By Scott Bestul

Well, BuckTracker friends, I'm just back from an Illinois bowhunt, where I was re-taught that you can hunt some of the best whitetail ground in the country and still have your tail handed to you. I did see one “shooter” buck (a 3-year old 8-point) in five days of hunting—certainly nothing to cry about—but when I saw the sheds our host had in the lodge, I knew the farms we hunted weren’t showing us their best deer. Still, I had a wonderful time with a great camp full of friends and whitetail nuts. It sure beat working!

Though things weren’t happening in west-central Illinois, the southern tip of the state was extremely kind to at least one hunter. Check out this incredible typical buck below, taken near the town of Pinckneyville. No word on the hunter’s identity as yet, but the buzz on this deer is extremely hot. Apparently, the green typical score is 198”, but the early gossip hinted that the deer might eclipse Mel Johnson’s P&Y world record of 204-4/8”. That buck, a goliath 13-point, was also an Illinois deer (Peoria Co.) and was shot in 1965. You’ll note that the hunter (or a friend) had the sheds from this... [ Read Full Post ]

By Kim Hiss

     Reader Amanda Krupp sent me this story of her first hunting experience. I thought it was a nice tale of rookie triumph, and figured I’d share it on the blog. Here’s Amanda! –K.H.

      I was raised in a family that never invited the females to hunt, so I was excited when my new boyfriend invited me up to his cottage for his friends' annual grouse hunt. I had always been friends with guys and had never gone hunting before, so I never thought twice about attending (or in the friends' mind, invading) a traditionally all-male hunting/bonding weekend. I'm sure most of you can guess that I wasn't warmly welcomed. I walked in first to the cabin and none of the guys even raised their head fully to acknowledge me, let alone to greet me. That first night was filled with drinking and games, none of which I was invited to participate in.
      The next morning we headed out for our first hunt. Everyone hunted in groups of 4-5 people and walked in a line through the woods. As I had only shot a shotgun once, and was trying to figure everything out, I found the... [ Read Full Post ]

By Scott Bestul

If you ever need proof that whitetails adapt to people, check out the photo below. No word yet on where this trampoline is located, but I hope the landowners remove it before the firearms season…bucks have enough hiding places as it is!

-Scott [ Read Full Post ]

By Scott Bestul

Another great deer story came to me from Iowa the other day. Steve Hanson, a friend, guide, and whitetail fanatic from Monroe County, actually knew the buck pictured here quite well. “We had seen him several times in velvet and had lots of trail camera photos of him,” Steve says. “We knew he was a monster and I had a client coming in for the archery opener. I hoped he’d have a chance at the buck.”

The client did indeed get a crack at the buck. Unfortunately, after a thorough blood trailing job, they were unable to find the deer.

Steve is so busy guiding hunters he rarely has time to hunt himself. But when he had a free afternoon during the resident muzzleloader season, he decided to visit the same area. “I didn’t really have this buck on my radar,” Steve says. “But there were others nearby worth looking for.” Despite some lousy weather (rain, wind, and occasional thunder) Steve crawled up in a tree stand. “The rain just kept getting worse, but deer were feeding heavily. Suddenly a big buck came... [ Read Full Post ]

By Scott Bestul

Clark County Forest (133,000 acres)
Jackson County Forest (120,000 acres)
Location: central Wisconsin
Size: 253,000 acres
ZIP: 54456 (Clark County), 54615 (Jackson Co.)

Many central Wisconsin counties maintain extensive public forests that are open to hunting, and those located in the adjacent counties of Jackson and Clark are two of the best. Active logging here creates a number of forest openings that make good deer food and winter cover, and deer densities are much higher than in northern Wisconsin, ranging from 50 to 75 per square mile. “This is land that produces big bucks year after year,” Warnke says, “but you’ve got to do your homework to find them.” Start by identifying logged areas and then trace the travel routes between them. No food plots are planted at either site, but surrounding agricultural areas are important food sources. [ Read Full Post ]

By Scott Bestul

Granger Wildlife Management Area
Location: Central Texas
Size: 10,888 acres
ZIP: 76530

Granger boasts much better draw odds than Chaparral and quality bucks that give up nothing to their more celebrated south Texas counterparts. Better than one in three applicants snags one of 100 archery permits, and a liberal stand-by policy has thus far ensured that few wait-listed hunters who show up on hunt day are turned away. This state-managed area is located only 45 minutes from Austin in flat, open black-land prairie long ago converted to farming. Antler restrictions call for a 13-inch minimum spread, and the approach seems to be working. Area manager Trey Carpenter of Parks and Wildlife says Granger has produced several bucks in the 160- to 180-class range—of the last dozen or so harvested, all but two were Pope and Young qualifiers. “Usually, if a buck is older than 2 ½, it’s going to make the record book,” Carpenter says. “It’s a rare occasion that it doesn’t.”

Sam Houston National Forest Wildlife Management Area
Location: east Texas
Size: 161,508 acres
ZIP: 77351

Firearms hunters looking for certain access should head to east Texas, where ample public land is open to all who purchase the state’s $48 Annual Public... [ Read Full Post ]