry.

Post a Reply

Lindsay Groom

After watching the kill shot again on film, the couple decided to track it the next morning, finding the deer just 30 yards away from where they stopped looking the night before.

For more info, check out Groom's Deer of the Day entry.

Post a Reply

Lucas Cochren

Post a Reply

Mike Giarraputo

Mike Giarraputo set a New York state record with this 210-inch non-typical bruiser. Read the full story in NAW's Deer of the Day entry.

Post a Reply

Mike Miller

To read more of Mike Miller's captivating story, check out NAW's Deer of the Day entry.

Post a Reply

Mike Moran

Post a Reply

Paul Keller

For more, read the rest of the story in this Deer of the Day entry.

Post a Reply

Payton Mireles

Payton Mireles, age 10, of Ind., killed her first buck in 2012, a 154-inch bruiser. Read the full story in NAW's Deer of the Day entry.

Post a Reply

Randy Walk

It's pretty safe to say Randy Walk, president of Hoyt Archery, knows a thing or two about bowhunting.

Nevertheless, the 225-inch Kansas beast shared by Hoyt's Facebook page stands alone as the biggest buck he'd ever seen, he said.

For more info, check out Walk's Deer of the Day entry.

Post a Reply

Rhett Butler

To read more about the Butler's hunt for Hercules, check out NAW's Deer of the Day entry.

Post a Reply

Robert Taylor

To read more about Taylor's massive Texas giant, check out NAW's Deer of the Day entry.

Post a Reply

Ryan Dietsch

Post a Reply

Shane Frost

Post a Reply

Stanley Suda

Southern Ohio turned in another giant earlier this season when Stanley Suda shot this buck which is estimated between 235 and 240 inches.

"The shot was perfect," he said. "I watched my dream buck run across the field and pile-up about 20 yards inside the wood line. This was definitely my finest moment in the treestand.”

For more, read the rest of the story in this Deer of the Day entry.

Post a Reply

Tim Beck

To read more about Tim Beck's No. 4 all-time B&C buck, check out NAW's Deer of the Day entry.

Post a Reply

This has to be the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever tried to do.

It would be easy to understand central Illinois hunter Wayne Waldo having that thought. Most other whitetail addicts would have been thinking the same thing.

Five hundred yards from Wayne’s tree stand was a buck — and even by the lofty standards of Fulton County, he was a giant. But nothing else about the situation was favorable, from the hunter’s point of view. For starters, Wayne was bowhunting; the buck was out of range many times over. Granted, it was Nov. 12, so the monster no doubt was looking for love — but he already had a wad of does around him. Oh, and then there was the wind, which was anything but light. Put it all together, and the scenario was hardly a recipe for big-buck success.

Wayne had been running late when he got off work that day back in 2012; by the time he hit the woods, there was only about 90 minutes of hunting light left. “You’re crazy going into the woods this late,” warned nephew Robert Bowman Jr. “You’ll just run deer off getting to your stand.”

Wayne, however, had made up his mind that he was going hunting anyway. Unfortunately, when he got home he realized he also had a clothing issue: His Scent-Lok outerwear, which had been left hanging on the clothesline overnight, was frozen stiff. As a last resort, he grabbed his wife’s Scent-Lok, put it on over his work clothes and headed out.

The tree stand Wayne had in mind was along the edge of timber bordering an alfalfa field, so he figured he could sneak into the stand without spooking any deer. Sure enough, he managed to get into the stand by 4:15 without having busted any whitetails along the way.

Entering the tree, Wayne pulled up his bow and took out his binoculars to scan the area. He immediately saw some deer approximately 500 yards away. One was a big buck; the other seven or eight were does.

At this point, I think, many other bowhunters would have looked at the situation and automatically assumed it wasn’t going to end well. How could Wayne seriously expect to get a shot at that buck that afternoon? The does weren’t heading toward the stand, and there was no reason to think the buck would do so without them.

Wayne’s immediate reaction, however, was to swing for the fence. While realizing it might be the most ridiculous thing he’d ever done, he was going to do everything possible to get that buck’s attention. The bowhunter quickly grabbed his rattling antlers and started banging them together as hard as he could.

“The buck looked in my direction but just went back to chasing does,” Wayne says. “I thought, ‘Well, that didn’t work. What else can I do?’” He pulled out his Flextone Bone Collector combo grunt/snort-wheeze call.

“I did the snort-wheeze as loud as I could,” Wayne notes. The sound clearly reached the buck, as he looked in the direction of the stand; however, he then turned his attention back to the does.

Not one to give up easily, Wayne hit the snort-wheeze again. And the buck once again looked his way. But this time, something was different: The giant turned away from the does and started toward the stand!

“It seemed like it took forever for the buck to get to me,” Wayne recalls, and it’s easy to imagine how anxious that wait was. The buck was coming steadily, but he had a long, long way to travel. Eventually he jumped a fence and then disappeared into a draw.

Five long minutes later, the deer still hadn’t reappeared. Desperate to locate him again, Wayne let out another snort-wheeze. The giant immediately popped out of the draw at only 50 yards — now at eye level with the stand. He was obviously trying to get downwind of what he thought was a rival buck.

Unable to smell the “deer” he’d heard calling, the huge buck kept angling toward the stand. When he jumped another fence and put his head down, Wayne drew his bow. The buck continued to walk and was broadside at only 20 yards from the tree when the archer gave out a doe bleat to stop him.

The shot looked good, and the huge deer took off at a dead run. Within seconds he stopped in the alfalfa field, looking around.

“It was obvious the buck didn’t know what had happened, since the shot was a complete pass-through,” Wayne points out.

After about 30 seconds, the buck simply fell over, right there within sight of the bowhunter. And that’s when Wayne got really nervous.

“I lost my composure and was shaking so much I couldn’t get my phone to work,” he says.

After taking a few minutes to calm down, Wayne climbed out of the tree and headed for his truck. He called his wife to tell her the story and then called a buddy to help recover what he felt was a 180-inch buck.

As it turned out, Wayne was wrong about the score — in a very good way. Following the required 60-day drying period, despite roughly 9 inches of deductions for typical asymmetry the giant ended up with a net non-typical score of 205 3/8 Pope & Young!

The rack has great mass, with three circumference measurements of at least 5 inches and the remaining five all being over 4 4/8. With an impressive 40 2/8 total inches of abnormal points, it’s no wonder the final score is over 200. The trophy was mounted by Dan McKee, who owns Critter Crazy Taxidermy in Ellisville.

Wayne never had seen the buck before the day he shot him, but apparently some neighbors had. After the fact, one contacted Wayne concerning a shed antler from the previous year. Wayne ended up trading a matched pair of sheds from another deer for that antler. His buck had definitely put on a lot of bone in that one year.

Later Wayne got a call from a guy in New York who’d been bowhunting nearby. The nonresident had been driving around the area a couple of days before Wayne shot the buck, and he’d videotaped the giant. The hunter gave Wayne a copy of the footage, adding another chapter to the legacy of this great whitetail.

Reflecting on this story, it’s easy to see how unlikely a successful hunt was that day. But Wayne didn’t fall short in any area. He could have decided it was too late to get into the woods . . . but he went anyway. He could have scratched the plan when he found his camo wasn’t ready . . . but he borrowed his wife’s and went anyway. When he saw the buck 500 yards away with a herd of does, he could have told himself the deer was too preoccupied and too far, especially with the wind howling . . . but he rattled and called anyway.

The bottom line? Had Wayne not taken every step he did, he never would have had that giant walk into easy bow range of his tree stand that afternoon. Perhaps there’s a lesson in this story for all of us.

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A.J. Downs

To read more about this freak whitetail, check out NAW's Deer of the Day entry.

Post a Reply

Bill Ulrich

Thirty-five years of bowhunting have taught Bill Ullrich a few things about chasing whitetails.

One hour and ten minutes later, he realized that was the best decision he had ever made, as he watched his arrow bury to the nock in the largest whitetail buck he had ever shot at.

To read more of Bill's story, check out NAW's Deer of the Day entry.

Post a Reply

Bill Winke

Post a Reply

Bo Russell

Russell's giant had a gross score of 246 4/8 inches and a net of 231 4/8. That made him the second-largest bow kill entered from that season.

To read more about Bo Russell's giant, check out NAW's Deer of the Day entry.

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Brian Herron

Brian Herron fought numerous obstacles and setbacks in 2012 to bag this 184-inch bruiser. Read the full story in NAW's Deer of the Day entry.

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Brian Hollands

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Dale Gertz

Dale Gertz set a new Maryland record with this 208-inch non-typical monster. Read the full story in NAW's Deer of the Day entry.

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Dan Daigle

To read more about Daigle's Booner buck, check out NAW's Deer of the Day entry.

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Dean Partridge

To read more about Dean's Canadian giant, check out NAW's Deer of the Day entry.

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Dylan Beach-Bittner

Have you seen the (almost) Turdy-Point Buck?

Taking a cue from the popular folk rap song, 12-year-old Dylan Beach-Bittner, downed a 27-point Minnesota monster scoring 241 green.

For more info, check out Beach-Bittner's Deer of the Day entry.

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Fred Swihart

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Garry Greenwalt

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Garry Morris

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Jason Tuttle

To read more about the Cyclops buck, check out NAW's Deer of the Day entry.

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Jay Price

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Jeff Iverson

For more, read the rest of the story in NAW's Deer of the Day entry.

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Jeremy Schmeidler

Nine straight days of hard, smart hunting paid off big for Jeremy, and sharing that success with a good friend made it even more special.

To read more about Jeremy's giant, check out NAW's Deer of the Day entry.

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Jim Cogar

After discovering a giant on his trail camera, that he aptly dubbed Conan, Cogar set out on a mission to bag Conan before the end of the season.

It was Super Bowl Sunday before the opportunity presented itself to Cogar. As Conan led two young bucks down a hill, a distraction opened the door for Cogar to bag his buck of a lifetime.

To read more about Jim Cogar's Super Bowl buck, check out NAW's Deer of the Day entry.

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Jim Hill

To read more about Jim's grapevine giant, check out NAW's Deer of the Day entry.

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Joshua Earp

Joshua Earp's Georgia giant scored 187 inches green, weighing in at 235 pounds, and was a great October surprise.

"“I’ve hunted 25 years for this," Earp said. " I give all thanks to God and my father for teaching me and introducing me to this sport I’m addicted to.”

For more, read the rest of the story in this Deer of the Day entry.

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Lindsay Groom

After watching the kill shot again on film, the couple decided to track it the next morning, finding the deer just 30 yards away from where they stopped looking the night before.

For more info, check out Groom's Deer of the Day entry.

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Lucas Cochren

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Mike Giarraputo

Mike Giarraputo set a New York state record with this 210-inch non-typical bruiser. Read the full story in NAW's Deer of the Day entry.

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Mike Miller

To read more of Mike Miller's captivating story, check out NAW's Deer of the Day entry.

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Mike Moran

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Paul Keller

For more, read the rest of the story in this Deer of the Day entry.

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Payton Mireles

Payton Mireles, age 10, of Ind., killed her first buck in 2012, a 154-inch bruiser. Read the full story in NAW's Deer of the Day entry.

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Randy Walk

It's pretty safe to say Randy Walk, president of Hoyt Archery, knows a thing or two about bowhunting.

Nevertheless, the 225-inch Kansas beast shared by Hoyt's Facebook page stands alone as the biggest buck he'd ever seen, he said.

For more info, check out Walk's Deer of the Day entry.

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Rhett Butler

To read more about the Butler's hunt for Hercules, check out NAW's Deer of the Day entry.

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Robert Taylor

To read more about Taylor's massive Texas giant, check out NAW's Deer of the Day entry.

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Ryan Dietsch

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Shane Frost

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Stanley Suda

Southern Ohio turned in another giant earlier this season when Stanley Suda shot this buck which is estimated between 235 and 240 inches.

"The shot was perfect," he said. "I watched my dream buck run across the field and pile-up about 20 yards inside the wood line. This was definitely my finest moment in the treestand.”

For more, read the rest of the story in this Deer of the Day entry.

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Tim Beck

To read more about Tim Beck's No. 4 all-time B&C buck, check out NAW's Deer of the Day entry.

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Ever since the 1999 hunt on which I shot a 202 7/8-inch non-typical buck, Kansas has been my heart’s desire for hunting giant whitetails. That Neosho County trophy changed my life, helping me start down a career path that eventually led to my owning and operating Boss Buck Inc.

So when in early 2013 Bob McConnell of Horseshoe Hill Outfitters approached me about hunting his Kansas ground, I was all ears. Horseshoe Hill has built a reputation for choice hunting properties. I’d worked with Bob for several years, having sent feeders and blinds to his eastern Kansas lease. And after seeing the results they’d produced, I was excited about hunting there.

As we trophy hunters mature, we gain a greater appreciation for one fact: To shoot giants, you must hunt where they live. The Midwest farm belt is my first choice when chasing great whitetails. The percentages there are higher, I feel, than in any other region. So I was eager to try Bob’s ground.

Four buddies and I entered the Kansas permit drawing, and we all were successful in the firearms draw for Unit 11. Having shot my best buck in that unit, I was excited to see the calendar make its way to Dec. 1. We made the 8-hour drive from Texas up to Anderson County, hoping for a chance at one of the big bucks spotted earlier in the fall.

Upon our 4 p.m. arrival in camp, Bob and one of his guides gathered our group in two trucks. We drove to each hunting location to get a visual of our entry paths for our predawn walk in. The temperature was dropping, and a thick blanket of fog began to form. We had just enough time to spot our next morning’s destinations from the road before dark.

That dense fog would greet me again the next morning for the half-mile hike to my Boss Buck tower blind. The outfitter had placed it in a thicket wedged between fields of cut corn and cut beans. An adjacent waterway winding its way through the bean field fed a small creek branch running through the farm.

It was so foggy I couldn’t see more than 100 feet until 9:30. Watching cottontails dart in and out of the brush just under my blind kept me entertained until the fog lifted and my setup between the fields was revealed.

The wind was blowing 25-35 miles per hour from the north, as a harsh cold front was making its way through the Midwest. And I suspect that’s why for 11 hours I saw no deer. The fact it was opening day of firearms season in Kansas helped keep me focused and on point, though. You just never know when another hunter or farmer might bump the buck of a lifetime from a nearby plum thicket or field.

About 4 p.m. I was startled when my blind began to shake. The strong wind that had caused it to vibrate on and off since daylight hadn’t been this pronounced. Turning my head to the window facing the 10-foot staircase, I saw Bob climbing up.

Seeing the obvious look of excitement on my outfitter’s face, I wondered if he was about to deliver good news or bad. His first words were, “Get your gun and come with me now. There’s a big boy in the house.”

Our other guide, Albert, had spotted a giant buck crossing a nearby road at about 2 p.m., as Albert made his way back to camp after dropping off hunters who’d returned for lunch. When he got back to the camp, he told Bob about the big deer and the doe he was following. It was impossible to know whether other hunters had bumped the pair or if perhaps the excavator removing trees on a neighboring farm had caused them to move.

Regardless, after hearing Albert’s report, Bob headed back over to the farm I was hunting and began glassing the woods line and field edges. Finally, at about 3:30, he spotted the giant buck bedded along the creek in some high prairie grass on the edge of the cut bean field. As soon as Bob saw the doe and giant buck he distanced himself from their line of sight and started the half-mile hike to my blind. From the look on his face, he’d made the trek much faster than I had 11 hours earlier in the dense fog.

Hearing this report, I was instantly warmed by adrenaline coursing through my body. I knew Bob’s standards on trophy bucks to be high; when he says it’s a big deer, you can bet it’s big. So in short order we were making our way across the cut bean field and across the waterway, which was now frozen solid. With each quick stride I could tell Bob was pumped at the thought of my getting an opportunity at this buck.

At the pickup, I quickly removed the underlayers of my Scent-Lok suit to facilitate the stalk. It was now about 4 p.m., and any chance at this buck on opening day was going to come quickly . . . or not at all.

Bob drove us to the spot best suited for us to launch our approach, and the timing couldn’t have been better. One of the many trains passing the farm that day was going by right next to where we had to start our pursuit of the giant buck. The noise from the passing train covered our sounds and allowed us to cover the first 100 yards in a half-bent-over trot.

As soon as the train moved on, we gained an appreciation for the gusty north wind that had been hindering our hunt all day. It was now our best friend! Bob had wisely placed us south of the two deer’s position. He signaled to drop to all fours, and we crawled another 60 yards. Trying to keep the Thompson/Center Encore slung across my back was becoming a chore at the pace we were moving to beat the end of shooting light.

We crept to a sparse old fencerow that ran east-west between the train tracks and the cut beans. There was one shrubby tree in the fencerow, and we made that our goal for my being able to get my first look at the buck. Once we reached that point, Bob slowly rose to his knees and raised his binoculars for a quick peek at the spot where he’d last seen the deer bedded. Meanwhile, I was lying on the cold ground, watching Bob’s every expression for some sign the pair hadn’t relocated.

tom_boyer_buck_2 My adrenaline spiked when I saw the look on the outfitter’s face. Dropping much faster than he’d risen, Bob implored me to slowly ease to the small shrub and glass the prairie grass adjacent to the beans. His contagious excitement had me eager to see the brute that had him so wired up.

From behind the bush, I glassed the edge of the field in the direction Bob had pointed to. Sure enough, nestled in the swaying Kansas prairie grass was a huge rack: one of such magnitude my brain couldn’t accept what my eyes were telling it. Never before had I believed a moment like this would ever be mine.

The adrenaline pumping through my veins now had to be controlled. My breathing pattern was no longer heavy from the all-fours crawl but from the excitement of this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

Daylight was fading, and yet all I could see was the massive rack sticking up in the swaying grass. My binoculars revealed there was simply no good shot. When I broke the news to Bob, he established a new goal: the last sprigs of sparse prairie grass that lined the old fencerow, a distance of about 40 yards ahead. To reach it without being busted, we’d have no more cover than an old fence post and a thin stand of the blond, swaying grass between the deer and us. At Bob’s first move, I followed flat on my stomach with my rifle across my back, praying with every frog-style motion we made inching across the frozen ground.

Upon reaching our destination, I noticed the old fence post had some remnant wire hanging off both sides and running loosely back to the tree we’d just left. It definitely wouldn’t be of much help as a rifle rest.

The grass was so short I didn’t dare get onto my knees to find the deer in my scope. Lying on my side, I finally located the buck with my binos again. I now felt better about how his body was positioned behind the grass he and the doe were bedded in. Looking over at Bob, I confirmed we now had an acceptable angle, and he gave me the thumbs up to take the shot if I felt I could make it.

Checking the distance with my Nikon rangefinder, I saw it was 179 yards. But when I raised my Encore, Bob’s eyes widened. “Oh, no,” he frantically whispered. “You brought a muzzleloader?”

I assured Bob it was in reality a .300 Win. Mag., but even that failed to put him totally at ease. “It’s a single shot! You got any more bullets?”

I confirmed I did, prompting Bob to ask if he could hold a round, in the event a follow-up shot was needed. I obliged him with a 180-grain Hornady cartridge from my pocket.

Knowing I couldn’t even come to my knees without breaking the little concealment we had, I decided to lie on my left side, using my left elbow for as solid a rest as could be achieved within the slight incline of the old fencerow. But when I shouldered the rifle, the sight of the crosshairs oriented at a 10-4 o’clock angle was definitely a different look from the normal 12-6 position we all practice from. Even so, I didn’t figure that would matter if I aimed at the right spot and squeezed off a clean shot.

I settled the crosshairs where I needed to place the bullet and steadied the rifle. Whispering “fire in the hole” while floating the crosshairs on the spot, I gently squeezed the trigger until the recoil removed the buck from my view.

Refocusing the scope on the buck’s massive rack, I saw his head bobble as if he were struggling to stand up. Quickly I broke over the Encore, pulled the empty casing from its bore, threw it aside, loaded Bob’s extra and brought the rifle back to my eye.

As soon as I got the buck’s rack back in the scope, he disappeared behind the grass. Instantly I looked at Bob for his reaction. He asked how I felt about the shot. I responded that it was a good one. You know that feeling the instant you release an arrow or a bullet. You know instinctively from practicing if your shot was on the money or not.

Bob said the buck had tried to stand but then had gone down into the creek just behind where he’d been bedded. So we eased our way back to the truck for a 30-minute wait before taking up the trail.

Upon reaching the deer’s bed, we found only a little hair. His slide down the dirt bank into the shallow creek also indicated a hit, but there was no blood there, either. At this point it was after 5 p.m. and rapidly getting dark, so we decided the only smart play was to back out and wait till daylight to look for the buck.

As you can imagine, that was the longest night of my life. I could only relive the moments surrounding the shot and second-guess my every move. Had I put a solid hit on this monarch, or had I only wounded him, due to the stiff wind and my awkward shooting position?

My good friend Dan Ross, with whom I practice shooting rifles and bows, assured me that if I felt the shot was good, the equipment had done its job. Dan and I use this same rifle-ammo combination for hunting Canadian whitetails, which on average have the largest bodies of any in the world. Surely that Hornady bullet had done its job and had cut the prairie grass the giant buck had been bedded in.

At 9 a.m. we left the lodge to begin looking again. Not knowing if the buck might still be mobile, I resumed my position in the tower blind. Once I reached it, Bob, Dan and Albert started into the woods where the buck had vanished. I now could tell the giant and his doe had been bedded under 400 yards from where I’d sat 11 hours the day before.

Anxiously I watched the brush to make sure the buck didn’t get past me. I was looking everywhere and listening to every sound. Before long, from the far end of the field I saw a group of turkeys flush ahead of our team. Next came two of the trackers themselves. Toward me down the cut-corn edge they walked, scouring the ground for signs of the hit.

Suddenly Bob raised his right thumb and then pointed at the ground, signaling he’d found blood. Shortly afterwards, the team disappeared into the dark, thick brush that edged the creek. Bob came back out and signaled me to come to his position. I was now euphoric at the anticipation that the buck was indeed dead and I was about to get my first real look at him. My trek down the stairs of the blind was more like a squirrel scrambling in a forest fire! I now knew I’d topped my previous best whitetail by a wide margin.

As I approached Bob, I could see the blood he was pointing out. The emotions of the night before began to release from my mind and body; tears began to fill my eyes from the relief and euphoria of the moment.

Knowing this dream was about to become a reality was overwhelmingly gratifying. No more doubt, and no more fear of failure. In just moments I’d be holding the huge rack I’d seen in the grass the day before and in my head all night.

As we approached the creek through the thicket, I could see the looks on Dan and Albert’s faces. Bob became excited as well as we made our way to the creek bank where we could see the buck lying in the frozen creek. I immediately jumped into the creek and broke through the ice that had entombed the buck during the night.

The deer almost looked fake to me as I grabbed his massive non-typical rack. The frame was huge, and the number of points was seemingly endless. The long, split brow tines and sticker points all over his massive headgear were amazing.

Dan actually had found the buck, and that seemed appropriate. His reassurance the night before and his sacrifice of his own morning hunt to help recover my buck are a testament to his character.

You could tell the bullet had done its job. It had entered the buck’s left shoulder and had caused the precise damage for which it was designed. The giant buck had rolled down into the creek from where he’d been shot, then came out of the thicket at the edge of the corn field and made a 20 yard U-turn back into the thicket, dying in the creek he’d crossed moments before. Bob said he figured the buck was lying in the creek when we initially tried to recover him, but we hadn’t wanted to push our luck.

After I’d filled out my tag and we’d double-checked my documents, we took a few photos of the deer and the location, trying to record and preserve this moment in time as best we could. Once we arrived back at the lodge, we took more photos. I even had the privilege of taking one for the local game warden that checked the buck. He’d seen mine and another giant that had a typical 12-point frame in that same area of Unit 11. The warden estimated that other buck also would exceed 200 inches.

Later, my good friend Austin Grubbs with Boss Game Systems pulled out his measuring kit. Growing up on a South Texas ranch gave him the bug for scoring big whitetails. Albert, who’d first seen the big buck cross the road, also scored the giant. After both guys had taken their turns, we were confident my deer would net well in excess of 200.

The culmination of a 33-year hunting career was truly a humbling experience. Odds are I’ll never lay eyes on another free-range whitetail of such magnitude. Then again, someone told me the same thing after I killed that big one in Kansas back in 1999. All I know is that I’ll keep chasing big whitetails as long as God gives me the blessing of being able to.

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A.J. Downs

To read more about this freak whitetail, check out NAW's Deer of the Day entry.

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Bill Ulrich

Thirty-five years of bowhunting have taught Bill Ullrich a few things about chasing whitetails.

One hour and ten minutes later, he realized that was the best decision he had ever made, as he watched his arrow bury to the nock in the largest whitetail buck he had ever shot at.

To read more of Bill's story, check out NAW's Deer of the Day entry.

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Bill Winke

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Bo Russell

Russell's giant had a gross score of 246 4/8 inches and a net of 231 4/8. That made him the second-largest bow kill entered from that season.

To read more about Bo Russell's giant, check out NAW's Deer of the Day entry.

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Brian Herron

Brian Herron fought numerous obstacles and setbacks in 2012 to bag this 184-inch bruiser. Read the full story in NAW's Deer of the Day entry.

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Brian Hollands

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Dale Gertz

Dale Gertz set a new Maryland record with this 208-inch non-typical monster. Read the full story in NAW's Deer of the Day entry.

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Dan Daigle

To read more about Daigle's Booner buck, check out NAW's Deer of the Day entry.

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Dean Partridge

To read more about Dean's Canadian giant, check out NAW's Deer of the Day entry.

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Dylan Beach-Bittner

Have you seen the (almost) Turdy-Point Buck?

Taking a cue from the popular folk rap song, 12-year-old Dylan Beach-Bittner, downed a 27-point Minnesota monster scoring 241 green.

For more info, check out Beach-Bittner's Deer of the Day entry.

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Fred Swihart

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Garry Greenwalt

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Garry Morris

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Jason Tuttle

To read more about the Cyclops buck, check out NAW's Deer of the Day entry.

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Jay Price

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Jeff Iverson

For more, read the rest of the story in NAW's Deer of the Day entry.

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Jeremy Schmeidler

Nine straight days of hard, smart hunting paid off big for Jeremy, and sharing that success with a good friend made it even more special.

To read more about Jeremy's giant, check out NAW's Deer of the Day entry.

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Jim Cogar

After discovering a giant on his trail camera, that he aptly dubbed Conan, Cogar set out on a mission to bag Conan before the end of the season.

It was Super Bowl Sunday before the opportunity presented itself to Cogar. As Conan led two young bucks down a hill, a distraction opened the door for Cogar to bag his buck of a lifetime.

To read more about Jim Cogar's Super Bowl buck, check out NAW's Deer of the Day entry.

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Jim Hill

To read more about Jim's grapevine giant, check out NAW's Deer of the Day entry.

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Joshua Earp

Joshua Earp's Georgia giant scored 187 inches green, weighing in at 235 pounds, and was a great October surprise.

"“I’ve hunted 25 years for this," Earp said. " I give all thanks to God and my father for teaching me and introducing me to this sport I’m addicted to.”

For more, read the rest of the story in this Deer of the Day entry.

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Lindsay Groom

After watching the kill shot again on film, the couple decided to track it the next morning, finding the deer just 30 yards away from where they stopped looking the night before.

For more info, check out Groom's Deer of the Day entry.

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Lucas Cochren

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Mike Giarraputo

Mike Giarraputo set a New York state record with this 210-inch non-typical bruiser. Read the full story in NAW's Deer of the Day entry.

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Mike Miller

To read more of Mike Miller's captivating story, check out NAW's Deer of the Day entry.

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Mike Moran

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Paul Keller

For more, read the rest of the story in this Deer of the Day entry.

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Payton Mireles

Payton Mireles, age 10, of Ind., killed her first buck in 2012, a 154-inch bruiser. Read the full story in NAW's Deer of the Day entry.

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Randy Walk

It's pretty safe to say Randy Walk, president of Hoyt Archery, knows a thing or two about bowhunting.

Nevertheless, the 225-inch Kansas beast shared by Hoyt's Facebook page stands alone as the biggest buck he'd ever seen, he said.

For more info, check out Walk's Deer of the Day entry.

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Rhett Butler

To read more about the Butler's hunt for Hercules, check out NAW's Deer of the Day entry.

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Robert Taylor

To read more about Taylor's massive Texas giant, check out NAW's Deer of the Day entry.

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Ryan Dietsch

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Shane Frost

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Stanley Suda

Southern Ohio turned in another giant earlier this season when Stanley Suda shot this buck which is estimated between 235 and 240 inches.

"The shot was perfect," he said. "I watched my dream buck run across the field and pile-up about 20 yards inside the wood line. This was definitely my finest moment in the treestand.”

For more, read the rest of the story in this Deer of the Day entry.

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Tim Beck

To read more about Tim Beck's No. 4 all-time B&C buck, check out NAW's Deer of the Day entry.

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Aaron Joliff

Aaron Milliken

Barry Turner

Bill Winke

Bo Cocannouer

Brian Herron

Brian Hollands

Carter Rice

Dale Gertz

Dorothy Shaffer

Dylan Beach-Bittner

Fred Swihart

Garry Greenwalt

Garry Morris

Jay Price

Jeff Danker

Jeff Iverson

Jordan Dressler

Josh Barnard

Joshua Earp

Lindsay Groom

Lucas Cochren

Matt Ford

Michael Morgan

Mike Giarraputo

Mike Moran

Paul Keller

Payton Mireles

Pete Alfano

Randy Walk

Rich Baugh

Richard Buker

Robert Gramoll

Ryan Dietsch

Shane Frost

Stanley Suda

Travis Trimmer

NAW's Best Bucks of 2012

Aaron Joliff

Aaron Milliken

Barry Turner

Bill Winke

Bo Cocannouer

Brian Herron

Brian Hollands

Carter Rice

Dale Gertz

Dorothy Shaffer

Dylan Beach-Bittner

Fred Swihart

Garry Greenwalt

Garry Morris

Jay Price

Jeff Danker

Jeff Iverson

Jordan Dressler

Josh Barnard

Joshua Earp

Lindsay Groom

Lucas Cochren

Matt Ford

Michael Morgan

Mike Giarraputo

Mike Moran

Paul Keller

Payton Mireles

Pete Alfano

Randy Walk

Rich Baugh

Richard Buker

Robert Gramoll

Ryan Dietsch

Shane Frost

Stanley Suda

Travis Trimmer

NAW's Best Bucks of 2012

Aaron Joliff

Aaron Milliken

Barry Turner

Bill Winke