Afterward, Reed's father and brother-in-law helped him recover the buck and get it out of the field. "It became a yearly tradition for me," he said. I felt like my dad was with me like an angel on my shoulder, he says. Kirkpatrick immediately called his friends: Chase Geary, who shot a 167 4/8-inch deer earlier in the season; Nick Huff, who's shot plenty of mature deer; and Jake Peveler, someone who knew the land well. The deer jumped, and then walked back into cover. In January we got one picture of him, nearly two miles from where wed found his previous years sheds. The rifle has five caliber offerings, two barrel choices and three different riser stocks. The velvet buck is his best archery buck to date, and one he wont soon forget. "As I walked to my stand, I used my rangefinder to range my tree at 50, 40, 30, and 20 yards. This means you have the option to read your magazine on most popular phones and tablets. I took my backpack off, got a drink of Coke, and just settled in. However, that isnt always the case. Lacefield slowly drew back. All North American Whitetail subscribers now have digital access to their magazine content. He quickly recognized the big typical, and watched as it walked all the way to within 15 yards. I've seen some biggins in the middle of Frankfort. Registration on or use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Service. They use the clearing to get back and forth between the ag-fields and the hardwoods., Settle got to work setting up mineral and food plots and installing several permanent stands. Gordon Whittington talks with Steven Sprout about the trophy buck he took back in 1998 while bowhunting public land in Illinois. I couldnt tell if he was on my side of the property line or the neighbors. Sweet Streams: 5 Hot Rivers for Midwest Smallies, Euro Nymphing 101: Trout Tactics from Across the Pond, Spin to Win: Panfish Secrets for Catching Limits on Spinners, Best New Baitcasting Rods & Reels for 2022, Backyard Ready: Grilling the Perfect Steak, Winchester Big Bore: Backcountry Bear Protection, Classic Marlin: 336 and 1894 Lever-Action Hunting Rifles, NWTF's Passion for Wild Turkey Conservation Still Burns After 50 Years, First Look: Leupold's BX-4 Range HD Rangefinding Binos, Browning's Max Point, Silver Series Rifle Ammunition, New Hunting Ammo from Remington: 360 Buckhammer, New from Browning: X-Bolt Pro LR McMillan, Hornady's Hot New 7mm PRC Cartridge: SHOT 2023, Hawke Optics' Frontier LRF Laser Range Finding Binoculars, New from LaRue Tactical: Siete Chassis Rifle. Subscribe to OL+ for our best feature stories and photography. Mike Clerkin heads to the legendary Buffalo County, Wisconsin, in search of early season whitetail action. From seeing him to when I shot him it was a three-minute thrill ride, Huff told MeatEater. In December of 2019, it happened while Kline was there. Standard exercised patience, though, and waited for the giant to appear. Kentucky Big Bucks - Facebook So, just from knowing the property, I thought that there would be one particular place where a big deer might go to die. He is one of the biggest bucks ever taken out of LBL. Public Land Results. But Settle says he felt his presence this September. "The farm hasn't been bowhunted for five-plus years. We even had a friend drive three hours to come see Sasquatch in person. It was Dads biggest LBL deer ever, a 170-inch buck that we had two years of sheds from, but it wasnt the deer he was after. He thought it probably had a 14 or 16 point rack. His treestand was positioned on the ridge, with bedding cover at the end of the point. So, with Herman missing in action for numerous days, Kline transitioned his attention the other buck. That is one of the best-looking racks Ive seen from last season,beautiful color and all those stickers! Access. Or, do I go hunt a deer thatd be the biggest deer Ive ever killed?, I ended up shooting the 162-inch deer, Kline says. He was now a 200- plus-inch 17-point giant. ( Photo: Fort Campbell Fish and Wildlife) Land Between the Lakes National Recreation area is about 20 minutes from our hometown of Benton, Kentucky. We observed a 2% increase from the 2018-19 season (145,745) and the 2019-20 season is 11% above the 10 year average (133,524). Browning Ammunition has two big-game hunting loads new for 2023 that are effective on a wide range of species: the Max Point and Silver Series. Settle says the impressive whitetail has at least 57 scorable points and rough-scored it at 289 5/8 inches B&C. At least 74 people in Kentucky have died after a weekend tornado outbreak across eight states flattened homes and businesses in the Midwest and South. Last week, when Field & Stream published a story about a huge 280-plus-inch whitetail buck that Derek Settle said he shot in Henderson County, Kentucky, on September 11, 2021, we expected the. Josh Carter killed this massive non-typical buck in Logan County on Halloween 2021. That afternoon, he used HuntStand to check the wind and went back to the same stand, feeling optimistic since the buck had walked through there the previous afternoon. At 200+ inches, Huffman's deer becomes the new Kentucky state record for typical bucks taken with a crossbow. Each year the buck packed on more antler growth, but Lacefield couldnt get within range for a shot. We continued looking for the other side but never found it. He was an impressive 160-inch 12-pointer. That is one of the best-looking racks I've seen from last season, beautiful color and all those stickers! But the average age of deer, especially bucks, depends a lot on the choices hunters make. Among the accomplishments includes the recently concluded Save the Habitat, Save the Hunt initiative, which in 10 years conserved or enhanced 5.3 million acres of critical wildlife habitat, recruited 1.5 million new or lapsed hunters, and opened new access to 750,000 acres for hunting and recreation. However, after now reading Facebook comments and seeing photos of his deer that were posted on the page of an Indiana deer preserve, one thing is clear: Someone is not telling the truth. At SHOT Show 2023 in Las Vegas. He decided to come back the next morning. Wildlife & Freshwater Fisheries law enforcement officers say this is the biggest deer theyve seen all season. Buckmasters Whitetail Trophy Records (BTR) scorer Hunter Schmittou measured the beast of a buck and gave Huffman the final tally. Nice to see other people from Richmond. My dad, Luke, family friend Jason Divita and I covered miles almost every day, and we found one of his sheds in late January. Guner Womack, a teen out of Oklahoma, arrowed this incredible 88 buck last night while hunting over a wheat field. The property hunted wellreally well. He especially didnt expect it to happen during his first year on a new farm. Just $1 per month , A handful of killer Kentucky velvet bucks from this bowseason, By All of those four are among the top 15 in the state in their respective category. Subscriber Services. After lunch, he settled in and waited for deer to begin moving. This means you have the option to read your magazine on most popular phones and tablets. I was thinking, Do I keep hunting this giant? Kline says. He had 15 scorable points, and he would still score over 200 inches. Soon after settling into the stand, deer began moving. This page has. Full story on this beast coming soon from Dean Weimer, more I look at that rack, what a buck. Reed had in-person encounters with this giant deer in 2019 and 2020. "I've got close to an hour and a half before dark," Kirkpatrick said to Moore. The large soybean field was surrounded by hardwoods, and he was hunting on a peninsula of timber that protruded out into the field. The area where his stand was hung served as a great staging area as deer moved out to feed. Though Settle didnt post the buck on social media, he immediately sent the photos of his trophy to his stepdad. Closer to dark, more does entered the field, then the big 150-inch buck the giant was with the day before stepped out. Subscribe to OL+ for our best feature stories and photography. "You must take the time to do all the preseason scouting," Reed said. Then when a game farm reached out and said the antlers looked familiar, Keating knew the whitetail was an escapee. Skis are easily the most efficient way to cover snowy ground on foot in winter. I never told a soul about him. We got there well before daylight to keep from spooking any deer. Bowhunting is just one of those things that I used to love when I was growing up, Settle adds. When the wind is blowing toward his home, he knows that its a good time to hunt from the blindlike it was on Saturday, September 11, 2021, when Settle decided to go hunting around 2:30 p.m. I'm gonna say that deer came in behind Kroger and sherwin williams. 1 Pope and Young Bucks Before They Were Beat, Illinois Hunter Sprints to Close the Distance On 21-point Bedded Buck, How to Find Big Buck Sanctuaries in the Spring. I have two children and I hope that in the future they will want to go hunting with me and be as passionate about it as I am. State-by-State Hunting Data | Archery Trade Association Back before the construction went full bore that is. We told them to grab all his sheds off the mantle and meet us in LBL to drag him out. Everything in my body at that moment wanted to give up, he says. I had an incredible year in 2021, from my dad and I taking trophy-class mule deer on a DIY public land hunt in Wyoming, to killing a buck of a lifetime near home. Nathan Simmons of Browning and Game & Fish's John Taranto take a closer look at both cartridges at SHOT Show 2023 in Las Vegas. Were not opposed to that hunter shooting that deerwed actually encourage hunters to remove the buck in those situations. He was laying right where I thought he would be, which is kind of crazy, Kline says. That number includes about 12,000 bowhunters who registered 3,000 deer. I hate to see a great one taken out by a car. Then, the big deer came back out, now concealed by a bunch of weeds. In rare cases, wild whitetails can live for 20 years or more. The farmer/landowner doesnt let anybody deer hunt, but he allows me to go shed hunt, Kline says. Brian Butcher shot a deer with massive antlers, but he won't let that give him a big head. CX Outfitter, 180 gr. When I found him, I didnt know what to think. Then, they spotted a trace of blood on the top of a beanstalk. The timber dropped off into a drainage about 60 yards away. But the buck took a full step to the right.