Photos: 21 Trophy Bucks Taken by F&S Readers

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F&S readers are some of the best deer hunters in the country, and we’ve got the photos to prove it. Check out 21 great reader bucks and make sure to submit your buck photo to our Trophy Room. Can’t get enough deer hunting? Check out our long-form digital feature… Welcome to Deer Camp

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I had a great feeling when I reached my ladder stand early on Sunday morning. With low temperature and a strong north wind in my face I knew deer would moving. Around 7:20am I heard branches break to my east as this buck came out of the timber. He was headed right for my stand but when he got 20 yards away he dipped back into the timber. As I let a few soft grunts out I caught a doe out of the corner of my eye that he was chasing. As the doe headed back east away from my stand I thought I had missed my chance at a lifetime buck. I decided to get really aggressive with my calling sequence. Luckily I was able to pull this buck off the doe and bring him down with a 12 yard shot.

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28 point non typical buck from Grayson county Kentucky

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Buck was taken on a cold east KY morning in the deer woods. I was lucky enough to have this buck come in within 20 yards before taking the shot. He was taken over a rub line and what seems to be the peak of the rut!

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My Son Killed This 19 Point Whitetail Buck On His Grandfather’s Land in Boston, Ky With a 20 yards Archery Kill From His Deer Stand.

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Long story short, I had been after this buck since the beginning of the 2013 bow season following a consistent series of pictures on my trail cam and I never seen the deer. My first outing this year proved to be a great one. The deer showed himself two different times within 45 minutes before responding to my grunt call and walking in front of me at 20 yards. The rest is history.

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(told through the eyes and ears of my 13 month old son Jack) My dad got up early November 1st 2014 to bow hunt. He had seen a freak non-typical on his trail cam a few days before. I was still asleep because I am only 13 months old. I was awake when he came back in the house, mom was feeding me breakfast. He told us he had seen a few does and was going to go check his trail cam after we ate breakfast. He got on his 4 wheeler and took off. About 45 minutes later he called my mom and told her to bring me outside for a minute. I put on my coat and mom carried me outside. As we got closer to the barn, dad was just pulling up on his 4 wheeler and something was behind it. As he got to us, I saw my first big buck! It was a 22 pt non-typical whitetail killed from our own property in Smithville, MO. Mom started going crazy, dad was smiling from ear to ear. It must have been cold because when dad drug him to the house, frost from the ground looked like snow on that bucks antlers. He has told the story a million times now. Says he saw a doe behind him then heard a grunt. He couldn’t believe what he saw, it was the same buck from his trail camera. He said it took him 15 minutes to move from his seated position to a standing position 180′ behind him so he could get a shot. He said he had no cover and the big buck busted his every move. Thankfully that doe was there because dad said he was more interested in her than him and he finally got a shot. I guess dad is a pretty good shot with his bow, he said the big buck only ran 40 yards before it died. I can’t wait until I can hunt with dad…

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Just had to share this picture of my daughter Chelsea Barnhisel, with her prize buck. This thing is a beast. It measures 25 inches inside to inside. Trophy buck for sure. Just had to share. So proud of her

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I decided to sit out the on the afternoon of 11/14. Instead of going to my stand as I was walking across the field I noticed a path of multiple deer tracks crossing the field going to and from the hay field and creek bottom 300 yds in front of my stand. with not seeing much action close to my stand i decided to sit on the ground against the fence row that was on the edge of the hay field and about 20 yds from the creek. By the time I sat down it was after 2pm and once getting situated I grunted and rattled to see if I could bring a bedded buck out. Nothing moved… matter of fact nothing was moving. It was somewhat of a cold day with a snow front coming in the weather was slowly changing from a mist to a light snow. As time past i felt the urge coming on the go to the bathroom I kept telling myself youre going to have to hold it until dark which was only 45 more minutes. At approx 5:15 I decided to rattle one more time before packing out. I did so and waited for 15 min before I saw what I thought was a good shooter sneak across in front of me never even looking my direction. He then went down the creek bed and up the other side at that point I already had my bow drawn just waiting for a good shot he took one step and looked to his side and i released the arrow to his broadside. I took the shot from sitting on the ground with some brush scattered between me and the buck. I thought for sure I made a good shot as I watched him run off. I waited 15 min before moving out of my spot to look for my arrow. It was no where to be found no blood anywhere I thought great you just missed a great buck at 20 yrds. How was that possible, as I stood there looking for any sign of him even glassing the surrounding fields for him to be running across. Nothing. So I walked the direction I saw him run still no blood or arrow just the tracks from him running. It wasnt 40 yards he ran and fell over dead. Still in awe that I found him or even hit him I picked his head up and just started counting tines. What a great buck and how lucky to have sat where I did that day. I immediately called my wife and son to tell them the news. This was only the 2nd buck I had seen this season.

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Was hunting with my 9 year old and had given him a section of the field to watch for movement in. He poked me and said, “Dad I see a deer”, when I looked this bruiser was cruising along a creek bank. I picked out the opening, gave a short bleet and he stopped on a dime. Me and my son are still high fiving about this monster!

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Oct. 26th 2014 Set up an ambush point on the ground where I had seen some decent bucks passing through just days before. As the sun was starting to set I started using a rattle bag. Not too aggressive, just some “tickling”. After about a minute of light rattling I heard some crashing coming from behind me. I scanned my surroundings and about a minute later I spotted this nice looking buck through some thick brush coming down a trail that would set him broadside 15 yards ahead of me. As he neared the opening in the brush that would allow me to sneak an arrow in I pulled back. He stopped and turned toward me looking through the brush. After another 15 or 20 seconds he took a couple more steps and exposed himself broadside in front of me for the perfect shot. I let the arrow fly…. and missed. Just over him. While I was so focused on making sure I was ready to make the shot I had misjudged the initial distance. (or perhaps simply didn’t take the time to judge it at all) The deer trotted forward obviously startled and went about another 15 yards along the trail then turned and looked back at me again putting himself broadside roughly 25 yards away. At that moment I hadn’t realized the initial shot missed and was searching for some sign of impact on the deer and found none. I started to nock another arrow and while I did that he made his way farther down the trail and away from me. He eventually gave me one final chance to make a shot but this time at roughly 45 yards. I pulled back and took more careful consideration of the distance and made the shot. 2nd buck of my life. First deer with a bow.

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This is my husband David with his first bow kill. He shot him opening weekend of bow season. I think he was happier on this day than our wedding day!

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Jason Manska of Morris, MN shot this 17 point buck north of Alberta, MN on the second day of shotgun season. The rack has an inside spread of over 19 inches.

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I’ve been hunting for three years now and have gotten more joy from the experience than I ever expected! The people that I have met and heard stories from inspired me to try hunting different things. I have been lucky every year to harvest a deer and have processed it myself, or with friends. To me it is important to be involved in every aspect of hunting and meat processing. For the first time this year I also hunted Elk. Although I was not successful, I had a wonderful time enjoying the outdoors. I’ve received so much positive feedback and truly enjoyed trying new recipes, making jerky with friends and educating my community about hunting with respect for nature. This year, I harvested the buck in the picture. I walked up a steep slope to the top of a ridge as the sun came up. I found an overlook with a great view of the ravine and box canyon below me. I sat and watched the sun creep across the meadow directly opposite my perch. Out of the corner of my eye I caught a glimpse of a doe grazing. As I watched, I spotted 4 more does and then a buck. He walked out in to the sunny meadow, completely unaware of my presence. I took a deep breath, steadied my rifle against a rock and took the shot. My Savage 110 7mm Magnum fired a perfect shot. Crossing the 200 yards in an instant and finding my mark exactly. As I hiked down my side of the canyon and up the other, I marveled at the silence surrounding me. When I found my buck, I was taken aback. I had no idea he was that big when I spotted him through my scope. I got to work field dressing and calling friends to help haul this beauty of a mule deer out to the truck. I feel so blessed to be able to hunt near my home and to share the forest with these magnificent creatures.

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Got this nice deer in the back quarter behind my house.

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Saturday evening I went back into the woods after my Army reserve work day. I found a tree near where I saw bucks chasing does the previous afternoon and put my climber on it and went up about 15 feet. By the time I was setup it was nearly 515 pm. Within minutes I had 3 doe stroll by me. After the disappeared I made 2 blunt calls. Nothing for about 20 minutes and then 3 more doe walked to feed on some acorns 20 yards from my stand. I made another blunt call and a small y buck came in within 5 minutes and was looking around for the maker of the blunt call. He than began chasing after 1 of the does after looking around for a few minutes for his male competitor. These 4 deer then disappeared into the woods. By this time it was 6 pm and I decided to make another blunt call. Roughly 3 minutes later this bruiser came trotting in almost at a run looking for his competitor making who was making noises. He was followed by a 5 point and a 7 point. The 11 point who is pictured stopped under the a big oak tree 15 yards away to smell a scrape while the other 2 bucks went on down passed him to another oak tree to look for other deer and began eating acorns as well. The 11 point turned to look at them at one point and I pulled back on my bow. As soon as he turned back around broad side I let go and it was a perfect strike behind the shoulder that instantly dropped him. I have been catching glimpses of this guy for the last 3 years either not in season or on cameras after hours, but the first time I saw him up close and personal I made sure I was bringing him home.

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Wathced this buck along with 13 does as they were bedded. waited 40 minutes for him to stand. When he finally stood up i promptly placed him back into his bed.

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Grunted this big guy away from a hot doe the other night during the Wisconsin rut! Arrowed him at 30 yards!

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This beautiful animal was shot by my son in law! He took a chance with over a 100 yard shot and got him!!

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This deers been modeling for my trail cameras since early August. With much patience he finally came my way. First big buck I’ve ever seen while hunting. He came in at 22 yds and I double lunged him!!

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My 12 year old nephew Andrew had the day of his life yesterday! He was hunting in a snow storm with -7 degree temps and was about to call it a day when this guy burst out of the brush chasing a doe. His dad gave a grunt with his mouth and the buck stopped in his tracks. A split second later Andrew’s 25-06 barked and down he came from only 99 yards away. He’s a heavy 5×5. Congratulations Andrew! Not a bad start!