by Scott Bestul

I’m the first to admit that I’m no rifleman. I've always lived in shotgun-only country. While I've taken my share of deer with a gun, all have been at close range. What's more, for many years now my primary weapon has been a bow--either recurve or compound. All of this adds up to one simple fact: Deer beyond 70 or 80 yards seem a long way out there to me.

So when I was invited on a rifle hunt in Alabama last week, I did what I always do on a rifle hunt--pray the deer stay close. Oh I know what a centerfire rifle is capable of, but I'm just not enough of a rifleman to let the weapon realize its potential. On the last morning of the hunt I proved it, whiffing on a buck that was an easy target.
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--Chad Love

Dallas-area hunters may soon be able to bowhunt in their home county if a Texas Parks and Wildlife proposal gets the nod. And another proposal would make it legal for Texas hunters to use suppressors for most firearms when hunting.
 
From this story on pegasusnews.com:
 
The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department is considering opening deer hunting in three North Texas counties and another on the upper coast this fall as part of recommended changes to the 2012-13 Statewide Hunting Proclamation. TPWD staff recommended an open season for deer in Dallas, Collin, Rockwall, and Galveston counties during a presentation Wednesday to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission’s Regulations Committee....
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by Scott Bestul

The term “world-record whitetail” gets tossed around so much these days that it’s easy to ignore. But the buck pictured at left may well be the real deal.

On December 1st of this year, Illinois hunter Jason Sanders shot this gorgeous, high-tined monster, a deer that will likely appear in the B&C record books as the largest main-frame, typical 8-pointer ever shot by a hunter. Sanders’ buck nets 183-1/8 inches; the current world-record typical 8 (actually two are tied at the top) scores 180-3/8.

I learned about this deer through my good friend and veteran B&C measurer Tim Walmsley, who has measured some truly giant whitetails in his lifetime and readily admits that he can get pretty numb to big deer. This buck, however, has Tim truly pumped up. For more, check out his blog at Heartland Outdoors. To be honest, this picture, taken from above, does not quite capture the enormity of this buck’s rack. But stay tuned, as we will be covering this tremendous whitetail in greater depth soon.

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--Chad Love

By now the "deer crashes through (insert building here) stories are fairly routine, but it's not often that you see it happen in...Washington, DC?

From this story on nbcwashington.com:

Mostly, wildlife in a library is found in two-dimensional form, safely contained in the pages of the collection. But a deer's visitation was more than words at the Washington Highlands Interim Library on Tuesday afternoon. One librarian was in the bathroom, and another checking emails when they heard the crash of glass. Both staff members walked toward the sound of the commotion and discovered a small deer had leapt through one of the windows at the interim library, located on 4037 S. Capitol St. SW.
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--Chad Love

Here's one from the "Next Time, Let's Just Stick To Kittens In Trees" files. Firefighters in Truro, Mass. spent most of Sunday figuring out how to rescue a deer that had fallen down an abandoned well.

From this story on whdh.com:

Crews rescued a deer stuck in a well on Sunday. Authorities say the deer may have been caught in the Truro well for days. The deer was 12 feet down the dry well, and kicking wildly. “I've gone to many animal complaints; I’ve never seen a wild animal this upset. She tried several times to jump out of the hole and she was just not able to clear the 12 to 14 foot hole,” said Officer Jeremiah Valli of the Truro Police Department. They couldn't shoot the deer with a tranquilizer because he’s a game animal.

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--Chad Love

The hunting trip of a lifetime ended up as every hunter's worst nightmare for four Mississippi hunters after all their gear was stolen on the way to the airport.

From this story on the clarionledger.com website:

Jacob Baldwin of Canton and three friends went to Texas earlier this month on the trophy deer hunt of a lifetime. Baldwin killed a 150-class buck and a wild hog, and one of his partners got a good buck.

"It was a great get-away trip - good friends, good hunting, great service at the lodge and everything - right up until we were getting ready to fly home," Baldwin said. "Then it went south in a hurry." Five miles from the San Antonio airport, the group stopped at a restaurant for a final taste of the area's local flavor before heading to the rental car return and a return flight to Jackson. By the time the last taco was eaten and the last swallow of cerveza taken, thieves had emptied their rental vehicle of everything.
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