I took one last look at his antlers, couldnt believe what I was looking at, and then took aim. I turned in his direction and prepared to shoot. They followed blood about 150 yards to the downed buck. To our knowledge, no one had seen this buck, and there are no trail cam pictures of him, Hooper said. He passed the deer in hopes of it returning the following season. The hunt kicked off with slightly warmer weather, but the rut was just starting, and he hoped for a positive outcome. Despite his pursuit to further his education, his desire to pursue the buck hadn't diminished. After the 60-day drying period, he again taped the rack. 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. It worked, Lee said. I finally decided to take a chance and take off work. . The shot was 25 yards and I rattled him" into range, he said . but he got way bigger. 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. I could never get a consistent wind. Jason Lucas didnt have any history with this buck from prior seasons, but he knew this was a surefire target when he first saw it in 2021. The rack's 21 6/8-inch inside spread certainly helps to show off its unique character. I sat there for a couple of hours, going through trail camera cards, Hall says. My brother said, Dude, you just got a B&C buck! Wilson said. Copyright 1998 - 2023 Mississippi Sportsman, Inc. All rights reserved. We thought that maybe he had been killed, but when we checked cameras [in] mid-February, he had returned in late December. | Around 2:30, Hall heard some deer and spotted two does walking through the water. After all the crazy things that happened to me while hunting this buck, I just think that I was meant to shoot him.. 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. On October 17, Watson got pictures of the buck from his cellular trail cam near the treestand. In the Midwest, with ample nutrition and healthy deer numbers, bucks seem more likely to continue to make the big jumps in antler development after 5 1/2. He would have been the first person I told. "I had class on Tuesday and Thursday, so I hunted Friday through Monday. It was so thick that he couldnt see what made the sound, though. Although he doesnt remember the fall, he does remember picking himself up, walking over to the buck, and putting another arrow in him. I really had no idea.. Ryan estimated the deer now was 7 1/2 years old. His late grandfather started JJ Ranch in 1961, but passed in 2009, and its been worked by the family ever since. Bucks this big dont get that way by being stupid. I still cant believe it. I knew he was a shooter, but I didnt really see all that he had. I settled the crosshairs where I needed to place the bullet and steadied the rifle. Lefty showed up on camera after a long Tennessee rifle season.. I had this weird feeling. Konschak was hunting deer in nearby property and said he killed what he thought were . The deer had fallen, but gotten back up and continued running. 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. 6/8 inches wide and sported sky scraping G-2s over 12 inches long. "There was no way he could get any bigger. 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. On Sept. 30, 2021, he was glad of these strategic decisions. 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. Purdue clinched the Big Ten regular-season title outright earlier in the day when Illinois beat At 16 yards, Mikell took aim at the giant and released his arrow. He missed. The latter was a perfect candidate for the first-time hunter, so Ryan directed his cousin to shoot the smaller deer. 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. Hall sure did. However, the 10-pointer he got was the biggest buck hes ever seen on the property. 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. Subscribe to OL+ for our best feature stories and photography. This is also the part that can be frustrating. My two boys were familiar with the buck, as they go through pictures with me. James Kroll and Haynes Shelton talk about being realistic when it comes to managing a smaller deer property in this edition of Dr. In addition to being the top non-typical bow buck in Arkansas history, this giant was the state's biggest killed by any hunter, gun or bow, in 2013. The eastern boundary of the county is the Mississippi River. This monster Arkansas buck is rumored to gross 212 inches with a net of 195 inches on the Boone & Crockett scoring system and could be certified as the new state record. 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. Over the next couple weeks, Watson followed him, moving from spot to spot, but he only caught glimpses on trail cameras. It later taped out at 186 3/8 inches. If he had any chance of killing the deer with his 50-pound Toelke Whip longbow, Johnathan was going to have to get the buck in close again. The majority of these came from Maverick (28), La Salle (24), Webb (23), Dimmit (20) and Kleberg (11) counties. He was hunting near a pond and a small field. There were bucks going everywhere at one time, and I actually shot at another deer and missed. Ryan went back to school for the next week of class heartbroken over the buck having busted him. Right at last light, after several minutes of silence, a big buck eased out into a clearing 40 yards away. Photo by: Markus Semmler. The first time, the buck was chasing does and didnt come close enough for a shot. The first year was challenging, as they had to learn how deer used the property. Im very fortunate to have had the opportunity not only to see a wild New Hampshire buck this big, but harvest him., Justin Kamps Illinois GiantScore: 170 inchesDate of Kill: Nov. 4, 2021Location: Northwest IllinoisWeapon: Hoyt RX-1 compound bow. So was Lefty. "I hunted every weekend in 2013," Ryan recalls. Again, the deer skirted his stand near the middle of the 300-acre block in the same place as the year before. The 34,000-acre lease is owned by a timber company, and is broken into smaller, huntable pieces. Typical: 186 1/8 inches. Wilson sat back down in his tripod stand, realizing how he stuck out in the huge cutover. In retrospect, Watson believes the buck probably died after the first shot. Lee, Im not going to be able to hunt with you this year, his father said. And wouldn't you know it not long after the cousins had sat down, the 9-pointer appeared, walking directly behind a good 7-pointer. My thermals would be rising. The brother came to join Luke for the search, and the two found the buck dead in that last treetop. Ryan says, "I could have killed this deer with a rifle if it had been legal. Bottles & 12-oz. I enjoyed every day of the hunt, but being successful with this buck made it a hunt I will remember forever, Mullina said. 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. He stood broadside, eight paces away. Its where I untangle my mind., Jason Lucas Illinois WhitetailScore: 168 inchesDate of Kill: Dec. 8, 2021Location: Central IllinoisWeapon: Mathews Triax compound bow. The biggest buck entered so far was a 195-2/8" behemoth shot in Drew County, Arkansas. 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. Dad came alive. It broke the 50-year record held by the #2 Spot! The larger buck snort-wheezed twice. The right beam was 26 4/8 inches long, the left 24 3/8. He was hunting in a large clearcut paralleled by a steep ridge line. He finished the season with 11 encounters, but passed the buck each time in hopes of it living another year. 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. I hit it four times, pointing in each direction once.. The cutover has no food sources, other than natural, and it had a small drainage ditch down in this one bottom with one stretch of small pines. When it walked into the open, she touched off the 75-yard shot. As he waited for the sun to rise, he couldnt help but think of all his memories of the place, as well as the many times his father had taken him hunting as a kid. We started leasing this property in July of 2020, and this buck was the first deer that I got on camera, he said. It rained all day but stopped just before the afternoon hunt. Arnold, an environmental engineer for Tyson Foods, is an expert bowhunter who hunts in some of America's most . The Pope and Young Club's minimum score for world record non typical whitetail bucks is 155 inches, which would be a great deer, likely with a great camp story to match that would only get better with . Ive been hunting all my life, Murdaugh said. Although Moreland hadnt gun-hunted in years, he made the decision to muzzleloader hunt during Arkansas early blackpowder season. At daybreak a doe busted through the cedar thicket with an eight-point suitor following close behind. After the day Id hunt him, he would always show up the next afternoon. Jeremy Martinson had been hunting in the area throughout the season, but on Nov. 1, 2021, he received an opportunity at a huge whitetail. When I got him he weighed over 300 pounds on the hoof, as suspected. 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 mammoth rack was 17. Once there, they followed blood and found the deer in a logging road about 75 yards into the tracking job. A legal buck on the St. Francis National Forest must have either a 15-inch inside spread or one antler of at least 18 inches. A slight southwest wind swept across the landscape. Lefty fell right there. They didn't want me to leave. He encountered the buck a second time soon after. He still has a deep bone bruise on his left heel and a fractured fibula in his right leg. That's based on photos from 2010, when he clearly wasn't over 3 1/2. He was quartering to my right and I let him put another 100 yards between us so I could get turned. After a quick congratulatory text, Ryan looked up to see a trotting doe. 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. But, I will keep shooting the 125s and 130s because around here, those are what you expect and they are trophies.. On Nov. 1, Moreland got a later start than he had planned, and didnt get to his stand until 12:30 that afternoon. After taking the buck, Travis learned a neighbor had been watching the buck and seeing it on his trail cameras for two years. The stage now was set for him to truly blossom into a world-class trophy. He was running away from me, and it was a snap shot. The story of Loyd's Arkansas buck shows why effective deer management in many states is creating the potential for record-book . Like many of his fellow Arkansans, Ryan is a deer and duck fanatic. So I went ahead and let the bow down to the ground, climbed over and onto the climbing sticks, he says. Its hard to justify shooting a spike or forkhorn when you know there is a Boone and Crockett buck in the area. Lee settled the crosshairs and pulled the trigger. Franz finally killed the deer on an Oct . Watts shot the buck at about 50 yards with a rifle chambered in 6.5mm Creedmoor. The John and Gisele Fetterman Romance: A Ken Burns Documentary. I had just built a rifle but hadnt set the scope. He was a good-looking, 150-class 10 . Everytime we go out, we can get our hopes up that the deer crunching the leaves behind the stand we're in is one we have only seen in our dreams until now. 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. I couldnt see behind me so Im not sure where he came out from but he was walking up out of that drainage ditch. Contributor Brad Fenson takes to the grill, to cook up some delicious venison burgers. The buck walked to about 20 yards and started raking tree limbs. I was super excited. After all the hard work and patience, it finally paid off., Eric Mullinas Missouri MonsterScore: 174 inchesDate of Kill: Sept. 25, 2021Location: Pike County, Mo.Weapon: Elite compound bow. It was an overwhelming feeling. Still, he was able to get to full draw, settled the pin on the giant buck and took the 20-yard shot. He never looked back; he just kept walking. On Nov. 24, Hall launched his boat around 9:30 a.m. and reached his stand half an hour later. He had high hopes for the afternoon hunt. All of the efforts Hall invested in hunting this buck including boat rides and many dawn-to-dusk hunts culminated in shooting a buck that he might never best, and almost certainly not in Arkansas. He fractured a bone in his right . Bucks like this in New Hampshire on public land are far and few, Martinson said. "All my buddies were expecting me to be jumping up and down when I found the buck," Ryan says, "but I didn't. I had no idea this county could even produce anything like that. The buck dropped close by, but as Watson climbed down the tree to make a follow-up shot, the strap on one of his climbing sticks broke and he fell roughly 17 feet to the ground. Nick continued to watch several bucks harass does throughout the morning, but chose not to take a shot at them. In no specific order at this time. Site by Gray Loon. Rather, there's a short muzzleloader/shotgun season. "He got to about 25 yards, and I drew when he went behind the tree," Ryan says. However, dreams are fueled by high-stakes whitetails, and the passion helped Ryan put his tag on the state's largest non-typical ever arrowed. When they found the arrow, coated with chunks of meat and hair and little blood, they knew the buck was not dead, and backed out. He said he knew hed hit the buck based on the deers reaction at the shot, but . To get started, click the link below to visit mymagnow.com and learn how to access your digital magazine. The buck took off, the arrow still in him. Throughout the day, we saw a few bucks that I rattled in, one being a nice 4-year-old, Kamps said. Arkansas doesn't jump to top of mind as a big-buck destination, but that didn't stop bowhunter Preston Hall. Biggest buck ever killed in fl? Id have him on camera morning and evening. . The rack gross scores 214 1/8 and nets 212 1/8. Yet, the state Game Commission charged him with poaching, killing out of season what was described as the largest bear ever seen in the county. County: Hunter: Date : 221 1/8: non: Washington: Richard Little: They didnt have any encounters with the deer until after the rut. Well, not so in this situation. What Hooper found was a 205-pound buck with long, thick main beams. He waited until the deer got behind a tree and started to move, but Lefty heard him, and stopped cold in his tracks. Score: 155 inches. the only deer I killed was an 8 point, and I shot him at 295 yards. He used briars and small cedar trees as cover as he went. These are world-class numbers, and there's no doubt the animal fell to a most deserving bowhunter. Courtesy of onX Hunt, here are the eight states in the USA with the highest deer density: Mississippi: 38 deer per square mile. By late afternoon, about 15 deer were out in the open, including a couple of nice bucks. 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. Moreland, with his Arkansas archery buck. Morelands first encounter with the buck occurred on a hunt early in the season. He had cameras at the private hunting lease he hunts with his brother, Josh. Arkansas Hunter Falls From Tree Stand After Arrowing the Biggest Buck of His Life. Field Dressed Weight: 431-Lbs. They ran off when a small 4- and 8-pointer walked into the field. With the deer on food sources, Ryan was able to pattern the buck before Oct. 15. Ryan Sullivan was only 19 when, during the 2013 season, he arrowed an Arkansas buck of gigantic proportions.