"The buck chased in a doe at 7:05 a.m.," he says. Stan Potts heads to Montana with his rifle in search of a Big Sky buck. The rack's 21 6/8-inch inside spread certainly helps to show off its unique character. The buck spun and took off into thick cover. I shot a giant, not only with the body size, but the headgear to boot. Last year, we thought he was a really great deer, but this year, hes a world-class 8-pointer. Read other stories about big bucks killed this season by clickinghere. The whole time I was in the stand waiting for my brother, I was sitting there thinking that I would go and find just another of those 100-inch 8-points and that Id been seeing things. The story of Loyd's Arkansas buck shows why effective deer management in many states is creating the potential for record-book . In addition to the single short drop tine, the deer had two split brow tines one with three splits. At daybreak a doe busted through the cedar thicket with an eight-point suitor following close behind. A mature Missouri buck showcased some serious head gear totaling a staggering 333 7/8 inches, making it the most giant whitetail ever scored. Location: Calhoun County, S.C. But Ryan isn't just any hunter. Although we were in his core area, we knew that if I was going to have a chance to harvest him there, it would have to happen early in the season.. Luke Wilson of McComb was stunned when he and his brother walked up on the big buck Luke had shot minutes earlier in a big cutover on his deer lease in Pike County. Arnold, an environmental engineer for Tyson Foods, is an expert bowhunter who hunts in some of America's most . He weighed 235 pounds (field dressed), and New England is known for hunters who classify a trophy not by the antler size, but the dressed weight. Three does milled around as the sun dipped toward the horizon. Everything about himhis frame, tines and beamis exceptional., Lee Dixons Tennessee TankScore: UnknownDate of Kill: 2021Location: TennesseeWeapon: .25-06 Remington. Nick continued to watch several bucks harass does throughout the morning, but chose not to take a shot at them. Bryant scored big in 2007 when he took the Oklahoma state record whitetail deer. Then, the buck disappeared again for more than a week.. . These six states account for all 10 of the world's biggest archery-killed non typical whitetail deer: Illinois, Ohio, Iowa, and Kansas each have two, and Missouri and Nebraska each boast one. Then the monster buck appeared. His summer and winter ranges didnt change much. It spent some time in the CRP, and then entered the food plot. About an hour into the afternoon hunt, a doe appeared about 100 yards away and walked down through the finger of trees. He grew up around hunting and intuitively knew how to put the pieces together on this home-turf trophy. "All my buddies were expecting me to be jumping up and down when I found the buck," Ryan says, "but I didn't. The deer instantly whirled and ran out of sight . The action was fast and furious right from the get-go. With the buck on his right side, Watson spun himself around to get in position. It's a mirror-image 180-inch mainframe 4x4 with 34 inches of non-typical points. Subscribe to OL+ for our best feature stories and photography. I had just built a rifle but hadnt set the scope. He was directly downwind of me and lifted his head and sniffed," Ryan recalls. It was an overwhelming feeling. "I was standing there holding my Mathews Helium bow, and my knees were knocking," Ryan remembers. A week later, he'd make up for that lost opportunity. I followed it up with a few grunts and grabbed my rifle. Watson has been bowhunting on his familys 450-acre farm since he was 10. He stood broadside, eight paces away. The big buck was right behind her. Ryan did have one other encounter with the buck that season, but it was while he was taking his 7-year-old cousin out for his first-ever deer hunt. Bobby Cleveland has covered sports in Mississippi for over 40 years. Foster buck was killed in Roane County in 1959. Sub-hed: When the Washington Blade caught up with Gisele Barreto Fetterman this month, she was looking forward to some upcoming travel plans Yeah I'll bet she was!!! Im thankful for the knowledge he instilled in me in how to hunt big deer.. Contributor Brad Fenson takes to the grill, to cook up some delicious venison burgers. But the big buck, even with a good shot, bounded out of sight. So, Lance went with that. What Hooper found was a 205-pound buck with long, thick main beams. Whitney Reeds Oklahoma HammerScore: 166 inchesDate of Kill: Nov. 23, 2021Location: Garvin County, Okla.Weapon: CVA Cascade in .308 Winchester. The buck was running with another good deer, but a cold front on Oct. 16 split them up. Its hard to justify shooting a spike or forkhorn when you know there is a Boone and Crockett buck in the area. It looked like they were going to get into it, but when the big one got a visual on the doe, he changed moods instantly. To our surprise, nothing. When the Washington Blade caught up with Gisele Barreto . Lightning had struck him for the third time! He fractured a bone in his right . I was just speechless. After graduating from college, the West Memphis, Ark., native moved to Jackson in 1992 to begin his career. It worked, Lee said. When it walked into the open, she touched off the 75-yard shot. I cant wait to see you again and tell you about this one., Jacob Latimers Kentucky BuckScore: 170 inchesDate of Kill: Sept. 30, 2021Location: Montgomery County, Ky.Weapon: Compound bow. Instantly, my mind started in on me, he said. This deer means so much, Reed said. He went through the patch so fast I just knew he was good but never could really tell what kind of rack he had. In fact, going into 2013 he'd shot two net Boone & Crocketts: one a non-typical scoring over 200, the other a typical from public land. I only saw him one time on stand while bowhunting in 2011, and he skirted around me at about 60 yards.". The buck was at 50 yards and closing. "But he evaded me. This time he got a gross non-typical score of 261 3/8, with a net of 230 7/8. How to Create an Invisible Fence' Around Your Property to Hold More Bucks, Understanding Non-Verbal Whitetail Communication, Michigan Hunter Shoots 200-class Non-typical After Oversleeping That Morning, How to Find Big Buck Sanctuaries in the Spring, Illinois Hunter Sprints to Close the Distance On 21-point Bedded Buck, How to Develop the Best Fall Food Program for Your Deer, A Whitetail Hunter's Guide to Ballistic Reticles, Iowa Bowhunter Goes Stealth Mode with a Tree Saddle to Bag 194-inch Non-typical, Nebraska Shed Hunter's Wife and Dog Find 6x9 Set One Year After Learning About the Buck, Dr. The footage confirmed that Moreland had made a great shot. After showing friends and family the deer, I received lots of congratulatory messages, he said. Thats when the strap on the stick broke.. Hunting public land, he killed a buck in the Natural State that would make a Midwesterner swoon. He was probably in the 140s.". "I knew he had potential." It was light and I couldnt really tell the direction. Arkansas doesnt jump to top of mind as a big-buck destination, but that didnt stop bowhunter Preston Hall. He found the matching sheds of the buck from the year before, and he played his cards just right during the multi-year pursuit. 6/8 inches wide and sported sky scraping G-2s over 12 inches long. He knew something was wrong. I called my dad at 7:45 a.m. and told him what had happened." The way I see it, this deer was my deer the good Lord made sure of that.. Right before Halloween, his trail cams captured good photos of the deer during daylight. The farm seems different now. A little buck was chasing a doe.. My brother said, Dude, you just got a B&C buck! Wilson said. Every deer I harvest means something. County Sex Count; Arkansas: Antlered: 1699: Arkansas: Button Buck: 156: Arkansas: Doe: 1410: Ashley: Antlered: 1495: Ashley: Button Buck: 301: Ashley: Doe: 2418 . On Nov. 1, Moreland got a later start than he had planned, and didnt get to his stand until 12:30 that afternoon. Typically, in regions influenced by the flood stages of the Mississippi River, the rut is later than the traditional Midwestern rut of mid-November. Lefty wasnt like many other bucks on the property. Instead, he recruited another friend to help him grid-search the woods. About 206,00 hunters used a crossbow and harvested 93,000 deer. On Nov. 4, 2021, that became reality. Well, not so in this situation. Ryan hunted this buck for four years on family property. Four hours later, Latimer returned, and followed the trail 140 yards to where the buck had fallen. I said, did you hear my shot? He said, yeah, what did you get? I said, Im not sure but its the biggest Ive ever seen here. . Hunting public land, he killed a buck in the Natural State that would make a Midwesterner swoon. Ryan hunted the buck all season but saw him just one time from the tree stand. The doe he was following came right beneath my platform.. The rack gross scores 214 1/8 and nets 212 1/8. Beka Garris In 2011 the buck blossomed into a true shooter. I had a good shot at about 150 yards, and I put the crosshairs behind the last rib on my side and took the shot.. Eastern Arkansas farm country is home to a growing number of record-book deer. In July, Lee found a track that looked like Leftys. He finished the season with 11 encounters, but passed the buck each time in hopes of it living another year. Zach Edey had 17 points and 19 rebounds as No. We thought that maybe he had been killed, but when we checked cameras [in] mid-February, he had returned in late December. Most of the deer walked straight toward him, but the big buck disappeared over the hill. I would hunt this deer in the afternoon and the wind would be blowing 1-2 miles per hour and swirl, Latimer said. Stephen Tucker's non-typical record once the largest hunter-killed non-typical in the country was taken in Sumner County in 2016 and is the fourth largest non-typical of all time. He never looked back; he just kept walking. The buck walked to about 20 yards and started raking tree limbs. We couldnt believe what we were looking at. . I finally decided to take a chance and take off work. ", His first knowledge of this deer came in 2010, when Ryan was just 15 and the buck is believed to have been 3 1/2. He went right to where the doe had been, then turned to follow her.. "I've pushed a few deer (trailing too soon), and I knew I needed to get my mind off things, so I decided to do something constructive. Lance Hill brought down this 4 -year-old whitetail much earlier than most hunters have a chance to go hunting. Copyright 1998 - 2023 Mississippi Sportsman, Inc. All rights reserved. I never knew this buck existed, not until my brother and I found him dead, piled up in the top of an old fallen tree in that cutover, Wilson said. Dan Taylor, 33, of Shinglehouse, McKean County, bagged a massive 10-point with a 19-inch spread on the opening day of rifle season in north central Pennsylvania. In 2012, Ryan hunted this deer exclusively. Matt Reed tagged his biggest whitetail buck ever on Kentucky's September 3rd archery opener, after eying the buck all summer. Around 6:55 p.m., this giant buck stepped out of the cover and walked toward him. Wilson sat back down in his tripod stand, realizing how he stuck out in the huge cutover. My dad started taking me when I was three years old. Much to his surprise, he turned, and there stood Lefty about 70 yards away. It later taped out at 186 3/8 inches. Fowler's buck scored 212 6/8 making it the #12 All time Non-Typical in Arkansas Matt Howard had the biggest Typical that scored 172 6/8 making it the #44 largest typical in Arkansas to date. Dont forget to enter photos of your bucks in theBig Buck Photo Contestto be eligible for monthly giveaways. The charges cover violations in October 2014 when Joe Franz was hunting "Palmer," a deer believed to be the biggest whitetail buck ever bagged on video. I saw him on camera in 2013, and he had grown a tremendous amount. Not only that, but he also got the biggest buck killed in Arkansas during the 2008-09 deer season. Man, that stand doesnt have any cover at all, not at all, and I was sticking out like a sore thumb, he said. He was set up in a blind along a fence row between two cut cornfields. Ontario, 1977. It was my best chance to get a shot at this buck before he got off his pattern.. Jake Murdaugh is a rancher who spends much of his time living the agricultural lifestyle. "Every year I have an inventory of every deer on the place. Follow along as the unbelievable story of Arkansas's New Longbow State Record unfolds!Watch as some of the most rare occurrences ever recorded on film during. He hit hard, fracturing a bone in his right leg and . The 2021-22 deer season is a wrap, and some big whitetails fell between the opening and closing bells. Justin, his brothers, and his father targeted this deer in hopes of arrowing it. In regions without great habitat, many deer seem to plateau out after age 4 1/2 and don't make the huge leaps in antler development. He would have been the first person I told. Taylor's Temptation. Taking any deer with a traditional bow is an accomplishment, but shooting a giant buck with a traditional bow can be a truly once-in-a-lifetime experience. Within minutes, the buck showed. Hall hunts some swampy ground, and some of it is navigable by water. My brother and I counted 28 points, what youd call deer camp points, but the guy who scored it at the taxidermist shop said it was officially 25 points, Wilson, 22, said. My two boys were familiar with the buck, as they go through pictures with me. However, this 4-year quest came to fruition on the most stereotypical whitetail rut day on the calendar for most of North America: Nov. 15. Ive dreamed of a deer like this my whole life. Morelands brother, Josh, had been headed to hunt himself when he heard Johnathan hollering in celebration, and went to investigate. Gordon Whittington talks with 13-year-old Troy Metzger about the 2016 hunt that landed the young man a monster non-typical buck on this edition of Big Buck Profile. . "About 50 yards behind the doe, there he was. It worked. Mike Clerkin heads to Buffalo County, Wisconsin to bowhunt whitetails. He closed the remaining distance needed to get within range, dropped into a kneeling position and took the shot. Last year, in Arkansas. Any serious whitetail hunter knows that it's not often that we get a second chance on the buck of a lifetime, or even a first chance for that matter. Soon after daylight, a spike and small 8-point walked out. As I walked up to him, it started dawning on me how big the left horn was. During the offseason, he used HuntStand to find and mark numerous stand locations to target this deer. Two weeks ago, Arkansas hunter Chase Watson took the biggest buck hes ever killed however it came with a price. I thought he was bigger than 190. 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. Pennsylvania: 34 deer per square mile. We called the buck Spider Man because we had hundreds of velvet pictures of him with a spider web in front of the camera.. This was one buck that didnt have ground shrinkage, but had ground growth, he said. I still have a lot of friends and some family in Mississippi, and the only time I get to come back and hunt is during the Christmas holidays, he said. . Weve been hunting that lease for about four years and the best weve done is a few 100-inch 8 points and maybe 110 or 120. The wind was just right for the spot he wanted to hunt. The age of the deer was estimated to be 4 years old, and the buck had a significant jump in antler growth in the past year. "I knew about this buck in 2018," he says. Lucky hat brings nurse Jefferson County monster, 159-inch buck killed by 15-year-old East Rankin Academy student, With hunting season in the books, its time to make plans to bring your bucks to the Louisiana Sportsman Big Buck Contest. "This was one buck that didn't have ground shrinkage, but had ground growth," he said. (Photo courtesy of Tres Jackson) Hunter: Tres . I hit it four times, pointing in each direction once.. I shot the exact hair on the deer that I was aiming for, says Moreland. That's the beauty of hunting. He was well outside his ears, and one of my brothers saw it, too, and he agreed that it was just a 6-point. I would sit and watch TV and read magazines just hoping for a chance at a buck like this. He passed away the week before, and this was the first time I went hunting after his passing., Jake Murdaughs Oklahoma MonsterScore: 194 inchesDate of Kill: Nov. 28, 2021Location: Pittsburg County, Okla.Weapon: .308 Winchester. All told, Moreland would see the buck a total of six times before the deer slipped up. For more information, call the St. Francis National Forest at (870) 295-5278. Official B&C measurer Glen Salow came up with a 'green ' gross score of 258 7/8 inches. Late November through December is usually the prime time for breeding, as that results in higher fawn survival. I had no idea the journey our family was about to embark on with this deer, Lee said. I had just sat back down, and about 4:10, I heard a limb snap behind me to my right. I was in the wide open, but it worked out. The 200-yard shot hit its mark. An hour or so later, at 7:30 a.m. on Dec. 22, Hooper would realize his good fortune when a bigger buck, not showing the rutting behavior of the many that had passed that morning, suddenly appeared. Despite having broken off a 9-inch tine on his left side when he crashed, there was no ground shrinkage. He passed the deer in hopes of it returning the following season. He was bowhunting from the ground with some natural brush around him. Id have him on camera morning and evening. My thermals would be rising. 5 Purdue outlasted Wisconsin 63-61. Then, in 2020, it made a huge jump, and turned into one of the largest 8-pointers hed ever seen. The moment Moreland got photos of a buck with wide, heavy antlers and what looked like 15 scoreable points, he made the decision to target only that deer. Lefty showed up on camera after a long Tennessee rifle season.. Still, they thought they had a good chance of seeing Spider Man up and on the hoof. 2023 Outdoor Sportsman Group. His father passed away in October. Cole Hartman, of Dundee, N.Y., arrowed this impressive, 10-point buck on Oct. 31 "on our new property located just in Schuyler County. During the spring conservation order, you can hunt with outfitters from Arkansas to Saskatchewan. At the 2009 Arkansas Big Buck Classic, the huge typical mainframe 5x5 rack officially gross-scored 182 7/8 inches and netted 174 2/8. Its pretty common to scroll through your social media news feed this time of year and see various photos of bowhunters sitting behind the monster bucks they have shot. The shot was 25 yards and I rattled him" into range, he said . I killed a lot of deer with a gun before I started bowhunting about six years ago. "The doe saw me and started blowing. I couldn't get a shot.'. Hes got a lot of stickers and stuff.. On Sept. 30, 2021, he was glad of these strategic decisions. I took one last look at his antlers, couldnt believe what I was looking at, and then took aim. Several minutes later, the deer started moving again. And theres only one of their treestands thats beside water. He was 19 inches wide.. All in all, about 15 deer filtered in and out of view. Morelands Arkansas bow season started much like any other. And dont forget about theMississippi Sportsman Big Buck Photo Contest, which is free and offers great monthly Sportsman Gear prizes. Doctors said he only had weeks to live. It rained all day but stopped just before the afternoon hunt. I just love chasing big white-tailed deer., Lynn Jareds Kentucky WhitetailScore: 171 inchesDate of Kill: Sept. 7, 2021Location: Clinton County, Ky.Weapon: Bowtech compound bow, Lynn Jared grew up hunting in the hills of Tennessee, and now also hunts in Kentucky. Does it get any better than that? A little after 5 p.m., we heard running from the creek bed behind us. From there it was probably a five-minute ordeal, and he worked every scrape that young 8-pointer had worked, Watson said. Taken in Pushmataha County, this deer is nearly 2 inches bigger than the previous record. As part of the BuckVentures field staff, they understand whitetails, and it came as no surprise when this 5-year-old deer fell to a Reed. The brother came to join Luke for the search, and the two found the buck dead in that last treetop. Besides how big he was, I couldnt keep my eyes off the double drop tines.. It netted 209 0/8 Boone and Crockett, but grossed 216 2/8 B&C before the mandatory, 60-day drying period. The buck was as massive as he'd looked on camera, and the biggest Moreland had ever killed. But at his shot, the deer jumped the stream and his arrow hit high. Let us know what you thought about these Monsters! The one on the right was 4 inches. The state archery record is a 188 5/8 buck from Pawnee County which was killed by Gunner Womack of Morrison two years ago. . I was overcome with emotion when we recovered the big eight. I heard a deer walking up the hill in the leaves grunting as he walked, Kamps said. This is the heaviest whitetail deer ever killed. I killed him in the mock scrape I created., The deer ran 30 yards and tipped over. He stopped in a small group of persimmon trees to catch his breath. He went from fighting mode to loving mode and made a move. Of course, a multi-year quest for any buck is emotionally taxing. The campus is only about an hour away from where he hunts. A coyote ran out of a nearby thicket and spooked the buck past his stand, but with no possibility for a shot. This deer is special because 8-pointers typically dont get to this level. Hooper waited 15 minutes before starting the recovery. This 8 1/2-year-old buck killed by Mississippi hunter Justin Develle on Oct. 22, was ear-tagged in 2018 by the Mississippi State University Deer Lab as part of a buck-movement study. What do you think Jimmy would do? Lance asked. Even though he was in the tall weeds and stuff, I could see his body and his vitals. It was a long 4-year process, but it paid off.". Still, he only had five or six trail camera photos, and didnt have much hope of seeing the deer. About Press Copyright Contact us Creators Advertise Developers Terms Privacy Policy & Safety How YouTube works Test new features NFL Sunday Ticket Press Copyright . Bucks this big dont get that way by being stupid. That errant shot allowed him to stay in the stand, wait another hour or so and shoot and kill a 183-inch 16-point non-typical with double drop tines. The DNR estimated 574,000 hunters spent 8.7 million days afield during the 2017 deer season, and harvested 376,000 deer for a nearly 50% success rate. He was running away from me, and it was a snap shot. It was a 5 X 7 main-frame 12, with one one-inch drop tine and several sticker points off the brow tines and other tines.. He grabbed his bow, drew back, settled the pin, and took the 22-yard, broadside shot. Copyright 1998 - 2023 Mississippi Sportsman, Inc. All rights reserved. The deer had fallen, but gotten back up and continued running. Now in private ownership and no longer a club, it was on that same property he took the 16-point. Then, later in the season, he finally crossed paths with the deer one last time. I turned in his direction and prepared to shoot. Morelands arrow went in perfectly through the top of one lung, but hit a rib on the opposite side. This, however, wasn't the last of the action. Both bases were right at 5 inches, and the main beams were 23 inches, Wilson said. 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. This great non-typical also is the latest member of Kentucky's all-time Top 30 list. A couple hours later, Kamps returned with a tracking party. South Texas' ranches are known to grow some giants; still, this state just barely made the top 10 list for typical bucks. The deer ran about 200 yards and crashed. In the end, Josh walked right up on the buck. They talked a lot, and hunting was a common topic. Kamps settled the pin and took it. Wisconsin: 33 deer per square mile. "At least I think there were six. The buck took three steps and bounced back. In hindsight, Ryan is glad no one killed the big buck in 2011. Hubert Collins' beast is the biggest buck you've probably never heard of, and one of only two typical whitetails in the Pope and Young top 10 that are not from . The excited hunter reached for his cell phone. []. He hit hard, fracturing a bone in his right leg and three vertebrae in his back. Ive been putting food plots in, hunting hard and so much more for years, and it finally came together. The next day, Luke Wilson was back in the same stand at 3:30. This buck is known as the Missouri Monarch. A native of Hattiesburg and graduate of the University of Southern Mississippi, Cleveland lives on Ross Barnett Reservoir near Jackson with his wife Pam. "I waited until about 2 p.m. to trail the buck with my cousin and some good friends," Ryan says. Deer: Balancing Expectations for Small Properties, Get to Know Your Neighbors for Better Deer Herd Management, Big Buck Profile: Reid Crawford Kansas Buck, Choosing Correct Magnification for Rifle Scope, Big Buck Profile: Troy Metzger's East Illinois Giant. Moreland, who always brings his camera along to film hunts, talked to the rolling camera for about 20 minutes before settling into his climber to wait. Ryan Sullivan was only 19 when, during the 2013 season, he arrowed an Arkansas buck of gigantic proportions. In another huge jump, the buck had grown from a 160-inch 9-pointer to a monster 15-pointer with matching split G-2 tines. Deer. In an instant, the shaft had passed through him. Lee, Im not going to be able to hunt with you this year, his father said. He knew something wasn't right and turned around and went straight back. The stage now was set for him to truly blossom into a world-class trophy. He used briars and small cedar trees as cover as he went. In this edition of "From The Stand," Pat Hogan explains the importance of being aware of proper clearance when using your bow or crossbow out in the field. We dont think it could have been this big buck.. Then, 2020 arrived, and Lefty was back on the farm. Being in the open, Wilson decided to sit still and let the buck continue to walk in the direction he was traveling, hoping it would cross in front and provide a right-handed shot. Can Coolers | An Official Journal Of The NRA, Find More Great NRA Publications Perfect For Every Interest, Discover Everything That The NRA Has To Offer. Put everything together and you have a gross 9-point frame score of 193 6/8. There was an additional sticker off the left main beam. As luck would have it, the buck didnt show. She came in and started eating, but he caught our wind, Reed said. Heres a look at 10 of the most flexible long-range hunting cartridges.