Author: Josh Honeycutt

David Heinemann’s big Illinois deer is the stuff of legends Hunter: David Heinemann Buck: 250 7/8 inches Date of Harvest: November 19, 2022 Location of Harvest: Will County, Illinois Weapon of Harvest: Mossberg 500 12-gauge David Heinemann has been deer hunting since he was 12. A few seasons ago, he shot a buck scoring 210 6/8 inches. He thought he’d never shoot a deer bigger than that, but he was wrong. During the 2022 deer season, he killed a whitetail beyond what any hunter could hope for. The deer showed up on November 14, 2022, while Heinemann was at work.…

Jess Nehl Kansas buck is a big, unique whitetail Hunter: Jess Nehl Buck: 188 1/8 inches Date of Harvest: November 7, 2022 Location of Harvest: Kansas Weapon of Harvest: Hoyt Ventum 33 Kansas deer hunter Jess Nehl first learned of this freaky non-typical whitetail in 2021. He had multiple encounters with the deer but ultimately passed in hopes of it growing another year. “He blew up so much from the year before,” Nehl said. “I guess he put on 50 inches. I never thought I would get a chance to hunt a deer like this. We see a lot of big typical bucks, but it’s…

Hunting down a mature deer is no easy feat. Here are some key points to remember Hunting a mature deer isn’t easy. In fact, as a deer hunter, it might be the most difficult thing you accomplish. Fortunately, there are a lot of intelligent deer hunters out there who’ve been there and done that. Here, we gain some knowledge from excellent big buck killers from across the country. 1. Scout Digitally It takes a lot of scouting to kill mature bucks. But you must scout in the right manner. Scouting from the computer is the first step. Phillip Vanderpool of…

Photos by Kelsie Berg Chase Grubbs Got It Done After Knocking On a Door Buck Score: 205 inches (gross) Date of Harvest: October 19, 2021 Location of Harvest: Iowa Weapon of Harvest: Compound bow Chase Grubbs is like many deer hunters who came before him…with a dream to hunt monster Whitetails and the willingness to move to Iowa to follow it. During the 2021 season, that pursuit resulted in his tagging a 6½-year-old deer with a massive rack. But before that, Grubbs moved there for an internship with Bill Winke and Midwest Whitetail. He learned a lot and even bagged…

Photos Courtesy of Kelly Ware Kelly Ware hunted this deer for two seasons and finally ended the story with a well-placed shot. Buck: 199⅝ inches (gross) /194 inches (net) Date of Harvest: October 4, 2020 Location of Harvest: Iowa County, Wisconsin Weapon of Harvest: Bow Kelly Ware had three encounters with a phenomenal buck during the 2019 rut and hoped for better the next year. At that time, the deer was running with a large 10-pointer that Ware was following. Fast forward about a year. During the 2020 deer season, Ware was fortunate enough to catch up to the 7½-year-old…

Orlando Vivone’s Iowa whitetail exhibits incredible character Hunter: Orlando M. Vivone IV Buck Score: 195 1/8 inches Date of Harvest: October 17, 2022 Location of Harvest: Madison County, Iowa Weapon of Harvest: Mission Crossbow Dagger, Crossbow Bolts: Missions Orlando Vivone loves deer hunting as much or more as the next guy, and last season, he had the chance to hunt a buck he aged to be 5 ½ to 6 ½ years old. Even better, it sported a huge, unique rack. His journey didn’t start there, though. He started out hunting waterfowl and upland birds. Then, in 2017, deer hunting…

Riley Post filled his deer tag on a magnificent, heavy-antlered midwestern whitetail Hunter: Riley Post Buck Score: 180 3/8 inches Date of Harvest: November 6, 2022 Location of Harvest: Randolph County, Indiana Weapon of Harvest: Crossbow Riley Post is a serious Indiana deer hunter. And last season, he connected on a monster 4 ½-year-old buck out of Randolph County. But even before this big deer, he’s always loved deer hunting. “Deer hunting has always had a place in my heart,” Post said. “I shot my first deer in 3rd grade and have been hooked ever sense. From getting to bring my…

Check out these 2022-23 season kills from across the country, with words from the hunters themselves The 2023 deer season will be here soon. But the 2022 season is still fresh on our minds. Here are short tales of whitetails bagged last season, in each hunter’s own words. Read the encounters, check out the pics, and get fired up for fall. Hunter: Matt Antle Buck: 172 inches Date of Harvest: September 4, 2022 Location of Harvest: Adair County, Kentucky Weapon of Harvest: Compound bow September 4 was an overcast day with off-and-on rain, steady 5-mph winds, and 75- to 80-degree…

A Look at 30 Famous Whitetail Counties and Their Claims to Fame Deer hunters have heard legendary stories about the likes of high-profile Whitetail counties for decades. Places like Buffalo County, Wisconsin; Pike County, Illinois; and Warren County, Iowa (among others) are big-buck destinations that many hunters have hunted or have dreamed of hunting. Some counties are incredibly famous for Whitetails. Whether that’s for putting a lot of big bucks in the books or by recording some especially famous bucks in the books, some county names are familiar to a lot of outdoorsmen. We call these the “kingmaker counties.” Obtaining…

Darin Hess shot the deer of 10,000 lifetimes on a permission property Buck Score: 250 inches (gross) / 237 5/8 inches (net) Date of Harvest: November 15, 2021 Location of Harvest: Riley County, Kansas Weapon of Harvest: Mathews bow Kansas deer hunter Darin Hess knows Whitetails, and his quest for a huge deer ended during the 2021-22 season. But it started the year before, albeit briefly. “I first saw this deer in the fall of 2020,” Hess said. “One time and that was it. I started getting trail cam pics of him around the first of October in 2021.” By…